tonight feels like winter.  the cows have grazed full circle around our pasture land and found themselves dun’ run outta grass.  taking a little winter vacation from daily rotations, our herd has put the breaks on, and hay feeding has begun.  this time of year—the temperatures drop, and the grass is growing at a creep—it is better for us to let our pastures breathe as opposed to beating them down.  the cows, although missing out on the mysterious magical goodness contained in the green of a leafy green, seem happy enough to munch down on the dried stuff for the time being.

since the herd is holding a zone, as opposed to rotating, i have taken to shoveling up some of their excess manure for use as a soil amendment.  what amazes me, is the fact that our cows—who are still on pasture, with plenty of grass to roam—generate enough excrement for a pile up to appear noticeable after just a few days of eating in the same place (fifty lbs a day/cow).

imagine a cow factory—a cafo—the feedlot.  imagine how those cows never move—EVER—and imagine how many of them are in the same place.  imagine the manure! lagoons full of the toxic, fermenting, poisonous sludge. 

all the dumb time i hear people talking about how cows are the biggest contributor towards greenhouse gasses.  but it’s not like a cow—a single cow, or a single healthy herd—farting in the wind is causing global warming.  if, however, you pile thousands of them all in a single grass-less, soil-less parking lot, you bet your ass some fumes are gonna generate.

sometimes it just seems people are asking the wrong questions and solving the wrong problems.  not—how can we control the toxic gasses leaching out of shit lagoons.  how about—why raise livestock in a manner that causes toxic shit lagoons?