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Qué es la ganadería regenerativa y cómo implementarla para secuestrar carbono

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Desde el INTA estudian el real potencial de la ganadería para secuestrar carbono y los beneficios y ventajas de implementar la regeneración de suelos.

Agustín Barbera–especialista de la Chacra Experimental Integrada Barrow (Ministerio Desarrollo Agrario, provincia de Buenos Aires – INTA) hizo hincapié en la necesidad de entender que “la ganadería regenerativa es una alternativa muy interesante y trascendental en este contexto de cambio climático”. 

Y, en este sentido, dio un paso más allá al subrayar la idea de que se trata de un concepto superador a la sostenibilidad porque, según él, “ya no es suficiente con sostener, sino que hay que incrementar los indicadores. No alcanza con sustentar, hay que regenerar”.

Entre las pautas a tener en cuenta para lograr la regeneración, Barbera destacó el rol vital que cumple un manejo eficiente del pastoreo. “Antes de la intervención directa del ser humano, los herbívoros convivían con sus depredadores, se movían en manada y manejando los tiempos del clima y del ciclo de crecimiento de las pasturas naturales”.

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Pairing Agroforestry with Livestock: The Major Benefits

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‘Ecology’ is the study of relationships between plants, animals, people and the environment, with a specific focus on how these elements work together. ‘Agroecology’, then, is the application of these ecological concepts to farming, specifically: using nature and natural relationships to boost your farm’s yields, productivity and more.

We have a lot of faith in agroecology, and there’s evidence to suggest that, by making agroecological practices more mainstream, we could make our food and farming systems more sustainable and healthy. It doesn’t have to be complicated to get involved in agroecological methods, either. In fact, agroforestry – the process of combining trees with crops or livestock – is something you can get started with straight away, according to farmer Nikki Yoxall. Nikki runs Howemill Farm and Grampian Graziers, and has been using agroforestry on her farm for over two years. We talked to her about what her experience of this nature-friendly farming practice has been like, the benefits to her cattle and more below…

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8 Steps to Get Started with Regen Grassland Management

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A shift towards regenerative and more holistic grazing systems is enabling farmers to build greater resilience to fluctuations in weather patterns and market prices by working more closely with nature and reducing interventions.

Regenerative grazing involves higher-intensity, short grazing periods with long resting times in-between, using a system of paddocks.

It keeps the sward height high and encourages regrowth and development of plant and root systems, which also improves soil microbiology and function.

This type of management helps to improve soil condition, biodiversity and livestock health, and maintain steadier financial margins against the backdrop of a reduction in subsidy payments and increasing input costs.

We spoke to four farmers, including one with a consultancy role, to get advice on how to get started with regenerative grassland management.

Expert panel

  1. Rob Havard farms at Phepson Farm and is an ecology consultant managing 404ha (1,000 acres) of rented or contract-farmed land in Worcestershire, with about 150 pedigree cattle plus followers
  2. Russ Carrington is manager of Knepp Regenerative Farms, and former general manager of the Pasture-fed Livestock Association. He is in the first year of regenerative grazing on 63ha (156 acres), initially with 25 traditional Sussex cattle and calves, plus 50 Longhorn heifers on a B&B arrangement during the summer. Grazed area and livestock numbers are planned to increase towards full stocking potential
  3. Wojtek Behnke manages Aqualate Estate in Shropshire. Lleyn sheep and Northern Dairy Shorthorn cattle are mob-grazed on 80ha (200 acres) with horses, occasionally.
  4. Richard Tustian has been a shepherd in Oxfordshire managing 1,500 breeding ewes, about to return to family partnership on mixed arable, beef and sheep farm totalling 200ha (494 acres) on the Northamptonshire border. Of this, 40ha (99 acres) is permanent pasture and 10ha (25 acres) is herbal leys, currently running 250 breeding ewes and 25 suckler cows

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Grazing Cattle Can Reduce Agriculture’s Carbon Footprint

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Ruminant animals like cattle contribute to the maintenance of healthy soils and grasslands, and proper grazing management can reduce the industry’s carbon emissions and overall footprint, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientist.

Richard Teague, professor emeritus in the Department Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management and senior scientist of the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture and the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Vernon, said his research, published in the Soil and Water Conservation Society’s Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, presents sustainable solutions for grazing agriculture.

The published article, authored by Teague with co-authors who include Urs Kreuter, AgriLife Research socio-economist in the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology, was recognized at the society’s recent conference as a Soil and Water Conservation Society Research Paper for Impact and Quality.

Teague’s research shows appropriate grazing management practices in cattle production are among the solutions for concerns related to agriculture’s impact on the environment. His article serves as a call to action for the implementation of agricultural practices that can improve the resource base, environment, productivity and economic returns.

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Siga la vaca: una ganadería diferente para lograr carne sostenible

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Pastizales muy abundantes con distintos tonos de verde. Altos, bajos y diversos, con la irregularidad propia de la naturaleza. Bastantes vacas, pero no amontonadas. Juntas —y al parecer cómodas— en la misma parcela, donde estarán varias semanas hasta pasar a otra.

Gallinas en constante movimiento y libres picoteando al sol por todo el campo, no encerradas en un granero. Abejas, gusanos y muchos insectos por todos lados. Árboles que refrescan del calor y cultivos para alimentar al ganado. También una huerta produciendo frutas y verduras sin agroquímicos.

Casí de paradisíaco es este campo en Maldonado, a dos horas de Montevideo, Uruguay. Pero la belleza no es lo más impactante sino lo que pasa debajo del suelo y no podemos apreciar a simple vista: un suelo lleno de minerales y de vida, algo raro de encontrar en cualquier campo de producción convencional. Un paisaje completamente distinto a las miles de hectáreas de soja transgénica y corrales de engorde de ganadería que ocupan gran parte de América Latina, con tierra forzada a trabajar sin pausa a partir de químicos y fertilizantes, a pesar de que ya no tiene vida.

