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Lynell(VA by way of MD&DC)'s avatar

Now, Fern. This video should be just the thing for what ails you. Its title? "This Bullsh*t Might Save The World." It was published back in 2014 by a guy from Switzerland. There are several other later videos from other parts of the world who are latching on to this idea, too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeL72c6scAs

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FERN MCBRIDE (NYC)'s avatar

Lynell, This day on the forum is as no other for me. The Letters have been intellectually binding; subscribers today have been beyond bolstering, informative and caring. Thank goodness, Lynell, and thank you. I will watch your link this evening.

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Lynell(VA by way of MD&DC)'s avatar

Just FYI: Only 17+ teeny, tiny minutes long.

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FERN MCBRIDE (NYC)'s avatar

Lynell, Thank you. The lecture was fascinating and the farmer/researcher an excellent presenter. The subject of methane was not addressed. He did bring up his belief that much CO2 could be eliminating by the dung conversion, which he is a part of. I don't expect to be a cow dung or belching source but have provided some links on the subject and do not know how fully each addressed the subject or how up to date they may be:

https://letstalkscience.ca/educational-resources/stem-in-context/cows-methane-and-climate-change

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/methane

https://climate.nasa.gov/faq/33/which-is-a-bigger-methane-source-cow-belching-or-cow-flatulence/

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Lynell(VA by way of MD&DC)'s avatar

Morning, Fern. I found all three of these links very informative. Thanks for sharing. I trust there remain great minds who can help to navigate us through this climate debacle.

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FERN MCBRIDE (NYC)'s avatar

Morning, Lynell, Those minds have been with us for a long time, and earth would have been much less damaged if governments, Big Money and many more people had been listening. USA moved out of denial - but the negative forces haven't gone away.

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Lynell(VA by way of MD&DC)'s avatar

Thank you, Fern. I will wait until my best time - early tomorrow morning - to dive into your links.

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Dave Conant - MO's avatar

Thanks Lynell.

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Maggie's avatar

Sounds good to me - do have a question as to where the "wood chips" etc are going to be found. And doesnt mention methane at all. But it sure is a good beginning - and innovative.

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Lynell(VA by way of MD&DC)'s avatar

I was curious about that, too. Especially why they house their cows inside during the winter.

Here are similar videos regarding cows and farming. One guy, Joel Salatin, has a farm in Virginia. I think he probably leaves his cows outside...and doesn't use woodchips. He rotates his cows daily. The other guy, Bobby Gill, is from somewhere in the States. Each video is only 17 minutes long. TEDx Talks is the name of the website that has several of Joel's videos about what he does. The idea, Judith, is to get livestock off of feedlots and in a more natural setting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z75A_JMBx4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKXgVK0TQ1A

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Maggie's avatar

Watched Salatin's talk - and that type of farming works great in the East or would work BETTER in the East. The second video is the Savory method - which was attempted years ago in, I believe, Africa & wasnt all that successful - they now call it regeneration, so maybe its been improved upon. Right now in the arid drought-filled West? The insistence of the livestock lobby of turning out cattle & sheep in areas that no longer can accommodate them - killing off the natural predators that exist in nature for a reason. The Western states only produce 3% of the beef consumed here. Three percent - but to hear the livestock lobby - you would assume that to stop using our public lands & forests AND National Parks AND Wildlife Refuges for grazing livestock - it would just be the ruination of millions! Not so.

OK, Lynell - done "ranting"!!

I do think the more people, the more research, the more experimenting as to what works? This is a good thing.

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Maggie's avatar

Forgot something! I hope there is interest here & elsewhere in the Point Reyes National Seashore issue. Another example of putting livestock operator's interests above native wildlife at a National Seashore!

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Lynell(VA by way of MD&DC)'s avatar

Thanks, Maggie, for your expertise. I'm still hopeful that things can be changed for the better in regards to our food supply!

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Judith Swink (CA)'s avatar

I found myself envisioning those massive mounds of cow manure in feed lots such as those in the Imperial Valley CA. Wood chips are also an issue given that they once were trees. Can enough chipped wood as byproduct of other uses of wood be sufficient for the described process? Would byproduct be more than sawdust, perhaps too fine for the mix described. I get that this is an ongoing research process, though, and perhaps there will be additional discoveries which would reduce or eliminate a wood product.

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