A return to mixed farming systems, as well as educating the public about the value of well-managed livestock, is the best way to save our soils
SIR DAVID ATTENBOROUGH and most of the elite of the scientific community are now telling us that we only have 10 years to act if we are to avoid irreversible climate change. they’re also saying that farming must play a leading role in helping us achieve net zero emissions. it’s not surprising that most farmers and landowners are asking how they should respond.
Most experts agree that the only way we can actually take Co 2 out of the atmosphere is to rebuild the soil carbon that 50-plus years of continuous arable farming has removed. to do that, we need to switch to mixed farming systems that include a crop rotation with pastures grazed by cows or sheep.
The key question is how could such a switch be profitable, especially in a country whose younger generation—including our own children—is reducing its intake of red meat, believing it’s the right thing to do, both for their health and the health of the planet, in some cases going vegetarian and vegan?
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