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Op-ed: We Don’t Need a ‘Moonshot’ for Faux Burgers—We Need To Hold ‘Big Meat’ Accountable

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In a recent New York Times opinion piece, Ezra Klein proposed a moonshot investment in “Meatless Meat.” Klein makes a cogent, fact-filled case for the government to spend a few billion dollars on public research to increase the commercial viability of plant-based and cellular (i.e., lab-created) meats.

Klein’s objective is straightforward: reduce the climate footprint of meat and dairy, reduce the suffering of animals confined in feed lots and barns, and prevent the next pandemic. He proposes use public funding to accelerate research and development—much like Tesla’s boost to e-cars or the Department of Defense’s boost to the internet—as the best way to move production and demand of alternative meats quickly and effectively.

The stakes are high. And Klein is not wrong. Cheap meat is a problem. The much-loved (recently mythologized) hamburger is brought to us by an extractive industry whose recent record profits come on the backs of disadvantaged workers, animal cruelty, mountains of manure, and a whole lot of public subsidies. But even the quickest, most superficial look at today’s U.S. food system shows the solution to the mess is not public subsidies for petri-dish proteins that will inevitably be produced (or at least funded) by a handful of large, vertically integrated food and feed companies.

 

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Could Beef Be Good For People and The Planet? Regenerative, Grass-Fed Beef May Offer A Solution To Our Health, Climate Crisis

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Kacie Scherler was a vegetarian on-and-off for 10 years, but when she was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease, the only diet that could heal her required her to eat animal meat — and she had to raise it herself.

Now the founders of Re:Farm, Scherler and her husband look to regenerative farming as a means to produce beef in a way that benefits human health and the environment.

Scherler’s Story

Scherler, a Pepperdine alumna, grew up on her family’s farm and ranch in Oklahoma and said she had no intentions of moving back home or being involved with food or agriculture.

After marrying her husband Zach Abney in 2018, they decided to renovate a home on her family’s property in Oklahoma and continue working at their jobs remotely. Their goal was to use the fixer-upper as their home base but travel around the country in an Airstream to stay connected with friends and family.

Two months into their marriage, Scherler lost feeling in her lower body and could no longer walk. She was told she had a 30% chance of recovering from her autoimmune diagnosis. The couple’s dream crumbled.

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Ganadería regenerativa, reverdecer el planeta sin renunciar a la carne

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Román Jiménez tiene en su nuca un tornillo estrella. Es un implante microdermal; su alegoría personal sobre no perder la cabeza. Este geminiano de 44 años y dragón de fuego, según el horóscopo chino, nació en una finca cerca de Pereira, Risaralda, en la que creció, estudió y permaneció hasta los 12 años. Tras mudarse a la ciudad, le dio la vuelta al mundo y regresó a Colombia al reconocer que su destino sería el mismo de sus ancestros: ganadero. Aunque un ganadero diferente.

Su padre falleció cuando Román tenía 11, por lo que terminó siendo el eje en un hogar de mujeres. Aunque su familia era conservadora, a los 14 años se realizó su primer tatuaje y —poco después― se dejó el cabello largo que aún conserva. Hoy, entre la galería de figuras grabadas en su piel, sobresale en su antebrazo izquierdo una flor alusiva a su mamá, fusionada con una triqueta que representa la unión de cuerpo, mente y espíritu; así como la vida, la muerte y el renacimiento.

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El uso de técnicas de ganadería regenerativa aumenta la rentabilidad de las ganancias

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La FAO asegura que en los últimos 50 años se ha duplicado la población ganadera en América Latina, pasando de 201 a 418 millones de cabezas, cifra que coincide con el aumento en las áreas de pastura de 461 a 560 millones de hectáreas.

Según los datos, Colombia ocupa el duodécimo lugar en la cifra de vacunos del mundo. Por lo que el Banco Mundial ha sugerido que aquí se críe la misma cantidad de bovinos en menos terreno del que emplea hoy (más de 39 millones de hectáreas para uso pecuario), para aumentar la sostenibilidad de la ganadería y permitir la restauración forestal.

Esto último tiene que ver con nuevas formas de reproducción económica que le apuestan a prácticas cada vez menos invasoras y dañinas para el medio ambiente. En la cría de ganado, la tendencia es “la ganadería regenerativa”.
Esto surge del enfoque de devolverle al suelo la estructura que ha perdido por malas prácticas, por lo que en este modelo el protagonista principal es el suelo y no las vacas como sucede en la ganadería extractiva.

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Ditching Meat Isn’t the Answer for Climate Change. Better Farming Is.

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Suddenly, meat is out in the high-end food world. Eleven Madison Park, a New York City restaurant with three Michelin stars, recently announced that when it reopens after a pandemic-forced hiatus, the menu will be vegan. The cooking site Epicurious is no longer publishing new beef recipes, and the San Francisco restaurants run by another three-Michelin-starred chef, Dominique Crenn, went meatless a little over a year ago. Meat-substitute brands like Impossible Foods (which raised $200 million its latest round of venture capital funding last year) and rival Beyond Meat (which recently struck high-profile deals with Subway and KFC) are booming.

At first glance, this seems like good news. Many of these restaurants cite boosting sustainability and reducing their carbon footprint as reasons for their decisions; forcing the food system to reckon with how commercial meat production contributes to greenhouse gas emissions is a noble goal. But rejecting meat outright is unlikely to bring anywhere near enough consumers on board to solve the underlying environmental problems plaguing our food system.

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