Guy Singh-Watson is the most knowledgeable and reasonable voice on farming and eating that I have heard in a very long time! Thank you so much for this interview!
A farmer who is socially, environmentally and politically astute. I suggest the government approach him to help steer national policy on food and supermarket regulation. This guy is someone I would trust.
I've provided music for the staff celebration days at River ford HQ for a few years now, and it's been a real privilege to see the operation talk to all the staff, see how it all works and to hear Guy speak. I'm a keen gardener myself, I have 1/4 veg and flower garden myself and it forms a huge part of my creative inspiration for all my work as an artist. I just wanted to say how thankful I am to both Guy and Huw here, and I think a knighthood for Guy is WELL overdue.
Not only do I enjoy Huw’s interviews immensely but I really get a lot out of other commenter’s ideas and thoughts. Reading everyone’s comments shows me how complex each topic really is. Each person, having a slightly different faceted thought about each topic. I appreciate that so far even if someone has a different opinion, I haven’t seen any vitriol thus far and to me, that makes things more interesting and hopeful because it shows we are really all on the same side which is working together to make things better in the long run. Huw is such an amazing young man , wise beyond his years. Let’s keep it up everyone. It’s nice to feel part of like minded people.
Regarding ruminant animals, I would like to point out that there were millions or possibly even billions of bison on the North American continent, and it didn't destroy the environment. If cow farts are as awful as they say, it is because they are feeding things to those cows that they were never designed to eat. If the cows eat grass like they were designed to do, it shouldn't be any more detrimental to the environment than those bison were.
It has been said if the grass is say 2-3ft tall ,if its left as it is and breaks down its the same amount of methane as the cow grazing the grass down to a few inches
The big difference is that bison are native and wild animals, who grazed massive areas of land rather than being stuck in an artificial and confined area. Bison traveled around across wide areas rather than constantly grazing the same small pastures as with farmed animals. They ate native plants, and thus fertilized the ground with native seeds in their feces. Modern commodity animals are fed invasive grasses and plants, and they reseed the pastures with these and thus exacerbate the problem. They are also kept in massive numbers within relatively small areas, thus hammering the land much harder than any wild ruminant ever would in natural conditions. Cows, goats, sheep etc are animals bred and created by humans via artificial selection. They did not evolve with the land, and they are not living in harmony with nature. There is NO COMPARISON.
Interesting point about bison. They also had a much wider variety of animals and no agrochemicals. It’s just the sheer numbers just to feed us and our pets, with all the antibiotics, pesticides, plastics involved. Unsustainable.
Ok, so, cattle compared to Buffalo - Methane. Well, 300 years ago when there were likely 22 million buffalo wandering the plains of the US, they would still not have been in the ballpark when compared to cattle and methane production. All of this being a testament to the differences in the digestive systems of the two groups. Differences? you might ask. They are both members of the group of animals called ruminants. They have 4 chambered stomachs and they ‘chew their cud’ as a means to continue the digestion of the plants they eat. However, it appears that the North American Buffalo has a more efficient stomach and rumen as compared to cattle. And this can be attributed to the fact the buffalo is a native of North America and cattle are not. The amount of Methane and other greenhouse gases produced by an individual cow is about 70 to 120 kg per year. The average for the buffalo is about 70 kg per year. So, we see that the buffalo produces about the same amount of gases as does the lowest estimation for cattle. It is this efficiency that has developed in the buffalo over millions of years as compared to the 500 years that cattle have been on the continent that wins out here. Also, it is a simple game of numbers. The buffalo had populations in the 20 millions before the Europeans arrived. At the turn of the 20th century, there may have been as few as 1500 individuals left of those mighty herds. They have rebounded, with help from a more conscientious human population. Today there are varying numbers as to the population now. Some as little as 50,000 and others as high as 500,000 individuals. Suffice it to say that these are large enough numbers to insure the continued survival of the species as long as man is careful. If we took the high numbers and used them to calculate the annual release of methane and the other greenhouse gases from the buffalo population - you would get a number around 35 Million kg of gas released. Now, the cattle. According to figures that can be looked up on the web, there are approximately 7.5 billion humans that live on this planet. The number of cattle is at near 998 million. In the United States, we account for about 98 million of those cows. If we use the total population of cows and the low-end figure for the gases produced by them - we get 6.860 billion kg of methane and other gases produced yearly. If we use the high-end figure of 120 kg per cow - yields 11.76 Billion kg of methane and other gases per year. Either way, bison emissions are a drop in the bucket compared to cows.
Loving these conversations Huw. They're very informative and UK based which makes them way more relavent for us UK growers. Thanks for doing these podcasts!
Interesting conversation, thanks Guy and Huw. If you really want to shake up farming and food production, introduce a nutrient density standard, in the recent wide ranging BFA trials there was a 5 orders of magnitude difference in nutrient density, yet the consumer has no clue of the quality of food from a nutrient density standpoint, why is this never part of the conversation? Huw, see if you can interview Ben Taylor-Davis (RegenBen) he has a straight talking attitude, with an encylopedic knowledge, he'd be a perfect fit for the series.
If they put it as nutrient density a huge amount of crops would fail any logical test of consumption/production. Currently using kg's and all emissions being put onto just the edible that make it to market is a poor way of measuring things.
I really do appreciate this and any recommendation to chat to people! Ben would be excellent to chat to! And yes totally agree regarding nutrient density, and there should also have to be on packaged food, a "number of ingredients" stamp and so people will see that many things have about 10X as many things as first thought!
@@HuwRichards Adam Swan (soilecologylab) would be goo too, they make a really interesting bioamendment from compost extract, and they're working with some interesting projects/market gardens doing soil amendment/biologicals trials with some quite remarkable results, recently helped me decipher my soil lab analysis results, really knowledgeable guys.
Great convo - Love Guy's frank and openess to discuss and look at the realities of food production in the uk, consumtion and most importantly how we value it. Just like the US is now putting in an 'alternative farmer' as an advisor to the government, we need Guy in this role here in the UK 💚✌🌿
Please look into Walter Jehne's research on the H2O cycle. He shows that farmers hold the key reversing global heating by covering the soil and incorporating agroforestry.
Farmers pump Seee Ohhh 2 into greenhouses to produce a better crop. We need more not less. It currently makes up 0.04% of the atmosphere, whereas at times when it made up 30% of the atmosphere, the planet thrived. Solar cycles and Hunga Tonga are having a huge effect on things and that will continue whatever else we do.
