Fighting climate change with cattle…
A scientist-rancher’s view of a new landscape.
Allen Williams is a sixth-generation farmer and rancher from South Carolina, where he grew up around a multitude of farm animals and fresh, homegrown fruits and vegetables. His academic education taught him industrial agriculture methods, but over time he has come full circle and returned to an ecosystem-based view of food production, in which grazing animals actually restore land and live in cooperation with wildlife in rich polyculture landscapes. In this program he explains how he came to his vision, where it’s being done successfully around the world, and why it’s urgent that we move away from industrial agriculture as quickly as possible.
He is based at Joyce Farms in Mississippi, and works with the Grassfed Exchange. He is author of the book, Before You Have A Cow, which is for people going into cattle growing. He will be a speaker at the upcoming Quivira Coalition Conference in November.
More Episodes
Episode 100 – Restoring the global water cycle
With the best of intentions and technological innovation, we have broken the world’s water cycle. Now, says water expert Sandra Postel, we need to work with nature in order to restore it—if we want to survive, thrive, and, well, eat.
Episode 99 – How—and why—to be good to your microbes
Dr. Emeran Mayer connects the human and soil microbiomes—both stretched to their limits and beyond by today’s diet, lifestyle, and industrial practices. And he tells us how we can eat and grow food in a way that heals the body, the economy, and the planet.
Episode 98 – Lush and Abundant Biodiversity—in a Desert City
Reese Baker has a vision for greening urban landscapes—and he wants to make Santa Fe an example of how to do it, by catching rainwater from roofs, streets, and parking lots, and channeling it into gardens, trees, and soil.
Episode 97 – The deep history of apples
Orchardist Gordon Tooley knows apple trees–and has been cultivating rare and heirloom varieties for three decades. But for him it’s as much about the landscape and lifestyle as about the product. We talk about living slowly, observing closely, and promoting healthy land, water, wildlife, and human communities.
Episode 96 – Pests, pathogens, and porcupines: thwarting the marauding hordes in an apple orchard
New England is lush and green—and all kinds of creatures want to eat a farmer’s crops. Apple grower and cider maker Steve Wood talks about Integrated Pest Management and its challenges.
Episode 95 – Rockweed: underwater forest or industrial commodity?
Seaweed has always been used for food, fertilizer, and medicine. But now, off the coast of Maine, over-harvesting threatens rockweed and the many species that depend on it.
Episode 94 – Designing systems that improve as they age
Jesse Smith‘s work aims for the opposite of planned obsolescence—the goals at Jalama Canyon Ranch are resilience and perennial productivity, through restoration of ecosystems and a truly regenerative vision of agriculture.
Episode 93 – Into the Pasture: Grassfed Goes Mainstream
Getting certified for grassfed meat can be challenging–but the American Grassfed Association supports producers in regenerative practices that are good for the earth, the farmer, and the eater.
Episode 92 – Busting myths about beef
Nicolette Hahn Niman was an environmental lawyer and vegetarian when she married a rancher—so she has a unique and broad-based perspective on agriculture. We discuss the new edition of her book, Defending Beef: The Ecological and Nutritional Case for Meat.
Episode 91 – Transforming the American Prairie, one strip at a time
Native Americans used fire and other methods to cultivate food on the prairie. In the 20th century it was plowed under for endless rows of monocrops. Omar de Kok-Mercado is part of a team that is working to make prairie land ecologically–and economically–sustainable.