I’m really excited to tell you about this new documentary series called “Roots So Deep, you can see the devil down there.”
Before I write more, I just want to say that I really like this documentary and that is the only reason I’m sharing it here on our blog. We are not getting paid to endorse it and we are not affiliates. There are no affiliate links in this blog post.
The documentary was created by Peter Bykt, the independent film maker who brought us the short film Carbon Cowboys. Peter has done many short films about cattle and the environment; this new one is a compilation of four films which compare five side-by-side farms, ‘literally’. They each share a fence line but use different grazing methods. One side uses ‘AMP grazing’ (Adaptive Multiple Paddock grazing), while their neighbours are running their cattle conventionally using ‘set stocked’, as in, they are being moved very rarely or never.
Over ten years, Peter and his team of scientists visit these farms and while Peter discusses life and farming with the owners, the scientists go out and gather the data they need to investigate any differences between:
- Water infiltration
- Bird numbers
- Cattle health
- Microbiology
- Insect diversity
- Soil carbon and nitrogen levels
- Farmers health/income
Many of these processes are measured with the most up to date equipment and systems. For example, to measure the amount of carbon dioxide the soil is absorbing or not absorbing, they set up something called a ‘Flux tower’. Over time this measures the amount of greenhouse gases in the area.
Within the documentary, all this science is explained in an easily understandable manner using animations to help you visualize the results.
Birdlife and the farms – this blew me away!
One result that really blew me away was the birdlife on two side-by-side farms. One farm had thirty-one birds from five species, while the farm next door had NONE! I never would have thought that was possible, but it all comes down to available habitat and food – one farm had it and the other didn’t.
The main thing that caught my attention and should be shouted from the rooftops is this…
CATTTLE DON’T CAUSE CLIMATE CHANGE!
When they tested the greenhouse gases on each farm, they found those using AMP grazing had an average of 3.3 tonnes/hectare/year of carbon sequestration.
When they tested the conventional farms they found that even under this form of farming the average carbon sequestration was 0.8 tonnes/hectare/year. Even the worst results were carbon neutral.
This means that both ways of farming actually SEQUESTED carbon dioxide!
This may be the first peer reviewed scientific study that proves that running cattle is not causing climate change. Dare I say it, it proves that eating red meat is not bad for the environment.
Actually, if you purchase meat grown on farms using AMP grazing practices, instead of being conventionally grazed, you are a climate hero, helping not only to sequester more carbon and methane, but decreasing local flooding, improving bird and insect habitat and ecology and supporting family businesses.
You can access this documentary via their website at: www.rootssodeep.org.
When on their website, click on the “available worldwide” button and you can rent it for three months of $10.00 USD, which (at the time of posting this blog post) works out to be about $16.00AUD.
Also, if you would like to read all the peer reviewed published papers that have come out of this study go to: https://rootssodeep.org/amp-research
I hope you enjoy watching this film and learning about cattle and climate as much as we did.