“At times when the planet thrived” was before the over population and use of the planet by “sophisticated” human life. We would not be able to survive in those overheated environments as will soon become apparent unless we accept global warming is a man made problem that needs intelligent solutions by knowledgeable scientists.
@alibali672 er, you are comparing two completely different growing scenarios. Increased CO2 is not the only requirement of plant growth in the natural growing environment. It is also effected by latitude, altitude, soil type, soil moisture, rainfall frequency and volume, just for starters. If the CO2 levels were 30% you would be dead
A farmer I know had a massive supermarket contact, then decided that he needed to upgrade the pack house, that cost millions, had to get a loan then turned round and said they will only buy the product at 10p (sold for 60) but cost 20p per product! Small land parcels that are available are over priced and marketed and costted to carbon offset which is just a green wash and isn't making big companies actually become greener. Like net zero it's ridiculous as Guy said we need lots of smaller farmers not the massive agricultural businesses that promise the land owners, estates etc £x per acre a year
41:25 Every critical technology and piece of infrastructure was developed through public funding: the internet, GPS, microchips, accelerometers, image sensors, touchscreens, satellites, Gorilla Glass, schools, Medicare, roads, and more. Competition actually stifles innovation with practices such as patents, gatekeeping of information and technologies, intellectual property rights, NDAs, buying out competitors just to remove them from the market, planned obsolescence, and so on.
41:35 So ridiculous that, in just 60 years, the Soviets went from being a third-world country to achieving: the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth (Sputnik), the first spacecraft to reach the Moon, the first human spaceflight (Yuri Gagarin aboard Vostok 1), the Soyuz spacecraft (a design still used for space travel today), the first series of space stations (Salyut program), the first robotic rover to explore the Moon (Lunokhod 1), the first supersonic passenger jet (Tupolev Tu-144), the invention of RBMK and VVER nuclear reactors, the Tokamak fusion reactor, the Setun computer (the only ternary, or three-valued logic, computer ever built), early prototypes for mechanical heart systems, pioneering the large-scale use of titanium alloys in aircraft and submarines, the discovery of Cherenkov radiation, the establishment of the first global seed banks, the first nuclear power plant in the world to produce electricity for a power grid (Obninsk), the first spacecraft to achieve a soft landing on Mars (Mars 3), and the first spacecraft to land on Venus and transmit data back to Earth (Venera 7).
Thoroughly enjoying your interviews, because these are 'big' topics and for the average ignoramus (myself), who flits around the edges trying to grasp it all, it really can be overwhelming. It's challenging, enlightening and hopeful, thanks. 😊
I must be lucky because my kids have always loved organic veg, but then they didn't really have much choice as I've always tried to buy veg boxes and cook from scratch. Plus I got them involved in growing veg when they were small. It helps that they were home educated, so they didn't have peer pressure. We eat Riverford produce and love the taste, variety and ethos. We don't have a huge amount of money, so sometimes it's a stretch to order a box, but I'd rather buy good food than take a family holiday as you can't put a price on health.
I attended a session at LandAlive on Friday with Tim Parton (Green Farm Collective), Andrew Neal (Rothamsted Research) & Ian Wilkinson talking about glyphosate alternatives in regen arable. Ongoing research and Tim using a lot less than before,
Yes we practice holistic management on our organic dairy farm. We also practice biodynamics in our community gardens which for me was the icing on the cake. Patrick Holden is another great ambassador for organic growing.
Thank you Huw for another utterly common-sense video! And thank you Guy for speaking up about 'certain inequalities' . As for glyphosates: BIG NONO! ; see e.g. Stephanie Seneff for clarification on its long lasting and insidious effects on soils, plants, and us. Also Don Huber and Anthony Suau. Also beware when you buy seeds; "organic", besides mostly meaning "corporate organic" (see e.g. The Real Organic Project), does nOt mean non-F1 or indeed non-GMO. The term "regenerative" also means "corporate regenerative" if glyphosates are used AT ALL. By the way heritage varieties have wáy higher vitality, nutrient content, and resilience. See e.g. Vandana Shiva on the twisted intentions of 'those corporations' regarding the pushing of GMO and the innate need of GMO products (they're barely plants anymore) for endless chemicals, and the social repercussions of all that. Subsidies tend to go to all the wrong (destructive) 'endeavours', and wtf is going on with all these anti-Life products still being available to buy??? Barbaric - and that's an insult to "barbarians"! I have an allotment and took up dowsing because i get answers to such questions as "does this horse manure (brought to the allotment site for the plotters' use) contain aminopyralids?" and many other questions one wouldn't want to guess the answer to or 'trust one's luck'. 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 🌳🕊💚
Sad that he buys their climate story, but a great mind and approach. In my view, chemicals have no place in Regenerative Ag. The silence about it is typical of the industry.
"can kids get excited about vegetables" - after growing my own veg for a few years, my daughter of 9 is super excited when the first brussel sprouts (yes!) are ready, and my son of 10 (with autism, and started life as a very difficult eater) recently acknowledged that kohlrabi dipped in soy sauce is "really really good mommy!" They both tend to eat their salads (including mustards, rocket, radicchio, endives) before the rest of their plate, and I could go on... It wasn't instantaneous, but yes, it is possible!
Well done. FYI: You can sell cardoon flowers as vegetable renet for cheese Making. Some famous traditional peccorinos are Made this way. Also, I'd say nature doesnt want to be "left alone". Humans have been a keystone species in many habitats for millenia. We just happen to have destroyed that habitat, whilst simultaniously forgetting how to belong to it. Here in Venezuelas andean cloudforrest region, Ive spent the past 19 odd years reimagining "human nature" in deeply regenerative (mostly perenial) polycultures. Aside from rebuilding ecosystems and watersheds, Agriculture can rebuild communities, cultures, and purpose. And be profitable. No reason to stop at agroforrestry as a cropping system. It's so much more efficient than industrial Ag. As the latter has ever deminishing ROIC and increasing inputs, the systems that self support and acumulate fertility and diversity syntropically have an ever increasing return on deminishing inputs. Also, animals absolutely not only regenerate soil and trap carbon, but Large herds of ruminants in brital climates are actually the reason the plains of the world are amongst the worlds deepest and most fertile soils. Holistic Management methods are case in point. Make sure to move animals densly and quickly. And if you preffer smaller animals more apt for agroforrestry, check out the "tree range farms" model of Pole-tree. The former is trademarked. The latter, you can have if youd like.
