The pasture-raised beef movement is much more than just another health fad. The practice of intensively managing cattle on rangelands can improve soil and prevent desertification.
One of the leading experts in using livestock to reduce desertification in arid climates is a man named Allan Savory, who has studied rangeland management in Africa for over 40 years.
Savory, like most biologists, once believed that the cause of the erosion of topsoils in South Africa was caused by livestock grazing, and the best solution to improving rangelands was to remove livestock. But instead of the problem improving rangeland topsoil erosion became worse.
Savory then tested a hypothesis that grasslands grazed by animals intensively, followed by a rest period slowly improved both soil and native grass species over time. His before and after photos demonstrate the dramatic improvement that can be realized.
Today, Savory’s methods are practiced in regions all over the world (including Canyon Meadows Ranch and Blue Tree Ranch in Utah). Besides improving soil the long-term benefits are that more carbon is sequestered from the air and stored in the ground; underground aquifers are restored and improved; and sunlight is absorbed and stored in grass producing a net cooling effect. Savory contends that if intensive grazing is practiced on a mass scale in the world’s most arid regions global warming could be prevented.
At least two grass-fed beef ranchers practice intensive grazing in Utah, in the video we present case studies presented by Rik Myrin of Canyon Meadows Ranch.
