[Terrapreta] Terrapreta Digest, Vol 16, Issue 67

[James Thomas]

RE: cattle question: Yes I think that the Terra Preta can in fact be a 
very useful tool in that keeping pasture soil productive and in fact 
increasing production could be a very sustainable management  tool. 
Meaning using terra preta to increase productivity of already cleared 
pasture sites an be a key to stopping more forest clearing. Many people 
are uninformed that much of the previously forested portions of the  
United States and Europe are either cropped grazed. Poor grazing 
management can lead to land degradation. But, in contrast,  well-managed 
"rotational"  or "rationed grazing" or "management intensive grazing" 
(Look up Voisin Grazing Management text  "Grass Productivity" , a book 
by Andre Voisin or "Greener Pastures on your Side of the Fence", by Bill 
Murphy) can be a powerful tool for land restoration.. I'll refer to the 
practice as Management Intensive Grazing or MIG for this discussion.   
MIG is a superb way to store carbon and nutrients. It is already 
documented that rotational grazing improves soil and fertility  and 
storage of carbon in temperate climates.  Improved fertility usually 
means that the carrying capacity of grazed pastures is increased. 
Meaning more livestock are adequately fed on fewer acres.  In fact, 
management intensive grazing  can be a means to halt or reverse 
eutrophication in dead water areas such as is occurring in the Gulf of 
Mexico. The way it works is what I call the coppice principle; meaning 
that if pastured grass and legumes are harvested rapidly (coppiced) by 
the grazing animal, then rested until adequate growth for another 
grazing occurs, then grazed quickly and rested again there is ample 
opportunity time for the grass and legume roots and other plant parts to 
store up sufficient nutrient reserves without depleting their 
regenerative capacity. Keeping the vegetation in a more or less constant 
growth phase with adequate rest periods as opposed to going to seed 
leads to much longer plant productive life. Once the plant goes to seed 
it tends to say to itself: "okay my job is done, so I'll take a long nap 
now" and it goes semi-dormant. In some environments, usually 
precipitation limited ones, however it is necessary to let the plant go 
to seed because once the soil moisture is depleted, the plant has no 
means to keep growing and will eventually die. Well-managed grazing is, 
in fact, a very sophisticated agricultural practice and depends upon 
the  skill of the grazier. Unfortunately the casual methods of grazing 
receive the majority of the press and have lead to a poor perception of 
grazing as a management tool. A prime example of the latter type of 
management is: the "Columbus method of grazing", that is:  "release 
animals on a large pasture in the spring and discover the survivors in 
the fall". When this occurs, the pasture will most likely be overgrazed 
and under rested and look like a hard packed unproductive weedy mess. 
Most likely the soil will be degraded and not improved. Here is a prime 
example of how management choices can sustain a culture dependent upon a 
natural resource or in fact destroy that resource

Every time the plant is grazed, especially when it is still in the 
active growth phase,  a more or less equivalent amount of root death 
occurs, followed by regrowth of new roots. This root death followed by 
root regeneration is what accounts for the vast majority of carbon 
storage or the "humus portion" in common vernacular of grassland 
pastured soils. The dead roots provide food for a host of soil 
organisms, including fungi. Natural glues secreted by these  fungi and 
other organisms tend to clump soil together in small particles or crumbs 
resulting in improved crumb structure. Improved crumb structure means 
improved aeration and permeability and this tends to improve carbon 
sequestration even more because conditions for plant root growth are 
improved. That is soil, air water and nutrients, are readily available  
in the proper ratios beneath the soil surface. . It isn't grazing "per 
se" that is the culprit , but how that grazing is managed. The point 
being that well-managed grazing is probably the most powerful tool in 
the land manager's tool box for improving soil. In my opinion improving 
existing pastures that have already been cleared from forest via 
management, through MIG and  including Terra Preta charcoal addition 
will lead to improved animal production per acre or hectare as well as 
improving the soil, thereby leading to less succumbing to the urge to 
clear still more forest for pasture, while leaving degraded pasture to 
its fate.

In fact integrating forest and pasture (silvopasture)  is one management 
option in the concept of "Agroforestry". In this scenario, the animals 
recycle organic matter and nutrients through their feces and urine, soil 
dwelling organisms feast upon that manure and urine, and then it is 
available for plant nutrition.  Improving the carbon sequestration 
capacity of well-managed pastures with charcoal is something I am 
hopeful of doing at least on a demonstration basis in the near future. 
If it works in a temperate climate where irrigation is practiced and 
summers are hot it should, by mental extrapolation, also be effective in 
a tropical climate where rainfall is heavy.  The idea I am rather poorly 
trying to explain here is that well-managed grazing already recycles 
nutrients, but it appears that the high temperatures and high rainfall 
of areas such as the Amazon can lead to loss of much of the organic 
matter containing nutrients through volatilization to the atmosphere or 
in runoff or leaching.  Adding charcoal may help with not only carbon 
sequestration, but in keeping the nutrients cycling within the topsoil 
where the pasture plant root zone can take advantage of the improved 
growth conditions.