Syntropic agriculture is a perfect way to regeneratively farm. It’s based on humans interacting with perennial food forests to move them forwards quickly in natural sequence so both the environment and the people benefit.
So glad to hear a conversation that ranges from perennial / agroforestry farming to commercially viable, affordable food & fairness and employee ownership approaches. Is there scope for a perennial veg box via Riverford or a new entrant ?
I think Guys point about supermarkets when being granted planning permission should have some conditions put on them to support local produce is an important one and genuinely investing in local farmers by paying them a fair price so they can invest and produce even better produce for consumers; one of the things that struck me from watching Clarkson’s farm was how restrictive the conditions on the shop were - they had to be all locally produced within a certain distance and if they were showcasing a farmer’s product just outside that area it wasn’t allowed, which I felt was ridiculous! Why should farmers trying to bring British farmed goods to the locality be subjected to more stringent rules than supermarkets?
When was this recorded, no mention of the inheritance tax - I looked up prices of farms where I live and a small farm (not much more than a smallholding) cost nearly 3 million!
Won’t the recent changes in inheritance tax help to address the problem of inflated farm prices? My understanding is that land prices have been artificially boosted by people buying land as a means to avoid inheritance tax.
The future in farming is providing food for the carnivore diet. Where no chemicals are needed after the soil has begun regeneration and the rotation system worked out. Vegetables use poisons to prevent themselves being eaten which the activity in a ruminant's gut remove for us. Selling using direct sales the key to independence and a comfortable life. The trick to Regen is deciding never to see the soil again, kept covered, feeding the microbes augmented (for the ambitious) with rock dust, compost extracts (teas) and realising any farm is part of the local ecosystem.
He’s right. The answer to all these issues is: It all depends. Regenerative farmers I know do discuss glyphosate and would like to reduce or eliminate its use. Similarly the same for artificial nitrogen and many other inputs. One of the central tenets of regen is to reduce the reliance on off farm sourced inputs. Also conventional farming does not destroy all life in the farmed environment. In fact there’s plenty of life but it’s the biodiversity that is drastically reduced. This is a key point that gets lost in these conversations. Those moving from conventional to regenerative have a considerable task to rebuild biodiversity and going cold turkey by cutting out synthetic inputs in a clean break is not actually what is needed to move biodiversity forward in many farmed environments
I'm fortunate to be able to grow my own Hazel nuts but, as a trial, I recently bought a pullet from a national supermarket. They had been grown in Croatia, packed in Italy and were inedible with most starting to rot. From personal experience I would say they were at least two years old if not older. Incidentally, the garlic in the same supermarket had been imported from China. They stayed on the shelf of course. Regards, John.
Ruminant animal inputs are absolutely necessary and essential to regenerate soils, besides choosing biodiverse plant species and those with deep roots. If we would get rid of most industrial plant agriculture and focus on regenerating our dead soils with properly managed ruminant animals ( and others), then we could turn back climate change to pre- industrial levels.
I worked for a farmer here in the Gers, France (Vic Fezensac), where approx 30,000 Hazel nut trees were planted with grass seeded between the rows. The plan was to use a vacuum type method to crop from the ground.
45:51 just to note, in a country so blessed with productive land and amenable weather, that that may not last given the expectation of AMOC slowing. See Nature Food, 'Shifts in national land use and food production in Great Britain after a climate tipping point' Jan 2020. With the latest news on AMOC, it's not if, but when. Brace, brace.
You want to know what the government should do? Empower farmers. Hobby to professional scale. Every local farmer I know is flirting with the big corporate devils or relying on outside income to survive... I repeat, the local fellows who used to be a backbone of local economies, now farm in spare moments with spare money to invest, and they still barekt run profit
I think farmers are ploughing much much deeper than 8 or 10 inches. I rent a house from a farm in Herefordshire (UK) and see a lot of farming activity right in front of me .
The problem with the market place decides to government is controlling the marketplace. My let's talk politics for a second. I don't believe politics is the answer but that's just my opinion but let me say this. The conservative government is not conservative, It's like the number 0 it's a holding place for the next Government in power to make up more rulesGovernment in power to make up more rules. You see the government doesn't actually care for you they only care what you produce and how much money they can extract from you this is why we have such a high pressure work society especially in the cities where you are required to keep pumping out money to survive. That's not living. So when we use terms like conservative or left or right they are actually loaded words then have nothing to do with life, Nothing to do with the connection of the human beings Next to you. How many laws in rules are in government right now and this is based on the political party in power, There are so many rules that you break them every minute of every day. Some of the rules are logical and sustainable and makes sense and the rest is just garbage. Who controls the markets? Who has multi national trade agreements with different countries, I can tell you it's not the local farmer. Politics it's very easy to hate other people who have different opinions because that's what politics is it divides. I repeat my last point that conservative governments are not conservatives. Even the left-wing governments again another loaded term is stuck on identity politics when they care about what's between your legs more than what's going on in the world. This is why I say I don't think politics can save you because they're too busy wondering where they're going to get their next cash cow. One last word on politics in I'll leave this alone, The capitalist and the Communist all came out of the industrial revolution, That's basically destroying our planet. So I don't think either one of them have the solutions. People build communities, The 3 primary industries Is the basis for all trade. As Mr Stalatin says " You get scaling not based on centralisation, But duplication" Politics only focuses centralisation. Everything about business and industrialization is focused around centralisation, Regardless of the lying utopia that the politicians would make up. That's about all I have to say. 😊
With our kids we just showed them the excitement we exhibited about our food & always said how it put hair on your chest or made you prettier & how eating junk made you sickly & ugly. 😂. No clue where he gets his food price numbers but food is 50 percent of our total income. Rich bastard. $900 montly minimum here in Alberta Canada home of ranch beef. 1 T-bone is $55.
I see the Homestead solar punk lifestyle, Trying to feed the world got us in this mess. Too much has happened in the last 250 years, But we are the problem, And we are the solution. We have such technology now that we don't even need to be a farmer to live on a farm. We have robots that can do most of the manual labor, We've done it for the industrialization of cars and vehicles but we have not done it for small farms. I would like to see and I'm hoping to work on personal project myself where small robots would be going around identifying what is wrong what is right with the plants, The soil pests and diseases to be identified recorded. Everything biological can be turned into compost. Have you seen Clarkson's farm, On Prime Video. Where he "farmed the un-farmable" using a vacuum cleaner to suck up ripe berries.
