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Grittyville, WA

Pasture management: if you burn grass residue and lose that carbon (dioxide) to the atmosphere it increases the carbon in the soil. Say what??? 2 minus 1 = 3 ? This is impossible.

Its so anti-intuitive: The way it works is, the grass becomes so much healthier, and with the photosynthesis is unimpeded by the residue, the increased amount of root exudates (sugars containing carbon) will exceed the amount of carbon that was burned off.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=usDReUQejSc

Watch @ 37 minutes.

And the next question would be, what if burning causes a net fertilizer gain too? If, despite the system losing a small bit of nitrogen when the residue is burned, the soil and plants gain atmospheric nitrogen more efficiently thereafter? Again this would be anti intuitive.

"Burning grass helps capture carbon"... well, nothing can surprise me now. Maybe Al Gore really did invent the internet :)

[Last edit: 01/02/25 6:14:36 AM]

1/2/2025 5:59:47 AM

Bethlehem CT

That guy is awesome, listen to what he says at around the 20 minute mark, He states that it is a fallacy that our native grasslands are healthier with out grazing. They need to be grazed to be healthy!

It makes sense! Think about the massive herds of buffaloo that roamed the plains at one point in time. The two go hand in hand.
He says "YOu can mow it, burn it or you can graze it but don't just leave it there"

[Last edit: 01/22/25 8:30:19 AM]

1/22/2025 8:26:59 AM