Why Sustainable Farming Matters: Dean Carlson at TEDxPhoenixville

[@earthgoddesswinton7823]

Way to go Dean, we need to see more real people like you who care about the environment. If we could only convince others to see it like you, and reject the blindness of business, everyone would be healthier, and we would have more with less.

[@secret2videos]

My agenda is to glean facts that I can pass along. I'm a film maker, making a documentary about sustainable farming. Before I began this project, I'd never heard of the term sustainable farming. During the project, I've learned things that mean I can never go back. I heard a lot of things in this talk that I can take forward with me. Thank you.

[@user-ft1ev2dp1v]

Has that documentary been finished? Or do you have any Sources that I could look into to expand my knowledge on that topic? Currently researching about that topic because I find it very interesting.

[@WASS291]

we are currently in 2020 and this is the same problem 7 years and still counting i believe that farming is the basics for this life so before we face any major problems in future we need to sustain it or at least think of ways

[@miassisdraggen629]

He covers lots of good points with some nice humor.

[@heatherdoes7849]

Very applicable to today's expectation of bunny rabbit growth in everything. Slow it down grasshopper. Patience is a virtue. Sustainable growth is consistent and healthy. I like this video, though it was a little slow to gain momentum and the audio was poor, it made it's point loud and clear. Well done and I will share it with students near and far...

[@selenale4116]

Thank you Mr Dean, we need to speak out more

[@sukhchainsingh1502]

😊😊

[@thefarmingdream8943]

Great video! You had my attention a grass fed beef, pastured poultry and pork!

[@fredpauser6228]

Dean Carlson is soooooooo correct!!! By the way, sustainable farming is organic farming. And Monsanto's toxic methods for the sake of monetary greed MUST go!

[@rebeccagypsysol]

Not sure this talk has aged well, but at least it goes to show that almost a decade ago ppl were trying to find solutions to the ag/land use issue.

[@nadiahknisa3603]

I am addict to watching a ted talk

[@believeinyourdreamsslowlife]

Great. I am also a sustainable farmer here in the mountain of Trentino Italy.

[@jimmylimestone]

Chickens can thrive entirely on compost and hogs can thrive on chicken and cow slaughter leftovers if they are allowed to forage.

[@Cerceify4645]

Grass fed beef uses about 40% more resources than grain fed beef. That's why in Florida, it is cheaper to send calves west for fattening up. We also have a very bad record of water de[letion and pollution from grassfed beef here. Alot of dairies as well as grass fed beef is produced in Florida in wetlands.

[@mozit6]

Harriett,........please explain HOW grass fed uses 40% more resources. Does that imply 1.4 acres of grass equals 1 acre of grain? Even if grain is cheaper it is not healthy food for cattle. The current chemical based grain farming methods can produce large yields from large expensive inputs. But it is not healthy mineral rich grain and the soil life is virtually dead. In the feedlot massive amounts of antibiotic are used to combat the ill effects of crowded unsanitary conditions and the effects of feeding grain to an animal that is designed to eat grass. ..........Are you familiar with no-till farming using cover crops to keep living roots in the soil year round? After the summer grain crop the field is seeded to multi-species of cover crops like rye grain, rye grass, clover, vetch, etc. This puts armor on the soil surface to stop extremes of heat, cold, prevent erosion, and provides plant exudes that feed beneficial soil microbes which in turn feed the plants. No fertilizer is required after a couple of years . Cattle can graze the field in winter without need for hay or other purchased feed. Cattle improve the soil also by depositing their manure and urine and killing part of the grasses with their hooves. The dead grasses are recycled into compost food for microbes and the cycle of improved soil health continues. Mr farmer/rancher uses little or no equipment and fuel that would ordinarily be used to carry hay to the cattle in winter. If cattle are intensively grazed for short periods and moved on to the next pasture/crop field, their manure does not have to be spread about at additional cost. Without a need for large inputs of chemical fertilizers Mr Farmer/Rancher is making more profit and working less. Done correctly, this is sustainable and regenerative farming that improves soil health, animal and human health, and generates more profit at less inputs. The water absorption rate and storage volume of high carbon soil like this is improved .........about 20000 gallon more per acre for each percentage increase of carbon matter.

[@Cerceify4645]

I think it was stated in Leonardo de Caprios' film "Before the Flood" I did look it up and found one reference from J.L. Capper on explorebeef.org from the Cattleman Beef Board. We have an intensive grass raised beef operation here in Florida with overhead Irrigation and year round forage production on what is mainly wetland.It is felt by many people that this is using too much water and detrimental to Silver Springs which once was the biggest magnitude spring in the world. The Billionaire owner is asking for even more water now. Other sites reported that beef on grass take almost twice as long to grow to market size and use more food by volume which means more water ..