My inner brain is utterly rotten on the vegetable taste part. I cant for the life me enjoy them and always grave fast food. While i love gardening and smale scale farming
That’s all the sugar and additives. If you detoxed from eating out first. (Try for 30 days) You will find the homegrown fruit and veg is so more tasty!
So again it seems that eating meat as a staple is how we evolved. Annual crops are naturally rare and have a whole host of issues and we still haven't got far with replacement by perennial crops. Notwithstanding the great success of, mainly annual plant food diets around the world, we do need to consider how we proceed in a perennial plant based scenario, if that is what we choose. As new plant foods are developed, we best make sure that they are truly health building and not just chosen because they may appear better for the environment or the economy, according to some prevailing ideology. Potentially edible and eatable plants usually contain protective compounds that are not necessarily good for our assimilation of nutrients. You can't just think in terms of supplanting animal fats and proteins with plant ones, they are not the same in food value. It's like saying we don't need soil, just a mechanical growing medium with plenty of NPK added. From my perspective it is a great shame that those concerned about the environment and healthy food are locked into the anthropogenic climate change story, as it hobbles us , perhaps fatally, in our ability to create viable growing systems with livestock as a central feature of fertility, soil health and nutrition. As for glyphosate, there is no question as to its toxicity in the environment and in our bodies. Glyphosate has no place in a food system, however convenient it may be. I love this series of interviews you're doing. Very interesting and thought provoking. Thanks.
On a personal note I do believe, particularly in the UK, we need to base our food system off grass, trees and ruminants, and from there we can get the fertility to grow vegetables and annual crops. Rather than pumping out empty calories like grains, or poor proteins like soy, we should be looking at high quality animal-based protein which happens to also be incredibly nutrient dense. We can produce this in abundance whilst healing our soils. In addition to this, more fruits, nut, and some core vegetables, perennial crops can be a part of it, but I do think there will always be a place for annuals. We just need to cut out sugar, and stop thinking that a healthy meal starts with loads of bread or rice or potatoes or pasta.
@@HuwRichards Yes, I agree. My main concern with some of the new wave farming ideas is that they don't always consider the long term health implications of novel crops and diets and that as you say, high quality pasture with livestock is viewed more as a climate threat than an asset.
@@HuwRichards I'd be interested to see the calculations around a UK food system based on grass, trees and ruminants. I'm not disagreeing, and I like beef too! The farmers around me are all producing grass fed beef. However, almost all of it is over-wintered indoors, and almost all imports grass from other farms to supplement their feed, as well as grains etc. This results in a huge amount of land just to feed a herd, as well as the rather inhumane barn rearing. One neighbour does deploy Highland cows, with a lesser yield, but of pure grass fed, year round cows (and it tastes nice!). However, how would that scale to the national level, and could we produce enough food on the land available to feed the UK? I'm not convinced. I am convinced that most of the land round about could be converted to perennials, nuts and some crops for a higher caloric return, but would require significantly larger human input. Which leads me to another point that you nearly touched on in the video. You mention the lack of connection to food in this country, but is it possible to ever have a "civilised" system where the connection is maintained? Doesn't competition and growth require that we move away from that connection as less and less are involved with the actual food production? Does the abstract nature of current farming not tend to disconnection over time? I believe it does. I could retain a "relationship" with the farmer as a customer, but when it's abstracted via the price mechanism, there isn't a foundation to it. Via the supermarket, we are numerous steps from the farmer, thus there is simply no connection. I wonder if you think there is an optimum number of steps between farmer and consumer that would allow us to retain the connection (and, thus, care) to food? For me, unless we are all prepared to be gardeners of some sort - and I think we should - then we're always on a trajectory away from connection to food, and to nature. I think that's probably the same in the purchase of most commodities.
Many of the large farmers and green-washing food corporations use the term regenerative agriculture in conjunction with glyphosphate and as there is no certification etc for it it's just becomes a bit of a minefield which is not addressed when it should be at Regen Ag conferences like groundswell
What is called currently regenerative agriculture is called normal agriculture for most of time throughout history and there is nothing new except trying to stop ploughing, which means spraying more.. Is spraying round up every year better? A cover crop and annuals needing a lack of perennial growth, these were discussed in the video and saying just because we sprayed instead of ploughed shouldn't mean regenerative agriculture and say we fixed the problem.
@antonyjh1234 If you stop plowing you must start spraying poison? Wtf? Jesus, buddy, do you have a lot of homework to do. Go look up Gabe Brown videos.
Clarkson’s Farm is worth watching because you can watch Jeremy transitioning from just taking the piss to waking up and truly caring about something, maybe for the first time.
Very disappointed with your knowledge on livestock farming and how much carbon we store without ploughing it up every year min till or not.. my livestock add to the quality and biodiversity of my soil and when managed properly never needs spraying, fertilizing or re-seeding.. how do you plan on growing crops environmentally sustainably without animals? how will you give back to the soil after you keeping taking from it.. is your solution chemicals?? where dose your compost come from?? A acre of well managed grassland takes as much carbon out of the atmosphere as an acre of forest(look it up).. if you don't manage without livestock it becomes less carbon efficient.. when you plough a field min till or not you destroy the ecology and biodiversity under the soil and release all the carbon stored.. we shouldn't be at each other here but don't just echo nonsense you heard media channels saying..
Guy Singh-Watson is the most knowledgeable and reasonable voice on farming and eating that I have heard in a very long time! Thank you so much for this interview!
It is an absolute pleasure
A farmer who is socially, environmentally and politically astute. I suggest the government approach him to help steer national policy on food and supermarket regulation. This guy is someone I would trust.
They're more likely to pop him off than do that
Sadly a very naive thing to say given all political parties are just puppets for those that fund them(with respect).
I've provided music for the staff celebration days at River ford HQ for a few years now, and it's been a real privilege to see the operation talk to all the staff, see how it all works and to hear Guy speak. I'm a keen gardener myself, I have 1/4 veg and flower garden myself and it forms a huge part of my creative inspiration for all my work as an artist. I just wanted to say how thankful I am to both Guy and Huw here, and I think a knighthood for Guy is WELL overdue.
Not only do I enjoy Huw’s interviews immensely but I really get a lot out of other commenter’s ideas and thoughts. Reading everyone’s comments shows me how complex each topic really is. Each person, having a slightly different faceted thought about each topic. I appreciate that so far even if someone has a different opinion, I haven’t seen any vitriol thus far and to me, that makes things more interesting and hopeful because it shows we are really all on the same side which is working together to make things better in the long run.
