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"Defending Beef" Means More Grass

nicolette hahn niman and defending beef

Nicolette Hahn Niman acknowledges that there are problems with how cattle are raised around the world, "But the problems are not inherent in cattle or beef. It's really human error," she says. The message she preaches in her new book Defending Beef: The Case For Sustainable Meat Production is that cows should be raised on grass.

She calls herself a lifelong environmentalist. She's worked at the Waterkeeper Alliance and the National Wildlife Federation. She is also a livestock rancher. She considers her work with cows an extension of her environmentalism.

I spoke with Niman from her home in northern California. Here are some highlights:

On well-managed grazing operations:

"The best place for (cattle) to be is in a situation where they're outdoors and they're grazing. They're exercising and they're eating vegetation that they themselves are harvesting through their own grazing. What humans should be doing is to be managing those cattle as much as possible in such a way that their impact on the land is similar to how wild animals once grazed around the world."

On how grazing cattle can improve the land:

"The reason that's beneficial for an ecosystem when they're well-managed is because their mouths are clipping the vegetation and that's like what we would do in our gardens with pruning. You have to prune away vegetation to keep the plant itself healthy. That stimulates that plant to grow, but even more importantly, it stimulates all the other plants around it to be able to grow because you're getting rid of the shade. That's number one.

The pruning, the pressing of the hooves and the manure... Those three actions together are what create the beneficial impact.

"Number two. A lot of times you'll hear 'the trampling hooves' and it's sort of said in a negative way. Well, it's true again. The key is good management. If they're not being managed correctly, the hooves can be a negative, but a well-managed grazing operation, the hooves are essential because they're actually pushing the seeds into the ground and they're pushing the vegetation into the soil, which is where the biological action of the soil can take place. So, the biological processes of recycling the nutrients that are in the plants and feeding the soil life happen better when you have the trampling of the hooves.

"And then finally there's the manure. The digestive processes are incredibly important because manure is a really good soil nutrient amendment. It is these three processes -- the pruning, the pressing of the hooves and the manure (the cycling of the vegetation through the bodies of the grazing animals) -- those three actions together are what create the beneficial impact."

On the role grazing cattle play in capturing carbon from the atmosphere and storing it in soil:

"The plants bring the carbon from the air into themselves through photosynthesis and then through their root structures and through fungi that live around the roots as well another substance, that was just discovered in 1996 by USDA scientists called, glomalin, which is a substance that coats the roots of the plants. There are billions of transactions that are taking place within the soil around the roots of these plants, especially grasses. Grasses are the best for this, where the carbon is then exchanged for the nutrients and the nutrients go to the plant and the carbon goes into the soil. The carbon is then encapsulated and stays in the soil.

People are very clearly, more and more saying they don't want chemicals and drugs in their food system... And the mainstream beef industry is still not getting that message.

"Now, that whole process does not necessarily result in carbon being truly sequestered unless you have this glomalin and you have really stable soils that are not being plowed. Plowing is very damaging. It releases carbon into the air. That's why grassland and grazing areas are being looked at as the key to successful carbon sequestration on a global level, because you need these undisturbed subterranean environments. That's where the grazing operations are absolutely essential."

On her message to the beef industry:

"Being part of a ranch for the last decade and knowing really good ranchers around the country, I really want the beef industry to survive. Americans are cutting down on their beef. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but my point is if the beef industry doesn't want this to continue going down down down, they need to listen to the concerns of the people in the environmental community and people in the health community, and really make sure that the practices that are being engaged in across the industry are matching people's expectations as far as animal husbandry and as far as land stewardship and in terms of the safety and quality of the meat that's produced.

"People are very clearly, more and more saying they don't want chemicals and drugs in their food system. That is so clear, it's so loud and clear. And the mainstream beef industry is still not getting that message. I'm really hoping my book will be received by the beef industry as a sort of really constructive criticism of how to go forward in a positive way."

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