Comments interspaced between the *************.


----- Original Message -----
From: "James Thomas" <jthomas@...>
To: <biochar@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, August 14, 2008 12:17
Subject: Re: [SPAM]Re: [biochar] Charcoal from Prosopis....


> Reply to Kudzu pyrolysis,
>
> The kudzu, in my understanding, was originally imported to provide
> erosion control and livestock forage. Although I have never seen it, I
> understand it quickly became too much of a good thing. However, I can't
> help but wonder, if animal husbandry was more widespread where kudzu is
> problematic, couldn't that help keep the kudzu under control?

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It probably could, but there is multiple problems to over come first, and
one of the biggest problems is land use laws in urban and semi-urban areas.

In many places it's illegal to "farm" within city limits, and that limits
the type of livestock that is available to use to control kudzu - even
bringing in goats for a limited amount of time, usually ends up requiring
some special permit.

I have 5 laying hens, and 10 adult rabbits, and I'm pushing the legal limit
of 100 lbs of small stock - never mind that folks are allowed to own up to 4
dogs that could be over 75 lbs each.

*************************

> If this
> situation was to occur in other places where the main occupation of
> young people is herding livestock, I can't help but think this would be
> taken advantage of as an opportunity to restore fertility and provide
> sustainable livestock products.
> In my experience goats would really work
> well, and in fact I have read of some success with using goats to manage
> Kudzu. If it grows as I am told, count your blessings and turn it into
> useful livestock products. Small scale producers such as myself struggle
> to provide adequate forage for sustainable agriculture here locally.
> That is not to say we can't grow good forage with high yields locally,
> but currently demand exceeds supply.Good hay is currently $235.00 per
> ton here
>
> Therefore, I use my Austrian style scythe and pruners to harvest any
> roadside grasses and alfalfa and specifically to harvest "Kochia", which
> is considered by some as an invasive weed , but for those with some
> small numbers of livestock and limited irrigated pasture it is
> considered as "poor man's alfalfa". It grows 7 feet all and four feet
> wide with no irrigation, in an area only receiving 7-12 " of
> precipitation annually.

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Some types of "Kochia" are like a leafy herb (
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Kochia_scoparia.jpg ),
other types are like a woody shrub
( http://plants.usda.gov/java/largeImage?imageID=kochi_001_ahp.tif ).

******************************

> It can accumulate excessive nitrates, so it is
> probably best to use it in a mixture with other forage sources. The
> point being that why harvest such plants as a biochar source when they
> can be sustainably harvested by goats, cows sheep horses etc. and
> provide meat,milk wool, leather, manure, possibly even eggs, if poultry
> forage in such areas.
>

***********************

Because as mentioned before, many places limit what animals can be kept -
indeed even many rural areas are starting to limit the amount of livestock
you can keep on a given piece of land, in order to prevent cruality to
animals, and limit livestock pollution. The county I live in ( mostly
rural ), limits run 100 lbs per acre, for land of less than 25 acres. I
suspect that part of it, is due to the arid nature of the area, which
prevents good graizing and limits biological breakdown of animal waste to
times when it's not as dry.

***********************

> It seems to me that entrepreneurial young people could greatly benefit
> from managing small herds, flocks grazing and scratching about in such
> well vegetated sites.Thereby turning excessive Kudzu into livestock
> products. Speaking from experience, as a young person, (12-18 years of
> age) my family only owned 2 1/2 acres, but I herded my sheep, Jersey
> calves, chickens,turkeys, ducks, and geese around the neighborhood. I
> would tether animals on patches of weeds and grass or put up some
> poultry netting and run the poultry through a pasture or odd section
> overgrown with weeds.
>
> There were some joking hints from neighbors about collecting a grazing
> fee, but when the property owners observed the benefits of old decadent
> growth being removed and turned into manure, which resulted in cutting
> down on fire hazard and weed seeds; when they observed grasshoppers;
> ticks and other pests being turned into meat and eggs; and especially
> when the ducks ate the snails that carried liver flukes into beef cattle
> to the point that such snails were nearly eliminated, such semi- joking
> halted. In addition I would at times provide the neighbors with meat
> and/or eggs, which promptly stifled such suggestions about grazing fees..
>
> But did it pay? Well judge for yourself. While I certainly did not
> become rich, I was able to pay for my school clothes and supplies, buy a
> fly fishing outfit to harass the local fish population, buy a bicycle to
> ride to school when the weather was nice and put some money in the bank
> ; all from sales of meat, eggs and live animals and birds. In addition I
> had plenty of manure to use as compost ingredients for gardening and
> farming. Coupled with the meat I harvested from hunting, I thereby
> helped provide most of the food sustenance for my family. Oh we still
> needed to buy flour, but in later years I found out how even small-scale
> grain growing can be incorporated into such a small-scale agriculture
> operation.
>
> It was a good feeling to know that as a young person, I was really
> helping to support my family by my efforts. In contrast, now I see young
> people becoming involved in abusing drugs including alcohol, engaging in
> illicit sex with attendant disease and teen pregnancies, or getting
> involved in all kinds of unproductive behavior which degrades society
> and destroys lives. How much better if they were involved in herding
> livestock and poultry through stands of Kochia or Kudzu, Russian Olive
> trees or whatever grazeable weed plant is causing problems locally. A
> small home place where they could work on improving pastures through
> rotational grazing and hand harvesting hay would provide a solid base of
> operations for these young entrepreneurs.
>

********************

Not really an option in places with minimum wage & juvenal farm laws, that
seek to protect youth - legally it's one thing if it's a family chore, it's
something else if it's a job. Add into it the fact that most young people
being city raised, usually have employment opportunities closer to home, and
involve things they are more familiar with. Most youth today don't even
know that milk comes from a cow - for all they know it's made by a
mechanical machine, like everything else at the supermarket.

Don't get me wrong, it would make allot of sense, but, before that can
happen, you have to convince the folks that control the laws, and this
includes the likes of PETA ( who think that every rabbit and goat should run
free and dine on nothing but prime alfalfa ), city council members ( that
enact ordnances based on having others spend money ), and folks that just
don't have a clue, but plenty of money to spend on landscape maintenance.

********************

> Then if the former weed-filled ground is at least temporarily cleared
> by the foraging livestock, perhaps some really productive perennial
> coppicable or pollarded plants ( such as Black Locust or Honey Locust or
> oaks or fruit or nut bearing trees) would thrive, with proper tending
> of course. Such trees are good charcoal producers and can be harvested
> repeatedly. The idea here is to integrate other sustainable practices
> into production of biochar, not to promote biochar as the one size fits
> all solution to everything.
>
> Young people can be the key here, that is if we can distract them away
> from their video games and ogling the other gender long enough. They
> might find that scything hay, tending livestock and gardening is more
> fulfilling and definitely more profitable than some of their current
> pursuits. And what young closet pyromaniac could resist making biochar
> and turning smoke into fire and /or fuel? Our hoped for benefits for
> climate change, nutrient entrapment and feeding the hungry would
> naturally follow.
>

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Nothing is going to change, until the laws are changed, and until money can
be spent to do so, it's just going to get more restrictive.


Greg H.



Greg H.