Huw is such an amazing young man , wise beyond his years. Let’s keep it up everyone. It’s nice to feel part of like minded people.
Conversations like these should be getting a million views. Stick with the long-form even if views lag. You are very good at it!
That's super kind thank you! More en route
Local farmers supplying local markets used to be abundant in The U.K. Circular Economy. Fair Share..👍
Regarding ruminant animals, I would like to point out that there were millions or possibly even billions of bison on the North American continent,
and it didn't destroy the environment. If cow farts are as awful as they say, it is because they are feeding things to those cows that they were never designed to eat. If the cows eat grass like they were designed to do, it shouldn't be any more detrimental to the environment than those bison were.
It has been said if the grass is say 2-3ft tall ,if its left as it is and breaks down its the same amount of methane as the cow grazing the grass down to a few inches
The big difference is that bison are native and wild animals, who grazed massive areas of land rather than being stuck in an artificial and confined area. Bison traveled around across wide areas rather than constantly grazing the same small pastures as with farmed animals. They ate native plants, and thus fertilized the ground with native seeds in their feces. Modern commodity animals are fed invasive grasses and plants, and they reseed the pastures with these and thus exacerbate the problem. They are also kept in massive numbers within relatively small areas, thus hammering the land much harder than any wild ruminant ever would in natural conditions. Cows, goats, sheep etc are animals bred and created by humans via artificial selection. They did not evolve with the land, and they are not living in harmony with nature. There is NO COMPARISON.
Interesting point about bison. They also had a much wider variety of animals and no agrochemicals. It’s just the sheer numbers just to feed us and our pets, with all the antibiotics, pesticides, plastics involved. Unsustainable.
Ok, so, cattle compared to Buffalo - Methane. Well, 300 years ago when there were likely 22 million buffalo wandering the plains of the US, they would still not have been in the ballpark when compared to cattle and methane production. All of this being a testament to the differences in the digestive systems of the two groups.
Differences? you might ask. They are both members of the group of animals called ruminants. They have 4 chambered stomachs and they ‘chew their cud’ as a means to continue the digestion of the plants they eat. However, it appears that the North American Buffalo has a more efficient stomach and rumen as compared to cattle. And this can be attributed to the fact the buffalo is a native of North America and cattle are not.
The amount of Methane and other greenhouse gases produced by an individual cow is about 70 to 120 kg per year. The average for the buffalo is about 70 kg per year. So, we see that the buffalo produces about the same amount of gases as does the lowest estimation for cattle. It is this efficiency that has developed in the buffalo over millions of years as compared to the 500 years that cattle have been on the continent that wins out here.
Also, it is a simple game of numbers. The buffalo had populations in the 20 millions before the Europeans arrived. At the turn of the 20th century, there may have been as few as 1500 individuals left of those mighty herds. They have rebounded, with help from a more conscientious human population. Today there are varying numbers as to the population now. Some as little as 50,000 and others as high as 500,000 individuals. Suffice it to say that these are large enough numbers to insure the continued survival of the species as long as man is careful. If we took the high numbers and used them to calculate the annual release of methane and the other greenhouse gases from the buffalo population - you would get a number around 35 Million kg of gas released.
Now, the cattle. According to figures that can be looked up on the web, there are approximately 7.5 billion humans that live on this planet. The number of cattle is at near 998 million. In the United States, we account for about 98 million of those cows. If we use the total population of cows and the low-end figure for the gases produced by them - we get 6.860 billion kg of methane and other gases produced yearly. If we use the high-end figure of 120 kg per cow - yields 11.76 Billion kg of methane and other gases per year.
Either way, bison emissions are a drop in the bucket compared to cows.
Very interesting point. I'll look into it further to understand why there is that difference.
Loving these conversations Huw. They're very informative and UK based which makes them way more relavent for us UK growers. Thanks for doing these podcasts!
It's an absolute pleasure, I'm really enjoying them!
Really interesting conversation, thanks Huw and Guy!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Interesting conversation, thanks Guy and Huw. If you really want to shake up farming and food production, introduce a nutrient density standard, in the recent wide ranging BFA trials there was a 5 orders of magnitude difference in nutrient density, yet the consumer has no clue of the quality of food from a nutrient density standpoint, why is this never part of the conversation? Huw, see if you can interview Ben Taylor-Davis (RegenBen) he has a straight talking attitude, with an encylopedic knowledge, he'd be a perfect fit for the series.
If they put it as nutrient density a huge amount of crops would fail any logical test of consumption/production. Currently using kg's and all emissions being put onto just the edible that make it to market is a poor way of measuring things.
I really do appreciate this and any recommendation to chat to people! Ben would be excellent to chat to! And yes totally agree regarding nutrient density, and there should also have to be on packaged food, a "number of ingredients" stamp and so people will see that many things have about 10X as many things as first thought!
@@HuwRichards Adam Swan (soilecologylab) would be goo too, they make a really interesting bioamendment from compost extract, and they're working with some interesting projects/market gardens doing soil amendment/biologicals trials with some quite remarkable results, recently helped me decipher my soil lab analysis results, really knowledgeable guys.
Very smart Farmer ! their is hope with guys like him 🤔
Great convo - Love Guy's frank and openess to discuss and look at the realities of food production in the uk, consumtion and most importantly how we value it. Just like the US is now putting in an 'alternative farmer' as an advisor to the government, we need Guy in this role here in the UK 💚✌🌿
Please look into Walter Jehne's research on the H2O cycle. He shows that farmers hold the key reversing global heating by covering the soil and incorporating agroforestry.
Yep, the removal of C from the earths crust, and exhaling into the atmos sounds like a plausible effect on the global system
Farmers pump Seee Ohhh 2 into greenhouses to produce a better crop. We need more not less. It currently makes up 0.04% of the atmosphere, whereas at times when it made up 30% of the atmosphere, the planet thrived. Solar cycles and Hunga Tonga are having a huge effect on things and that will continue whatever else we do.
“At times when the planet thrived” was before the over population and use of the planet by “sophisticated” human life.
We would not be able to survive in those overheated environments as will soon become apparent unless we accept global warming is a man made problem that needs intelligent solutions by knowledgeable scientists.
@alibali672 er, you are comparing two completely different growing scenarios. Increased CO2 is not the only requirement of plant growth in the natural growing environment. It is also effected by latitude, altitude, soil type, soil moisture, rainfall frequency and volume, just for starters.
