Sustainable Farming Videos

3 Sustainable Farming Videos

Number 1: 100,000 Beating Hearts

One Hundred Thousand Beating Hearts from Peter Byck on Vimeo.
Will Harris, owner of White Oak Pastures, tells us his evolution from industrial to regenerative farmer.

Number 2: Soil Carbon Cowboys

SOIL CARBON COWBOYS from Peter Byck on Vimeo.
Meet Allen Williams, Gabe Brown and Neil Dennis - heroes and innovators! These ranchers now know how to regenerate their soils while making their animals healthier and their operations more profitable. They are turning ON their soils, enabling rainwater to sink into the earth rather than run off. And these turned ON soils retain that water, so the ranches are much more resilient in drought. It's an amazing story that has just begun.

Number 3: Soil Carbon Curious

Soil Carbon Curious from Peter Byck on Vimeo.

Adaptive Multi-Paddock grazing (AMP grazing) is regenerating soils around the world, producing healthy grass-finished beef. But the science on AMP grazing is sparse, to say the least. Now, a group of leading soil, rangeland, bug and social scientists are setting out to fill the science gap. Led by Dr. Richard Teague of Texas A&M, and convened by filmmaker Peter Byck of Arizona State University, the ASU•Soil Carbon Nation Whole Systems Science Team is positioned to do large scale science that's never been done before.

Option of Raising Beef on Cover Crops

Sunn Hemp the Organic Alternative

Sunn Hemp is another Hemp Plant that falls under the Radar as a solution to what ails the World

Sunn Hemp is another Hemp Plant that falls under the Radar as a solution to what ails the World

USDA: Organic Matter Builder Rotar and Joy (1983) reported:

• ‘Tropic Sun’ sunn hemp reaching heights of over 4 feet in 60 days and over 6 feet in 90 days in Hawaii. 
• Biomass production in Hawaii reached yields as much as 6,000 pounds in 60 days. 

Mansoer et al. (1997) conducted cover crop studies in Alabama and showed similar results.

• ‘Tropic Sun’ was planted in August or early September after corn harvest and was grown as a cover 3 crop/green manure crop until wheat planting (early December).
•  Biomass production achieved an average of 5,200 pounds in 9 to 12 weeks over a two-year study at two locations in Alabama. 
• This compares with 4,300 pounds per acre with hairy vetch (Vicia villosa L.) and 4400 pounds with crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.) (Mansoer et al., 1997). 
• Ground cover from the “Tropic Sun” averaged approximately 96 percent at mowing and approximately 65 percent soil coverage 16 weeks later (mid-April). 
• This amount of residue will provide erosion control and promote increases in organic matter accumulations in no-till or conservation tillage systems. 
• In Alabama, Mansoer et al. (1997) reported an average of 126 pounds of nitrogen in 9 to 12 weeks. With this large amount of nitrogen produced, whether in spring, summer or fall, a crop such as small grain should follow sunn hemp to utilize the symbiotically produced nitrogen. 
• However, in the study conducted by Mansoer et al. (1997), 38 percent of the N in biomass remained available for corn planted in mid-April, 16 weeks after the sunn hemp was mowed. 

Nitrogen Producer In Hawaii, Rotar and Joy (1983) reported:

•  ‘Tropic Sun’ added 134 to 147 pounds of nitrogen per acre after 60 days of growth. 

Sunn hemp has bright yellow flowers that bloom at about 60 days. Due to its rapid growth and nitrogen-fixing capability, sunn hemp is gaining popularity as a cover crop in the Midwest. Photo by Molokai Seed Company https://mosesorganic.org/sunn-hemp/

Cover Crops as Carbon Sequestration

 http://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2015/05/cover-crops-store-carbon/

Cover crops, which are grown when fields are usually idle, can also be chopped and lightly worked into the top layer of soil – returning even more carbon to the ground. Johnson says this method can capture almost fifteen tons of carbon dioxide per acre.

JOHNSON: “About fourteen percent of the world’s cropland, if they adopted this approach to agriculture, you could capture all anthropogenic CO2.”

Johnson says sequestering carbon dioxide with this method would be relatively easy to implement and would cost about seventeen dollars per ton – less than other carbon capture techniques.