Taking the concept further, Dr. Ken Albrecht of the University of 
Wisconsin, Madison has worked with natives in Ecuador growing a legume 
called "Big Trefoil"-- /Lotus uliginosus/, then intercropping corn with 
the Trefoil for human consumption. Although Dr. Albrecht, experimented 
with mowing the Trefoil prior to planting corn as opposed to grazing the 
Trefoil I think that grazing or forage production can still be 
incorporated into this "living mulch" concept. In Dr. Albrecht's trials, 
The Big trefoil was mowed with a machete then planting hills were 
excavated at more or less equal spacings within the Trefoil stand for 
planting the corn. The corn grew well and produced a good crop. What I 
am thinking is incorporating establishment of an adapted legume, such as 
Big Trefoil into the cleared pastures, regularly applying charcoal, , 
practicing rotational grazing until the soil is in a productive state, 
then planting food crops such as corn into the pasture, using in essence 
an extension of  living mulch concept. The livestock can eat the corn 
plant parts not eaten by humans as well. Some trees could be left for 
coppice in the pasture for purposes charcoal production, food from fruit 
and nuts and forage production from leaves or seeds and shade for 
livestock and humans. Such a system integrating crops, livestock and 
pasture rotated over the years through the same semi-cleared forest site 
where terra preta is used would be very sustainable because nutrients 
and topsoil would be retained, people and animals would be fed, and 
Carbon sequestration would increase. The possibility of biofuels in 
addition could in fact really help the poor farmers to move above 
constant grinding poverty. In essence humans would be working with, not 
against nature to produce food and other life necessities. I am thinking 
that the farmers could choose between a harvest of  the Trefoil/ grass 
pastures with a good hammered blade scythe as opposed to a machete to 
temporarily suppress the Trefoil, which induces shedding of nitrogen 
containing /Rhizobia /nodules to benefit the corn, or the site could be 
closely grazed, which would also induce nodule shedding, then the corn 
planted.

Lest someone thinks this is all conjecture, please note that on my own 
one acre I have already and will continue experimenting with the 
concepts just discussed. In fact, now that my children are grown and I 
don't need as much lawn for a recreational area, I am converting much of 
my lawn to rotationally grazed pasture, using two Jersey Steers, 
Chickens, Muscovy Ducks and Geese as the grazers, and I do in fact mow 
grass, legumes and weeds with a scythe, which are dried as hay and fed 
to the livestock.  I am starting Honey Locust, Black Locust, Osage 
Orange,  Black Walnut, Red, White and Pin Oaks, Pine and other trees, 
and am hoping to purchase Oregon Ash, and American Chestnuts. Shrubs 
include:Native Hazelnut bush, Siberian Pea shrub, /Caragana arborescens, 
/Native Currants and Choke Cherries, Service berries, Dogwoods, Oregon 
Grapes, Junipers, other ornamental native shrubs, grapes for eating and 
wine and other shrubs the birds bring in as excreted seed. Good fencing 
and good management is necessary to make it all work together, but in 
the story of Adam and Eve I understand it was our intended task to tend 
the garden. Seems to me that Terra Preta is another garden tending tool 
we are just now re-discovering. Makes me wonder how much other wisdom of 
the ancients is lost and waiting to be re-discovered. Amazingly I was 
pleased to encounter horticultural charcoal on sale as a new item in the 
local feed and seed store, so the Terra Preta message is getting out.   
rapreta-request at bioenergylists.org wrote:
> Send Terrapreta mailing list submissions to
> 	terrapreta at bioenergylists.org
>
> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
> 	http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/biochar/
>
> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
> 	terrapreta-request at bioenergylists.org
>
> You can reach the person managing the list at
> 	terrapreta-owner at bioenergylists.org
>
> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
> than "Re: Contents of Terrapreta digest..."
>
>
> Today's Topics:
>
>    1. Question (lou gold)
>    2. Re: Question (Robert Klein)
>    3. Re: pulverizing charcoal (May Waddington)
>    4. Re: pulverizing charcoal ( folke G?nther )
>    5. Re: Question (lou gold)
>    6. Re: pulverizing charcoal (Roy Lent)
>    7. Re: Question (Sean K. Barry)
>    8. Re: Question (MFH)
>    9. Re: Question (Sean K. Barry)
>   10. Re: Question (Tom Miles)
>   11. Re: Question (lou gold)
>   12. fertilizer (lou gold)
>   13. Re: Question (Biopact)
>   14. Re: Topic #3 - charcoal production: pulverizingcharcoal
>       (Greg and April)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 20 May 2008 03:29:26 -0300
> From: "lou gold" <lou.gold at gmail.com>
> Subject: [Terrapreta] Question
> To: "terrapreta at bioenergylists.org" <Terrapreta at bioenergylists.org>
> Message-ID:
> 	<90d45c6d0805192329r25f077e9h24e445be914e8e0d at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Hi All,
>
> I need some help working through a puzzle.
>
> As you know, my highest priority is saving the forest, especially the Amazon
> forest. I have been investing a lot of hopes in the possibility that terra
> preta might somehow show the way. But I have not been able to figure out the
> benefit of soil improvement (etc, etc) for cattle ranching and it is the
> expansion of cattle combined with logging that is the front line of
> deforestation.
>
> I know that switching from slash-and-burn to slash-and-char will be helpful.
> But cattle are going to expand as the world gains more and more people who
> want to eat meat. Please, let's not go into the protein efficiencies or
> ethics of this trend. I'm trying to deal with the world as it is.  Can
> anyone see a way that terra preta might be helpful here?
>
> Thanks.
>
> lou
>
>