In the Foreward to the new book by Ridge Shinn and Lynn Pledger, renowned holistic rancher Gabe Brown writes: “It seems that every day we wake up to a new crisis, from the COVID-19 pandemic and high fuel prices to empty store shelves and war in Ukraine. Our world is in a constant state of change. While many cry doomsday, some, like Ridge Shinn and Lynne Pledger, know that the secret to resiliency in a changing world can be found through healthy soil, created with the help of grazing ruminants.

Relying on a lifetime of experience with cattle and resource conservation, Ridge and Lynne take us on a journey through production agriculture in the United States. They explain how farmers and ranchers went from grazing livestock on pasture to confining cattle in grassless pens where grain and by-products are brought to them—grain and by-products that are grown with synthetics (fertilizers, pesticides, and fungicides) and the heavy use of fossil fuels. These practices, in no small part, have led to the degradation of our soils, our waters, and, at least to some degree, our health.

This has led many to vilify animals, cows in particular, and falsely claim that they are largely responsible for climate change. This book helps to set the record straight: This new method of grazing cattle has a net climate benefit. As Ridge and Lynne so truthfully state, “Regenerative grazing will change the way our society thinks about beef, because the grazing itself is as significant as the meat.”

Read more: https://www.chelseagreen.com/2022/why-regenerative-grazing-is-so-important/