By Alex Russell

I’ve been thinking a lot about soil health, environmental health, and the health of our waterways. Those are “BIG things” to spend your time thinking about. But I wanted to share a few of my musings as of late. In an effort not to offend too many people, I will attempt to refrain from sharing my personal opinions on Climate Change. It’s a very tricky subject with numerous landmines that I want to avoid. 

But I do want to express that I think about this stuff… A LOT!

Recently, I’ve been reading a book by Yvan Schrinard called “Let My People Go Surfing.” Yvan is the owner of the company, Patagonia… perhaps you’ve heard of them. This guy appears to have a heart of gold and the convictions of a giant when it comes to environmental care. 

[And just so we’re clear, when I say “environment,” I mean everything! Land, oceans, the atmosphere, the mountains, the lakes, the neighborhoods, the national parks, the fish, the farms, the wildlife… everything}

This is a great book, especially for any business owners. 

But there was one thing that kept bothering me to no end. He is (self-admittedly) a pessimist when it comes to climate change, global warming, what have you. He concludes, just like most environmental activists do, that we have “too much carbon in our atmosphere.”

[Let’s pause again here for a second… this is where the land mines in the discussion are abundant. I just want to acknowledge that fact, and confess that I don’t know everything about this topic.]

The part that frustrated me the most is this: Not just in this book, but in many others, folks who worry about climate change the most seem to believe that we have “no hope” and “no way” to get the carbon out of the atmosphere. You’ll hear them say, “it’s too late” and “we’re too far gone.” For me, this is like when your kid looks in your overstuffed fridge and says, “There’s nothing here to eat!” 

This drives me totally nuts because one of the 3 main reasons I got into Regenerative Agriculture in the first place was because it is nature’s #1 tool for sequestering carbon out of the atmosphere. It’s actually very simple. Here’s how it works:

Step 1: Grass uses photosynthesis to collect carbon and nitrogen out of thin air to grow.
Step 2: Grass uses the maximum amount of carbon sequestering strength to reach maturity and populate with seeds.
Step 3: Cows come in and munch down the carbon-rich grass and poop out fertilizer made in their rumen.
Step 4: The carbon cycle is reset, and the grass grows again. 

This is “Regenerative Grazing” or AMP (Adaptive Multi-Paddock) Grazing. This is what we do here at Chucktown Acres. 

When you follow this methodology with grazing animals (like cows, sheep, and goats), it creates a 3-to-1 ratio in the carbon cycle. It draws down 3 pounds of carbon out of the atmosphere for every single pound of meat that it produces. AND yes, that includes all of the “burps” and “farts” that the vegan propagandists talk about. 
 
Here’s my question: If we have a 3-to-1 tool that could drastically eliminate extra carbon out of the atmosphere, then why is it not the number 1 topic at every climate summit, conference, podcast, and book? 

This knowledge has led me down a crazy bunny trail of other questions:

1. Why isn’t the government subsidizing small regenerative farms, if they are truly terrified of climate change?

2. Why are we still financially assisting farms that do the most damage to our environment through factory farmed livestock and mono-crop agriculture?

3. Why did North Dakota and Georgia just give pesticide companies a blanket pardon on any ill effects that come from people who end up sick from their products?

4. If the climate scientists truly care about the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, why are they not screaming “Switch To Regenerative!” from the rooftops?

I hope all of this makes sense… I care deeply about these topics, and I want to inform as many of you as possible about them. I would love to hear any feedback that you might have to offer! Reply to this email with your thoughts and feelings… I’m listening!
 
Until then, thank you so much for supporting our Regenerative Farm. Behind everything we do, we have you, your family, and our planet at heart.