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Is pasture-raised beef better for the environment? It sure could be.

Food Politics

A reader, Kris, sent me this query: I hope in a future writing you can help sort out the mixed statements I’m reading about how pasture-raised meat lines up in terms of environmental/climate change concerns, (particularly if it doesn’t involve extensive shipping). So, I’m all for pasture grazing.

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The Season of Mud

ATTRA

Our pastures are devastated by livestock feeding areas, hooves, gate ruts, excessive rain, snow melt, and lack of vegetative cover during the non-growing season. We are too aware of the cost of pasture forage restoration, truck fenders, and loss of man hours, but there is also a cost to the health and welfare of our livestock.

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Managing Dairy Slurry to Maximize Nutrient Capture

UnderstandingAg

Manure slurry is a valuable but difficult resource to manage on dairy farms. Slurry pits must be emptied to make room for the never-ending stream of manure. Manure is often not a top priority for most dairies and handling may have to wait until seasonal fieldwork is completed. This causes the soil microbiology to go dormant.

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Bringing Back Local Milk, Ice Cream, and Cheese

Civil Eats

From pasture to parlor, its organic, butterfat-rich milk travels less than 10 miles, produced by a herd of Jerseys pasture-raised on the misty coast. A few sleek Jersey cows from the Foggy Bottoms Boys pastures. Proper rotational grazing relies on pasture as the primary forage, cutting feed costs.

Pasture 83
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The Solution to Water Woes Could Lie With Beavers

Modern Farmer

It’s been a decent year at the 200,000-acre spread, with enough forage for the 2,000 mother cows and their calves. In some pastures, Griggs must rely upon wells, some as deep as 800 feet, to water the livestock. In some pastures, Griggs must rely upon wells, some as deep as 800 feet, to water the livestock.

Ranching 122
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Agricultural Diversification: Practice and Policy

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

And beyond the diversification associated with cropping fields, adding livestock diversity into a system can reduce challenges like pests and diseases while allowing for nutrient cycling from livestock to soil and back to crop or forage species. Mixed summer forage in the Southeast U.S.

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Can Taller Cover Crops Help Clean the Water in Farm Country?

Civil Eats

The tall forage stands out in southeastern Minnesota’s corn and soybean fields, which this time of year have been reduced to stubble poking through the snow. It works as both a cover crop and forage for the cattle, and it’s helping Bedtka build up organic matter in his soil. That’s where the sorghum-sudangrass comes in.

Crop 114