If the CO2 levels were 30% you would be dead
A farmer I know had a massive supermarket contact, then decided that he needed to upgrade the pack house, that cost millions, had to get a loan then turned round and said they will only buy the product at 10p (sold for 60) but cost 20p per product!
Small land parcels that are available are over priced and marketed and costted to carbon offset which is just a green wash and isn't making big companies actually become greener. Like net zero it's ridiculous as Guy said we need lots of smaller farmers not the massive agricultural businesses that promise the land owners, estates etc £x per acre a year
41:25 Every critical technology and piece of infrastructure was developed through public funding: the internet, GPS, microchips, accelerometers, image sensors, touchscreens, satellites, Gorilla Glass, schools, Medicare, roads, and more.
Competition actually stifles innovation with practices such as patents, gatekeeping of information and technologies, intellectual property rights, NDAs, buying out competitors just to remove them from the market, planned obsolescence, and so on.
41:35 So ridiculous that, in just 60 years, the Soviets went from being a third-world country to achieving: the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth (Sputnik), the first spacecraft to reach the Moon, the first human spaceflight (Yuri Gagarin aboard Vostok 1), the Soyuz spacecraft (a design still used for space travel today), the first series of space stations (Salyut program), the first robotic rover to explore the Moon (Lunokhod 1), the first supersonic passenger jet (Tupolev Tu-144), the invention of RBMK and VVER nuclear reactors, the Tokamak fusion reactor, the Setun computer (the only ternary, or three-valued logic, computer ever built), early prototypes for mechanical heart systems, pioneering the large-scale use of titanium alloys in aircraft and submarines, the discovery of Cherenkov radiation, the establishment of the first global seed banks, the first nuclear power plant in the world to produce electricity for a power grid (Obninsk), the first spacecraft to achieve a soft landing on Mars (Mars 3), and the first spacecraft to land on Venus and transmit data back to Earth (Venera 7).
Thoroughly enjoying your interviews, because these are 'big' topics and for the average ignoramus (myself), who flits around the edges trying to grasp it all, it really can be overwhelming. It's challenging, enlightening and hopeful, thanks. 😊
I must be lucky because my kids have always loved organic veg, but then they didn't really have much choice as I've always tried to buy veg boxes and cook from scratch. Plus I got them involved in growing veg when they were small. It helps that they were home educated, so they didn't have peer pressure.
We eat Riverford produce and love the taste, variety and ethos. We don't have a huge amount of money, so sometimes it's a stretch to order a box, but I'd rather buy good food than take a family holiday as you can't put a price on health.
Such a candid and refreshing interview.
I love hearing Guy! Thanks for the interview, Huw. Keep at it
I attended a session at LandAlive on Friday with Tim Parton (Green Farm Collective), Andrew Neal (Rothamsted Research) & Ian Wilkinson talking about glyphosate alternatives in regen arable. Ongoing research and Tim using a lot less than before,
I was interested in that as I live in the area but never got a ticket. Was it worth it? Might have to go along next year.
Allan Savorys message is slowly getting through, Just takes institution's & organisation's decades to accept.
Just recorded a fascinating podcast with Patrick Holden too that has another mention of holistic grazing
Yes we practice holistic management on our organic dairy farm. We also practice biodynamics in our community gardens which for me was the icing on the cake. Patrick Holden is another great ambassador for organic growing.
What a great interview
Thank you Huw for another utterly common-sense video!
And thank you Guy for speaking up about 'certain inequalities' .
As for glyphosates: BIG NONO! ; see e.g. Stephanie Seneff for clarification on its long lasting and insidious effects on soils, plants, and us. Also Don Huber and Anthony Suau.
Also beware when you buy seeds; "organic", besides mostly meaning "corporate organic" (see e.g. The Real Organic Project), does nOt mean non-F1 or indeed non-GMO. The term "regenerative" also means "corporate regenerative" if glyphosates are used AT ALL.
By the way heritage varieties have wáy higher vitality, nutrient content, and resilience. See e.g. Vandana Shiva on the twisted intentions of 'those corporations' regarding the pushing of GMO and the innate need of GMO products (they're barely plants anymore) for endless chemicals, and the social repercussions of all that.
Subsidies tend to go to all the wrong (destructive) 'endeavours', and wtf is going on with all these anti-Life products still being available to buy??? Barbaric - and that's an insult to "barbarians"!
I have an allotment and took up dowsing because i get answers to such questions as "does this horse manure (brought to the allotment site for the plotters' use) contain aminopyralids?" and many other questions one wouldn't want to guess the answer to or 'trust one's luck'.
🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 🌳🕊💚
Truely sustainable agriculture cannot exist without livestock...
Excellent interview.
Sad that he buys their climate story, but a great mind and approach.
In my view, chemicals have no place in Regenerative Ag. The silence about it is typical of the industry.
Thank you Huw and Guy
"can kids get excited about vegetables" - after growing my own veg for a few years, my daughter of 9 is super excited when the first brussel sprouts (yes!) are ready, and my son of 10 (with autism, and started life as a very difficult eater) recently acknowledged that kohlrabi dipped in soy sauce is "really really good mommy!" They both tend to eat their salads (including mustards, rocket, radicchio, endives) before the rest of their plate, and I could go on... It wasn't instantaneous, but yes, it is possible!
Well done. FYI: You can sell cardoon flowers as vegetable renet for cheese Making. Some famous traditional peccorinos are Made this way. Also, I'd say nature doesnt want to be "left alone". Humans have been a keystone species in many habitats for millenia. We just happen to have destroyed that habitat, whilst simultaniously forgetting how to belong to it.
Here in Venezuelas andean cloudforrest region, Ive spent the past 19 odd years reimagining "human nature" in deeply regenerative (mostly perenial) polycultures. Aside from rebuilding ecosystems and watersheds, Agriculture can rebuild communities, cultures, and purpose. And be profitable. No reason to stop at agroforrestry as a cropping system. It's so much more efficient than industrial Ag. As the latter has ever deminishing ROIC and increasing inputs, the systems that self support and acumulate fertility and diversity syntropically have an ever increasing return on deminishing inputs.
Also, animals absolutely not only regenerate soil and trap carbon, but Large herds of ruminants in brital climates are actually the reason the plains of the world are amongst the worlds deepest and most fertile soils. Holistic Management methods are case in point. Make sure to move animals densly and quickly. And if you preffer smaller animals more apt for agroforrestry, check out the "tree range farms" model of Pole-tree. The former is trademarked. The latter, you can have if youd like.
