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Old 02-18-2021, 11:08 AM   #51
TheIronMaiden
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Originally Posted by Cain View Post
I never said that carbon was the only part, and didn't mention it specifically at all. It has been pointed to as one of the larger sources of greenhouse gas emissions, which is something that we need to start taking a look at (as a whole, not just with cows).


Biodiversity is a whole other aspect, and I can see parts of your argument. However, biodiversity arises in a whole lot of different ways and is in no way reliant on having grazing land. I don't buy that having vast swathes of grazing land and huge amounts of cows is necessary for this.


Honestly though, I am kind of with Corsi in that the animal welfare is probably the biggest driver for me being totally on board.

Again, i'm not disagreeing with you, but I would like to reinforce this point. It is in no way reliant you're right, but it incentivizes it. Natural grass land in Alberta is under a lot of pressure, between primary industry, crop farming, and homesteads ( acreages or just expansion of towns and cities), there is less and less of it than ever. This is especially true, because unbroken grass land is something that cant be easily replaced, once it is tilled, developed ect... it is very difficult if not impossible to restore the biodiversity that is present ( for grass land, park land is different).

That is to say, there are a million reasons to sell or develop your grasslands, and very few ways to make any money from it. Lets not pretend that most farmers are in any financial position to keep a large section of their land aside for no reason other than morality. Land taxes need to get paid, let alone financial obligations. Animal farming is a way to make money while protecting biodiversity.

The point is that only only 1.25 percent of Alberta’s Grasslands Natural Region is protected under parks and other legislated protected areas. The rest is up to private interest, and without a viable incentive to protect that biodiversity the amount of unbroken land would diminish year over year.

Does that mean that factory farming is good? of course not, but it is bad habit to lump in every farmer and their livelyhood with large cooperate entities.
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