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Farmers blamed for pollution on a "huge scale"
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<blockquote data-quote="ollie989898" data-source="post: 4186482" data-attributes="member: 54866"><p>Of course not. In reality the environmental footprint of what you do is likely to be very low, even if you were buying in a lot of feed, using bagged fertiliser or even growing various forage crops- anything you do is invariably offset by the huge amount of carbon the rest of your farm is busily absorbing over time.</p><p></p><p>The crux of it is simply this; arable farming, at least in Europe, relies heavily on livestock production to make it worthwhile. As a source of carbohydrates, wheat is a poor second compared to potatoes, and this was recognised probably 500 years ago because an acre of spuds produced a hell of a lot more product than an acre of wheat. Likewise, corn and rice found favour in their respective regions because of the climatic conditions- the yields of rice in Asia also would raise eyebrows because parts of it will grow 20 tonne/hectare with very little input...</p><p></p><p>Therefore if no pig, cattle or poultry production existed, the vast amounts of low quality feed grains being produced virtually worldwide would have no home and sure as eggs are eggs not every tonne produced by the arable world would ever find it's way into bread- the UK doesn't eat that much of it!</p><p></p><p>You can also consider the cultivation of sugar beet and OSR in Europe- both of which begin to look very dubious if you compare them to their competitor crops abroad.</p><p></p><p>Where livestock farming really scores is in the ability to convert low end by products and just about any kind of biomass into a product that is highly valued. Ruminants were designed from the boots up to survive on virtually any old scrub, fermentation isn't hugely efficient but it was never designed to be, it's not like the world is going to run out of grassland any time soon.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ollie989898, post: 4186482, member: 54866"] Of course not. In reality the environmental footprint of what you do is likely to be very low, even if you were buying in a lot of feed, using bagged fertiliser or even growing various forage crops- anything you do is invariably offset by the huge amount of carbon the rest of your farm is busily absorbing over time. The crux of it is simply this; arable farming, at least in Europe, relies heavily on livestock production to make it worthwhile. As a source of carbohydrates, wheat is a poor second compared to potatoes, and this was recognised probably 500 years ago because an acre of spuds produced a hell of a lot more product than an acre of wheat. Likewise, corn and rice found favour in their respective regions because of the climatic conditions- the yields of rice in Asia also would raise eyebrows because parts of it will grow 20 tonne/hectare with very little input... Therefore if no pig, cattle or poultry production existed, the vast amounts of low quality feed grains being produced virtually worldwide would have no home and sure as eggs are eggs not every tonne produced by the arable world would ever find it's way into bread- the UK doesn't eat that much of it! You can also consider the cultivation of sugar beet and OSR in Europe- both of which begin to look very dubious if you compare them to their competitor crops abroad. Where livestock farming really scores is in the ability to convert low end by products and just about any kind of biomass into a product that is highly valued. Ruminants were designed from the boots up to survive on virtually any old scrub, fermentation isn't hugely efficient but it was never designed to be, it's not like the world is going to run out of grassland any time soon. [/QUOTE]
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