For years, we have been told that reducing our meat consumption is one way to curb climate change. But what if animals are actually part of a healthy ecosystem? In his four-part documentary Roots So Deep (you can see the devil down there), filmmaker and professor Peter Byck looks at one small-scale ranching solution that sequesters carbon, is cost-effective and, perhaps most importantly, has convinced many traditionalists.
Byck asked this question: Can adaptive multi-paddock (AMP) grazing make the land better while earning farmers more money and helping mitigate climate change? Because of its rainfall and long growing season, Byck's team focused on the southeastern United States, where they found five adaptive farmers and their neighboring conventional farmers who were willing to be part of the experiment.
Filmmaker and professor Peter Byck spent years interviewing both adaptive and conventional farmers about their practices. Photo courtesy of Carbon Nation.
Everything on both sides of the fence was measured — the carbon and nitrogen in the soil, water infiltration, bugs, birds, greenhouse gasses, microbes, and animal wellbeing. Byck said just by observation, the differences between the farms were noticeable. He was told that the conventional farmers thought their adaptive neighbors were "crazy" but he and his team discovered that wasn't the case. Although the conventional farmers were curious, they were too polite to ask questions. Likewise, the adaptive farmers practiced restraint because they feared being accused of telling their neighbors what to do. "Sometimes it was first generation farmers versus fifth generation farmers," Byck says. "So it was this really interesting politeness getting in the way of communication."
The farmers on the adaptive side practice AMP grazing that mimics the bison migration across the Great Plains, which enables the microbes in the soil to thrive and regenerate.
"Roots So Deep" explores adaptive versus conventional farming and what happens when you get farmers to talk it out. Photo courtesy of Carbon Nation.