Seth Itzkan - Agriculture: An Invention of Desperation
https://m.facebook.com/groups/Soil4Climate/permalink/2938782593060142/
Agriculture was as invention of desperation resulting from the decimation of megafauna. It was a retreat, not an advance. No one would tear up a prairie with stone tools to grow and eat maize if 2 to 6 ton aurochs, giraffe, and mastodon were still roaming on it. The combined beginning of both soil death and global warming was proceeded by the hunting to extinction of the largest grazing animals that co-evolved with carbon-rich grasslands. Soil restoration to the degree that it can heal the climate, will happen when cows and other livestock are fully integrated as allies in the effort - where they are managed as proxies for the prodigious herds of grazing animals that for tens of millions of years dominated life on the landed surface of the earth.
We are once again in an era of desperation. This time, however, conditions require us to restore the megafauna impact on soil for the sake of both protein and climate. To do this, we need a new invention. Fortunately, we have it. Holistic Management. Agriculture can continue for vegetables and some grains, but, the grain-based model of ag is going to have to profoundly change. Large parts of the world that are today in grain agriculture, will, in fact, have to be returned to prairie with grazing. Almost the entire US midwest is an example. In addition, large parts of the world that were once grasslands but are now so decimated they're called "deserts," will need to be restored ("re-greened"). Examples of this include the Sahara and the Mojave "deserts." This is all possible. It begins when we acknowledge the prospects for a carbon-negative and verdant future - one that is rich in soil, grasses, and ruminants.