[@stewpidaso26]

are you over grazing areas? letting an animal graze past 4 or 5 inches then you soil will dry out a lot faster and you wont retain water in the soil.

[@goldengryphon]

I know Florida has huge problems with salt water encroachment on subsurface water. Florida also has difficult soils to work with - either sand (with problems retaining water, nutrients) or clay (which does not drain well at all, equal problems with nutrients). Unfortunately, the way the intensive rancher you mentioned in your response is going about things, tells me that he/they haven't really understood what is supposed to be done. It happens. Someone reads an article, does a little research, then uses the 'tried and true' methods of circumventing the whole purpose. Please don't paint all producers with the wide brush. Yes, that operation is doing it wrong. Yes, it *can* be done correctly in Florida, but it takes a long time to set up the soil. I have worked for over a decade to make the 'gumbo' in my area fit for any sort of grazing, after decades of being over grazed. I'm finally starting to see the results of my efforts in increased fertility in the soil which affects everything that grows on and in it. This year, I'm adding geese to see how well they do before I add any larger slow-growing animal. I understand that a larger producer can't take that much time to build up their soil, but they *can* do dryland, rotational grazing. There shouldn't be a need for the producer you mentioned to use as much water as they're asking. I hope things have gotten better over the past year. I doubt it, but I can hope.

[@runescapeskilled]

All talk. Nothing changes the fact that it gets transported somehow. Oil is directly tied into farming because of that.

[@TextbookBoxingGB]

He reminds me of Christian Bale's character in the Big Short

[@abhinavkapri]

For producing meat it takes 10-30 times of grains (yes grains), energy, water etc. Going vegetarian alone throughout our life reduces the pressure on the system. First step to go sustainable. (plz don't ask me stop eating altogether)

[@luddity]

Abhinav Kapri Cattle evolved to eat grass, not grain. Eating only grain makes them fat and sick (just like it does to us) But they try to slaughter them before they die of it, which means they have to be killed earlier in their life cycle. Whereas grass fed animals, if properly managed, can improve the soil as they grow without displacing and poisoning wildlife they way industrial agriculture does..

[@jimmylimestone]

+Abhinav Kapri Only if you are mentally handicapped, grain and vegetable production use more input than pastured meat.

[@redddbaron]

+Abhinav Kapri You have a point. Many people falsely claim they can eat meat and avoid this, but at least 97% of them are lying. That's because 97% of meat in raised in most western countries, including the US, is raised at least part of their life cycle in Confinement houses or feedlots. So Abhinav, you are at least 97% correct. What I don't get is you posting on a vid for that 3%, guaranteeing you are wrong. Is that wise? Why would sustainable farming incite you even more than unsustainable CAFOs? You just like pissing off potential allies? Never understood crazy people like you to be honest. If you really cared like you pretend, you would praise farmers like this and attack CAFOs instead. Your ilk has done SOOO much harm it is unspeakable!

[@Planet_Trash]

+Abhinav Kapri We never include the loss of soil, or the loss of carbon (biomass) in the soil in our calculations. We alseo never include the loss of nutrition in the soil. By holistically manage grazing animals, we´re building soil, storing carbon and nutrients instead of the opposite with monoculture grains.

[@redddbaron]

William Jonsson Absolutely correct! And feeding grains to animals is highly inefficient. The only reason the price is low is the subsidies.

[@Stereozentrum]

Inform yourselves and Monsanto, deal with your conscience. In an alternative, sustainable agriculte there is absolutely no need for total herbicides and gmos. And believe me, it will come in the near future, globally. Of course, thousands of unscrupulous people working in the pesticide industry (Monsanto, Pfizer, DuPont, ADM, Bayer CropScience etc.) are probably going to lose their jobs. But be assured, there will be enough possibilities in weed picking for you guys!

[@chrisflood646]

sustainable farming has too many definitions

[@AAlexmic]

Interesting argumentation tho you make me a bit sleepy

[@RENEDU2]

permaculture ftw

[@carlmeserve154]

R Dufresne I

[@purelyiconic]

Well the human population is decreasing now…..

[@jamie3989]

♡♡♡💞💖💥💫🌈🌝

[@Stoshie]

You should quit commenting on videos you clearly don't understand, because you look at them through an agenda and not from an objective viewpoint. You just look foolish by doing so, since you obviously missed the entire point of the speech.

[@ToughJourneyman]

Great topic; not that great presenter.

[@germscamacho8362]

Just don't kill animals.