Positive Media for Livestock

It is easy to get downcast in the livestock industry.  Not only do you have to cope with low prices, high costs and increasing Government regulation, but there are also ridiculous claims from environmentalists that livestock production is bad for the environment. 

It is always good to see positive media about the sector when it comes along.  Once piece of media that has gained a lot of traction recently is the video by Allan Savory on the potential to reverse desertification in the world’s grasslands through the use of livestock.  Not only can there be food production from now degraded areas, economic and political stability can be improved in areas prone to violence. 

Allan Savory also mentions the role of regenerating grasslands and its positive effects on reversing the global warming.  The video challenges much of what is regarded as conventional thinking – that livestock production adversely affects the environment and that less is better.  To those of that produce livestock in the rangelands it confirms what we already know.  That is running livestock in the rangelands is one of the most environmentally benign forms of food production.  The rangelands are teeming with life and capable of producing large amounts of food. 

Further Reading

Allan Savory: Grassland ecosystem pioneer.  http://www.ted.com/speakers/allan_savory.html

The Farming Gene

I think we all have the farming gene in us somewhere.  For many people the gene is latent and remains that way for their whole life.  In others who live in towns and cities it may manifest itself through people growing fruit and vegetables in their backyard along with a few chooks.  Some people exercise their farming gene by visiting friends and relatives who live on rural properties. 

For farmers the “gene” is fully expressed through daily activities as they go about producing food and fibre.  Often the farming gene can reveal itself when someone marries a farmer.  Traditionally this happened when a woman from the city married a farmer and moved to the bush.  Now there are many men who follow their wives back to farms that may have been in the family for generations. 

On our property in Northern Australia, we often see expression of the farming gene when a backpacker comes to the station with no experience in handling livestock and takes to it like a duck to water.  Of course we encourage expression of the farming gene as much as we can by on the job training and encouragement. 

The farming gene also becomes evident in jobs around the homestead such as feeding the poddy calves or tending the chooks.  Again people with little or no experience in dealing with animals soon have a real connection with the animals in their care. 

Despite most people becoming further and further removed from their food production, the farming gene means that everyone could get back to some form of food production without too much trouble.