05/28/2013
When we return from doing any farm chores both of my boys say, “All employees must wash hands after returning from work!” It kind of echoes around the house until all hands have been washed. Why? Well, we have a saying for dark spots on farm clothes: “That isn’t mud.”
Around the turn of the century and particularly at the beginning of the industrialization, American cities had a big problem. Their problem was as big as any environmental problem we face today. Solar power waste! Yes, it is the sun’s fault! Massive pollution in the streets of any city! Ruminate on that!
Ok, ok, you are right. It is not the sun, but how the sun’s energy is consumed, managed and disposed of. The sun shines and causes grass, plants and trees to grow. The herbivore and ruminants process the converted solar energy into energy for their bodies. They then deposit the excess energy and nutrients on the ground to nourish the plants. To summarize: The sun shines, grass grows, herbivore eats grass, herbivore p**ps, p**p degrades back into the ground, the sun shines and grass grows.
So the big environmental problem was not that solar power waste existed, just that it was being misplaced. When animals, mainly horses and cattle, walk through the street they p**p wherever is convenient. Overtime and with enough animals this built up and up and there really was a manure crisis! You can have too much of a good thing. Ironically the engine and automobile saved us from drowning in manure.
Animals once city bound were relinquished back to the country. Automobiles replaced horses and goods could be brought into the city via truck. The manure problem remains, but instead of a blessing to agriculture it has become a big problem.
The manure problem has continued into our modern day agriculture. Originally, the manure in the streets was just a function of transportation and bringing animals into the city. Now the manure problem is from intentionally confining too many animals in one place. The best argument they can come up with is “if we don’t do it like this then we can’t feed the world.” NONSENSE! We have to grow all that food for the livestock somewhere and then use limited resources to transport it to the feeding operations. Why not let the animals walk to the food and thus encourage them to eat and fertilize at the same time?
40% to 50% of the food in the world, from field to consumption, goes to waste. I would argue that percentage is even higher when you consider all the miniature pastures in residential neighborhoods. NASA scientists estimate that more surface area is devoted to lawns (aka miniature pastures) than to any other single irrigated crop in the country. I don’t think we realize how much local food production for meat and milk we have available even without counting the golf courses and public parks. I used to drive through a residential neighborhood and think about yard work. Now I see the food glorious food!
Lawn is food for small herbivores, goats and sheep! They produce wonderful milk and meat! You can put 5 goats or sheep per acre and you don’t need to buy any feed! That means that if you have 1/5th of an acre, you can feed one sheep for the summer. Reallocate the money and time spent on seeding, watering, fertilizing, cutting, raking, and bagging the yard waste and instead fill your freezer! What to us are unbearable weeds are usually highly nutritious plants that animals devour! Imagine all the carbon sequestering that occurs when an herbivore mows down the pasture instead of the lawn mower.
A little bit of manure never hurt anyone, but a lot of it in a concentrated area will poison our ground and foster a diseased environment. Health does not mean sterile. Health is a direct result of strong immune systems and environments where pathogens do not get the opportunity to perpetuate. When it comes to manure, you can have too much of a good thing…if it’s in a concentrated area. Spread it around and it becomes a beautifully, natural fertilizer.
To be continued...