Syntropic agriculture is a perfect way to regeneratively farm. It’s based on humans interacting with perennial food forests to move them forwards quickly in natural sequence so both the environment and the people benefit.
So glad to hear a conversation that ranges from perennial / agroforestry farming to commercially viable, affordable food & fairness and employee ownership approaches. Is there scope for a perennial veg box via Riverford or a new entrant ?
I think Guys point about supermarkets when being granted planning permission should have some conditions put on them to support local produce is an important one and genuinely investing in local farmers by paying them a fair price so they can invest and produce even better produce for consumers; one of the things that struck me from watching Clarkson’s farm was how restrictive the conditions on the shop were - they had to be all locally produced within a certain distance and if they were showcasing a farmer’s product just outside that area it wasn’t allowed, which I felt was ridiculous! Why should farmers trying to bring British farmed goods to the locality be subjected to more stringent rules than supermarkets?
When was this recorded, no mention of the inheritance tax - I looked up prices of farms where I live and a small farm (not much more than a smallholding) cost nearly 3 million!
Back in September!
Won’t the recent changes in inheritance tax help to address the problem of inflated farm prices? My understanding is that land prices have been artificially boosted by people buying land as a means to avoid inheritance tax.
@@stevec4661 It has been said that rough ground in the peak district ,is doubled in price to plant trees for net zero,usually big business
The future in farming is providing food for the carnivore diet. Where no chemicals are needed after the soil has begun regeneration and the rotation system worked out. Vegetables use poisons to prevent themselves being eaten which the activity in a ruminant's gut remove for us. Selling using direct sales the key to independence and a comfortable life. The trick to Regen is deciding never to see the soil again, kept covered, feeding the microbes augmented (for the ambitious) with rock dust, compost extracts (teas) and realising any farm is part of the local ecosystem.
He’s right. The answer to all these issues is:
It all depends.
Regenerative farmers I know do discuss glyphosate and would like to reduce or eliminate its use. Similarly the same for artificial nitrogen and many other inputs.
One of the central tenets of regen is to reduce the reliance on off farm sourced inputs.
Also conventional farming does not destroy all life in the farmed environment. In fact there’s plenty of life but it’s the biodiversity that is drastically reduced. This is a key point that gets lost in these conversations. Those moving from conventional to regenerative have a considerable task to rebuild biodiversity and going cold turkey by cutting out synthetic inputs in a clean break is not actually what is needed to move biodiversity forward in many farmed environments
I'm fortunate to be able to grow my own Hazel nuts but, as a trial, I recently bought a pullet from a national supermarket. They had been grown in Croatia, packed in Italy and were inedible with most starting to rot. From personal experience I would say they were at least two years old if not older. Incidentally, the garlic in the same supermarket had been imported from China. They stayed on the shelf of course. Regards, John.
I don't buy Chinese garlic because it's tasteless as well as unsustainable
@bearsbreeches ... and a ridiculous concept. 👍
Ruminant animal inputs are absolutely necessary and essential to regenerate soils, besides choosing biodiverse plant species and those with deep roots.
If we would get rid of most industrial plant agriculture and focus on regenerating our dead soils with properly managed ruminant animals ( and others), then we could turn back climate change to pre- industrial levels.
47:00 we have transitioned away from using coal at any large scale, but surely we can't transition away from eating food?
I worked for a farmer here in the Gers, France (Vic Fezensac), where approx 30,000 Hazel nut trees were planted with grass seeded between the rows. The plan was to use a vacuum type method to crop from the ground.
45:51 just to note, in a country so blessed with productive land and amenable weather, that that may not last given the expectation of AMOC slowing.
See Nature Food, 'Shifts in national land use and food production in Great Britain after a climate tipping point' Jan 2020.
With the latest news on AMOC, it's not if, but when. Brace, brace.
Huw has some videos about growing perennials
You want to know what the government should do? Empower farmers. Hobby to professional scale. Every local farmer I know is flirting with the big corporate devils or relying on outside income to survive... I repeat, the local fellows who used to be a backbone of local economies, now farm in spare moments with spare money to invest, and they still barekt run profit
Looks like the hopes for this government were futile 😞
I think farmers are ploughing much much deeper than 8 or 10 inches. I rent a house from a farm in Herefordshire (UK) and see a lot of farming activity right in front of me .
The problem with the market place decides to government is controlling the marketplace.
My let's talk politics for a second.
I don't believe politics is the answer but that's just my opinion but let me say this.
The conservative government is not conservative, It's like the number 0 it's a holding place for the next Government in power to make up more rulesGovernment in power to make up more rules.
You see the government doesn't actually care for you they only care what you produce and how much money they can extract from you this is why we have such a high pressure work society especially in the cities where you are required to keep pumping out money to survive.
That's not living.
So when we use terms like conservative or left or right they are actually loaded words then have nothing to do with life, Nothing to do with the connection of the human beings Next to you.
How many laws in rules are in government right now and this is based on the political party in power, There are so many rules that you break them every minute of every day.
Some of the rules are logical and sustainable and makes sense and the rest is just garbage.
Who controls the markets? Who has multi national trade agreements with different countries, I can tell you it's not the local farmer.
Politics it's very easy to hate other people who have different opinions because that's what politics is it divides.
I repeat my last point that conservative governments are not conservatives.
Even the left-wing governments again another loaded term is stuck on identity politics when they care about what's between your legs more than what's going on in the world.
This is why I say I don't think politics can save you because they're too busy wondering where they're going to get their next cash cow.
One last word on politics in I'll leave this alone, The capitalist and the Communist all came out of the industrial revolution, That's basically destroying our planet. So I don't think either one of them have the solutions.
People build communities, The 3 primary industries Is the basis for all trade.
As Mr Stalatin says " You get scaling not based on centralisation, But duplication"
Politics only focuses centralisation.
Everything about business and industrialization is focused around centralisation, Regardless of the lying utopia that the politicians would make up.
That's about all I have to say.
😊
With our kids we just showed them the excitement we exhibited about our food & always said how it put hair on your chest or made you prettier & how eating junk made you sickly & ugly. 😂. No clue where he gets his food price numbers but food is 50 percent of our total income. Rich bastard. $900 montly minimum here in Alberta Canada home of ranch beef. 1 T-bone is $55.
I see the Homestead solar punk lifestyle, Trying to feed the world got us in this mess.
