Post by greybeard on Feb 12, 2020 14:17:30 GMT -6
I'm not much on all this greenie thing but found it an interesting read...
www.bbc.com/future/article/20200206-can-charcoal-cut-cows-methane-to-fight-climate-change
An excerpt from the article..lots of it we here in the US already are familiar with..
www.bbc.com/future/article/20200206-can-charcoal-cut-cows-methane-to-fight-climate-change
An excerpt from the article..lots of it we here in the US already are familiar with..
Due to the highly porous nature and high surface area of biochar, it improves soil’s ability to hold more water,” says Bhawana Bhatta, a soil science lecturer of the University of Melbourne. “The fine network of pores within biochar gives room for soil microorganisms to live. This increases the microbial diversity in the soil.”
But at first Pow had puzzled over how he would be able to get the biochar into his pastures. Usually it required large and expensive specialist machinery. “I thought, we haven’t got big-time farming equipment, and my gates aren’t wide enough,” he says.
Pow wondered, would it be possible to get the biochar in the ground with little to no cost by using his herd of cows to distribute it? After all, they wandered his pastures all day long and their dung was sprinkled liberally across it. They seemed like a ready-made delivery system.
But once the biochar-enriched cowpats were distributed across his land, there was a further challenge. How would this dung get into the ground?
Cowpat is incongruous in the harsh Australian landscape. It was the early European settlers who introduced cows, sheep and other ruminants. Kangaroos and other native species produce waste in small, fibrous pellets that the dung beetles native to Australia have co-evolved to work with. But these beetles ignore the soft, wet pats produced by cows.
Pow had to seek out bovine dung beetles, which were first introduced to Australia in the 1960s but remain relatively rare. After seeking assurance from an entomologist to discern if feeding biochar to his cattle would harm the dung beetle larvae that lived in the cowpat, Pow went ahead and started a trial, banding together with biochar researchers such as Stephen Joseph of the University of New South Wales to document the progress.
Enticed by the addition of molasses along with the biochar, Pow’s cattle dutifully chowed down their enriched feed, produced their cowpats, and then the beetles got to work. The bovine beetles then got started on the cows’ dung, working in pairs. The male brings the dung to the female beetles who dig a tunnel into the soil. Every time a beetle burrows into the soil, it also brings to the surface new soil with high levels of phosphorus, which acts as a natural fertiliser.
But at first Pow had puzzled over how he would be able to get the biochar into his pastures. Usually it required large and expensive specialist machinery. “I thought, we haven’t got big-time farming equipment, and my gates aren’t wide enough,” he says.
Pow wondered, would it be possible to get the biochar in the ground with little to no cost by using his herd of cows to distribute it? After all, they wandered his pastures all day long and their dung was sprinkled liberally across it. They seemed like a ready-made delivery system.
But once the biochar-enriched cowpats were distributed across his land, there was a further challenge. How would this dung get into the ground?
Cowpat is incongruous in the harsh Australian landscape. It was the early European settlers who introduced cows, sheep and other ruminants. Kangaroos and other native species produce waste in small, fibrous pellets that the dung beetles native to Australia have co-evolved to work with. But these beetles ignore the soft, wet pats produced by cows.
Pow had to seek out bovine dung beetles, which were first introduced to Australia in the 1960s but remain relatively rare. After seeking assurance from an entomologist to discern if feeding biochar to his cattle would harm the dung beetle larvae that lived in the cowpat, Pow went ahead and started a trial, banding together with biochar researchers such as Stephen Joseph of the University of New South Wales to document the progress.
Enticed by the addition of molasses along with the biochar, Pow’s cattle dutifully chowed down their enriched feed, produced their cowpats, and then the beetles got to work. The bovine beetles then got started on the cows’ dung, working in pairs. The male brings the dung to the female beetles who dig a tunnel into the soil. Every time a beetle burrows into the soil, it also brings to the surface new soil with high levels of phosphorus, which acts as a natural fertiliser.