A large, and growing proportion of worlds methane emissions comes from the meat industry around the world. Methane is a far more powerful, if shorter lived warming gas, with 84 times the warming potential over 20 years (and still 28 times the warming potential over a century.
Continue reading “What to do, when officials at the UN farming body have their findings censored? Is the UN working for more global warming?”UK Farms that are part of the ‘red tractor’ label scheme more likely to pollute environment
The Red Tractor Assurance Scheme aims to guarantee good food standards. Unfortunately, recent analysis has shown that they are also more likely to pollute the environment than those not in the scheme.
Nearly half of the 100,000 farms in the UK are part of the scheme, and the voiceover promises that the red tractor scheme is a sign that the farm is “farmed with care”.
Continue reading “UK Farms that are part of the ‘red tractor’ label scheme more likely to pollute environment”The worlds 3 most destructive industries are fossil fuels, farming and fisheries, yet all three are protected by (and subsidized) by governments
Unfortunately these 3 activities appear to be most responsible for collapse or incredible pressure on ecosystems across the globe.
Continue reading “The worlds 3 most destructive industries are fossil fuels, farming and fisheries, yet all three are protected by (and subsidized) by governments”A trial of Silvopasture in Devon
I wrote about Silvopasture recently, there is now a trial going on down in Devon. A farmer is now planting huge numbers of trees sparsely across his land. Each row has trees roughly every 6m and each row is roughly 14m apart.
This will produce a patchwork of shade and sun.
Trees being planted are Oak Aspen and Alder – native British species.
Neighbours have suggested that he is mad, and concreting over his land would have the same benefit. Of course common sense would suggest that concreting over the land would leave far less grass than sparsely planted trees but there we are.
5600 trees will be planted across his 165 acre farm. He is taking part in a 12 year trail to see what benefit Silvopasture can have. The expectation is that the environment will benefit, but that there should also be increased productivity for the farmer.
If it can be shown that grazing sheep under sparse woodland increases yield, roughly 63% of agricultural land could have similar treatment. This could amount to hundreds of millions of trees across the country.
Studies elsewhere suggest benefits include reducing flooding increasing drought resilience, improving animal health and weight, as well as boosting biodiversity and sequestering vast quantities of carbon.
Silvopasture
Silvopasture is the idea of integrating food crops that grow high such as orchards and grapevines, but allowing grazers to graze underneath on grass. Is also often known as Agriforestry
In theory many farm areas would be capable of producing large quantities of grape vines (or other fruit) without reducing the amount of sheep that they feed on their land.
Continue reading “Silvopasture”List your wild place
Ant farming of aphids appears more complex than once thought
 Recent analysis has shown that there is another species of farmed animals in the UK. The giant aphid is farmed by brown ants actively on oak trees. Not only do they milk the aphids by removing the sugary watery substance from them but they also herd them between high and low feeding areas. They even create shelters for them (barns in humans terms) from moss lichen and the exoskeletons of Beetles.
Continue reading “Ant farming of aphids appears more complex than once thought”