A conversation with Democratic 2nd District candidate Lindsay James

Back with more River to River from IPR News.

I'm Ben Kiefer.

My guests for this portion of the program, Michelle Michael and Brandon Whitworth, director of the documentaries Wor- the documentary World Without Cows, a look at what cows mean for food, climate, livelihoods around the world.

Let's dig into the science, uh, in the remaining time that we have.

Let's address those, uh, the, the conceptions, perhaps misconceptions people have about greenhouse gas emissions from raising so many, uh, cows.

Brandon or, or, or M- Michele, which one of you wanna tackle that first?

Either one.

Go ahead, Michele.

So what I can tell you what we saw firsthand, uh, was really, really incredible, that we went to Buck Island Ranch.

It's in, in Florida in the heart of the Everglades, and, um, it's a quite unique place because you have ranchers working alongside ecologists, and I think, um, those two, um, professions have been [laughs] typically at odds.

At this place, they're actually working side by side and, and doing some pretty incredible research there.

Um, they've been doing research for years, and ultimately, they have these high-tech, uh, towers and different measuring devices, and they're able to measure the methane that cows make, and then also the grazing that the cows do on the land, which helps to, to capture carbon.

And at the end of their research, and they're still doing a lot more right now as we speak, but at the end of their research, they were able to demonstrate that they were able to capture more carbon than what the cows emit.

And, um, this is still pretty early in research, but when you look at places where, um, potentially improvements could be made in like climates, there is hope that some of those models could be, um, used in other locations.

In Florida, for example, you're talking about a place with a like climate, like in, in parts of, of Brazil.

Now, when we talk about, um, different food systems being used in, uh, other locations, obviously what works in, in Kansas doesn't work in, in a place like Kenya, but I, I think there's a lot of hope that some of this research, um, bits and pieces of it can be used around the globe to, to improve the situation.

And Ben- Yeah ...

if I can add onto that, I just, I, I think something that was really important to us as we told this story is, is again, providing the wider context.

Michele mentioned in the beginning, so often the conversation is methane's a terrible greenhouse gas, which it is.

Cows make methane, and therefore cows are bad, so let's reduce the numbers or get them off the land.

I think what, what I learned, uh, from coming out of this five-year process is the great benefit that cows have when managed properly on the land, and that helps with carbon sequestration, that, it helps with biodiversity and soil health.

I mean, when you remove cows from the land, you've dama- you're damaging that whole ecosystem.

Yeah.

A- and let's, let's go to the, the, the soil and the carbon here because, uh, I'm, I'm recalling a, a farmer you spoke with, uh, on one of the farms, you'll have to remind me, um, you know, comparing his soil where cows graze compared with soil where it's more compacted where they don't.

So the claim is that cows keep the soil healthy, uh, pull carbon from the air into the ground, support biodiversity on grazing lands.

Back with more River to River from IPR News.

I'm Ben Kiefer.

My guests for this portion of the program, Michelle Michael and Brandon Whitworth, director of the documentaries Wor- the documentary World Without Cows, a look at what cows mean for food, climate, livelihoods around the world.

Let's dig into the science, uh, in the remaining time that we have.

Let's address those, uh, the, the conceptions, perhaps misconceptions people have about greenhouse gas emissions from raising so many, uh, cows.

Brandon or, or, or M- Michele, which one of you wanna tackle that first?

Either one.

Go ahead, Michele.

So what I can tell you what we saw firsthand, uh, was really, really incredible, that we went to Buck Island Ranch.

It's in, in Florida in the heart of the Everglades, and, um, it's a quite unique place because you have ranchers working alongside ecologists, and I think, um, those two, um, professions have been [laughs] typically at odds.

At this place, they're actually working side by side and, and doing some pretty incredible research there.

Um, they've been doing research for years, and ultimately, they have these high-tech, uh, towers and different measuring devices, and they're able to measure the methane that cows make, and then also the grazing that the cows do on the land, which helps to, to capture carbon.

And at the end of their research, and they're still doing a lot more right now as we speak, but at the end of their research, they were able to demonstrate that they were able to capture more carbon than what the cows emit.

And, um, this is still pretty early in research, but when you look at places where, um, potentially improvements could be made in like climates, there is hope that some of those models could be, um, used in other locations.

In Florida, for example, you're talking about a place with a like climate, like in, in parts of, of Brazil.

Now, when we talk about, um, different food systems being used in, uh, other locations, obviously what works in, in Kansas doesn't work in, in a place like Kenya, but I, I think there's a lot of hope that some of this research, um, bits and pieces of it can be used around the globe to, to improve the situation.

And Ben- Yeah ...

if I can add onto that, I just, I, I think something that was really important to us as we told this story is, is again, providing the wider context.

Michele mentioned in the beginning, so often the conversation is methane's a terrible greenhouse gas, which it is.

Cows make methane, and therefore cows are bad, so let's reduce the numbers or get them off the land.

I think what, what I learned, uh, from coming out of this five-year process is the great benefit that cows have when managed properly on the land, and that helps with carbon sequestration, that, it helps with biodiversity and soil health.

I mean, when you remove cows from the land, you've dama- you're damaging that whole ecosystem.

Yeah.

A- and let's, let's go to the, the, the soil and the carbon here because, uh, I'm, I'm recalling a, a farmer you spoke with, uh, on one of the farms, you'll have to remind me, um, you know, comparing his soil where cows graze compared with soil where it's more compacted where they don't.

So the claim is that cows keep the soil healthy, uh, pull carbon from the air into the ground, support biodiversity on grazing lands.