Too much has happened in the last 250 years, But we are the problem, And we are the solution.
We have such technology now that we don't even need to be a farmer to live on a farm.
We have robots that can do most of the manual labor, We've done it for the industrialization of cars and vehicles but we have not done it for small farms.
I would like to see and I'm hoping to work on personal project myself where small robots would be going around identifying what is wrong what is right with the plants, The soil pests and diseases to be identified recorded.
Everything biological can be turned into compost.
Have you seen Clarkson's farm, On Prime Video. Where he "farmed the un-farmable" using a vacuum cleaner to suck up ripe berries.
That bitter taste? Its the vegetables defence mechanism.
My inner brain is utterly rotten on the vegetable taste part. I cant for the life me enjoy them and always grave fast food. While i love gardening and smale scale farming
That’s all the sugar and additives. If you detoxed from eating out first. (Try for 30 days) You will find the homegrown fruit and veg is so more tasty!
@@shelleygoetchius231 absolutely, cut out everything processed and all sugar and suddenly everything will taste amazing!
I wonder how you protect your walnuts from squirrels?
So again it seems that eating meat as a staple is how we evolved. Annual crops are naturally rare and have a whole host of issues and we still haven't got far with replacement by perennial crops. Notwithstanding the great success of, mainly annual plant food diets around the world, we do need to consider how we proceed in a perennial plant based scenario, if that is what we choose. As new plant foods are developed, we best make sure that they are truly health building and not just chosen because they may appear better for the environment or the economy, according to some prevailing ideology. Potentially edible and eatable plants usually contain protective compounds that are not necessarily good for our assimilation of nutrients. You can't just think in terms of supplanting animal fats and proteins with plant ones, they are not the same in food value. It's like saying we don't need soil, just a mechanical growing medium with plenty of NPK added. From my perspective it is a great shame that those concerned about the environment and healthy food are locked into the anthropogenic climate change story, as it hobbles us , perhaps fatally, in our ability to create viable growing systems with livestock as a central feature of fertility, soil health and nutrition. As for glyphosate, there is no question as to its toxicity in the environment and in our bodies. Glyphosate has no place in a food system, however convenient it may be.
I love this series of interviews you're doing. Very interesting and thought provoking. Thanks.
On a personal note I do believe, particularly in the UK, we need to base our food system off grass, trees and ruminants, and from there we can get the fertility to grow vegetables and annual crops. Rather than pumping out empty calories like grains, or poor proteins like soy, we should be looking at high quality animal-based protein which happens to also be incredibly nutrient dense. We can produce this in abundance whilst healing our soils. In addition to this, more fruits, nut, and some core vegetables, perennial crops can be a part of it, but I do think there will always be a place for annuals. We just need to cut out sugar, and stop thinking that a healthy meal starts with loads of bread or rice or potatoes or pasta.
@@HuwRichards Yes, I agree. My main concern with some of the new wave farming ideas is that they don't always consider the long term health implications of novel crops and diets and that as you say, high quality pasture with livestock is viewed more as a climate threat than an asset.
@@HuwRichards I'd be interested to see the calculations around a UK food system based on grass, trees and ruminants. I'm not disagreeing, and I like beef too! The farmers around me are all producing grass fed beef. However, almost all of it is over-wintered indoors, and almost all imports grass from other farms to supplement their feed, as well as grains etc. This results in a huge amount of land just to feed a herd, as well as the rather inhumane barn rearing. One neighbour does deploy Highland cows, with a lesser yield, but of pure grass fed, year round cows (and it tastes nice!). However, how would that scale to the national level, and could we produce enough food on the land available to feed the UK? I'm not convinced. I am convinced that most of the land round about could be converted to perennials, nuts and some crops for a higher caloric return, but would require significantly larger human input.
Which leads me to another point that you nearly touched on in the video. You mention the lack of connection to food in this country, but is it possible to ever have a "civilised" system where the connection is maintained? Doesn't competition and growth require that we move away from that connection as less and less are involved with the actual food production? Does the abstract nature of current farming not tend to disconnection over time? I believe it does. I could retain a "relationship" with the farmer as a customer, but when it's abstracted via the price mechanism, there isn't a foundation to it. Via the supermarket, we are numerous steps from the farmer, thus there is simply no connection. I wonder if you think there is an optimum number of steps between farmer and consumer that would allow us to retain the connection (and, thus, care) to food? For me, unless we are all prepared to be gardeners of some sort - and I think we should - then we're always on a trajectory away from connection to food, and to nature. I think that's probably the same in the purchase of most commodities.
How is this a regenerative ag problem?
Many of the large farmers and green-washing food corporations use the term regenerative agriculture in conjunction with glyphosphate and as there is no certification etc for it it's just becomes a bit of a minefield which is not addressed when it should be at Regen Ag conferences like groundswell
@HuwRichards I'd like a law that only small farms could exist and use the regenerative agriculture title.
What is called currently regenerative agriculture is called normal agriculture for most of time throughout history and there is nothing new except trying to stop ploughing, which means spraying more.. Is spraying round up every year better? A cover crop and annuals needing a lack of perennial growth, these were discussed in the video and saying just because we sprayed instead of ploughed shouldn't mean regenerative agriculture and say we fixed the problem.
@antonyjh1234 If you stop plowing you must start spraying poison? Wtf? Jesus, buddy, do you have a lot of homework to do. Go look up Gabe Brown videos.
@@vivalaleta I am repeating the problems HE said. You asked how is this a regenerative ag problem and he described the situation as it is in uk..?
Clarkson’s Farm is worth watching because you can watch Jeremy transitioning from just taking the piss to waking up and truly caring about something, maybe for the first time.
It's a fascinating process
Very disappointed with your knowledge on livestock farming and how much carbon we store without ploughing it up every year min till or not.. my livestock add to the quality and biodiversity of my soil and when managed properly never needs spraying, fertilizing or re-seeding.. how do you plan on growing crops environmentally sustainably without animals? how will you give back to the soil after you keeping taking from it.. is your solution chemicals?? where dose your compost come from?? A acre of well managed grassland takes as much carbon out of the atmosphere as an acre of forest(look it up).. if you don't manage without livestock it becomes less carbon efficient.. when you plough a field min till or not you destroy the ecology and biodiversity under the soil and release all the carbon stored.. we shouldn't be at each other here but don't just echo nonsense you heard media channels saying..
You'll enjoy an upcoming podcast episode with Patrick Holden that goes into a lot of this