Cows are not the problem. It’s the way they’re managed and farmed that is creating a climate problem, says Peter Byck, a professor of practice at Arizona State University’s sustainability school and producer of the 2020 short film series Carbon Cowboys and most recently, Roots So Deep. “I’ve found examples of ranches in the U.S. that are adding to their herd, and yet, reducing their carbon footprint through regenerative practices. So, cows can actually be part of the solution to climate change, when regeneratively grazed.”
While estimates vary for livestock’s climate impact—ranging anywhere from 11.1% to nearly 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions—cows, in particular, have been vilified as the problem because of their methane-laden burps and farts.
“Yes, absolutely, cows emit methane. But that’s not the full story,” says Byck. “It’s the large-scale industrial production of livestock that has put a strain on the environment.”
The solution, says Byck, is adaptive multi-paddock grazing, commonly referred to as AMP grazing. This practice, which involves ranchers periodically shifting their cattle between different plots of land, helps farmers create carbon sinks with their herds, he explains. It’s akin to how bison roamed the open plains of the U.S., with long rest periods between each grazing that gives grasses time to grow, thereby enriching the soil. “Overgrazed pastures, instead, look like a golf course,” says Byck.
More growing time also supports a greater diversity of plants, and with that more birds and insects, all of which help fight off pests in a natural approach, he explains. Meanwhile, the vegetation covers the soil, keeping the ground cool and allowing microbes to thrive, which play a key role in storing carbon in the soil.
Through Arizona State University, Byck is leading a team of researchers from around the country who are studying how AMP grazing compares to conventional grazing. So far, they have produced nine peer-reviewed papers since 2016, and have another nine in various stages of writing and analysis. On greenhouse gasses specifically, accounting for CO2, methane, and nitrous oxide, unpublished preliminary results shared with TIME show that AMP grazing is helping sequester 12.1 tons of CO2e per hectare per year. That’s equivalent to the carbon emissions released by the annual electricity usage of two homes. In comparison, conventional cattle production sequesters 2.9 tons of CO2e per year—equal to the emissions released from a gas-powered car driving some 6,700 miles.
The average beef cow herd in the U.S. is made up of 44 cows, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and often it’s this size of farm that adopts regenerative practices. But Byck says it can be done at much larger scales too.
In one of his short films, he features Emry Birdwell, co-owner of Birdwell & Clark Ranch in Texas who has been practicing AMP grazing with 5,000 cattle across 14,000 acres of land. He’s seen the changes on his land first-hand: large bare patches of soil, hundreds of acres wide, are now covered with grasses for the cattle to graze on. The weeds are under control, without any added sprays, which Birdwell says can be like “dropping an atom bomb because you’ll kill some of the good ones too.” Instead, the cattle do that job for free.
Overall, farmers have told Byck that they’ve saved at least $50,000 each year, if not more, by not having to buy nitrogen fertilizer. Plus, they’ve been able to cut back on insecticides, pesticides, and several other farm inputs. “When I started researching this style of grazing back in 2012, I heard from many farmers that they were doing this for economic reasons, not environmental reasons. That was just an added benefit,” he says.
Originally published in Time magazine, click here to read the full article.