- Author: John M Harper
Below is the Executive Summary from the FAO report entitled Review of evidence on drylands pastoral systems and climate change -Implications and opportunities for mitigation and adaptation. It is an interesting read for grazing livestock producers. The full report can be downloaded at:
ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/012/i1135e/i1135e00.pdf.
Climate change and variability are long-term environmental issues and pose serious threats to vulnerable and impoverished people worldwide. In this context, governments, the scientific community, development organizations and the private sector increasingly recognize that drylands, grasslands and rangelands deserve greater attention, not only for their large extent, widespread degradation and limited resilience to drought and desertification, but also for their potential capacity to sequester and store carbon in soils while supporting sustainable pastoral and agropastoral livelihoods for millions of people.and their adaptation capacity. These opportunities can be realized only with targeted capacity building and effective incentives for improved management of these fragile ecosystems, backed up by pro-poor livestock policies, integrated processes that address natural and social dimensions, and funding mechanisms that enable multi-stakeholder engagement.
Soils represent the earth’s largest carbon sink that can be controlled and improved – larger even than forests. In addition, grassland management has been cited as the second most important agricultural technology available for climate change mitigation. This review argues that livestock and pastoral systems have a major role to play in climate change mitigation and, importantly, in supporting adaptation and reducing vulnerability.
Pastoral systems occupy two thirds of global dryland areas, host a large share of the world’s poor and have a higher rate of desertification than other land uses. Livestock production is also a growing sector. It is estimated that 1 billion people depend on livestock, and livestock serves as at least a partial source of income and food security for 70 percent of the world’s 880 million rural poor who live on less than USD 1.00 per day.
Degradation of the land base negatively affects the accumulation of carbon in the soils. Thus, reversing land degradation in extensive dryland areas through improved pasture and rangeland management would contribute to restoring the soil carbon sink while also improving livestock-based livelihoods.
The review also highlights the potential for soil carbon sequestration in dryland grazing areas and the multiple benefits of enhancing ecosystem services and processes for improving livelihoods while contributing to adaptation to climate change impacts. Realizing this potential will require increased awareness and coordinated global efforts. Arrangements to bring about climate change mitigation in drylands that simultaneously contribute to climate change adaptation should be a key area of focus in post-Kyoto mechanisms. Such win-win arrangements that successfully achieve both mitigation and adaptation benefits need to be implemented alongside interventions that address associated socio-political and economic barriers, such as land tenure constraints and inadequate services for, and political marginalization of, pastoral and agropastoral communities.
In conclusion, the review finds that there is significant potential for mitigating climate change through improved management of grazing lands in drylands, and emphasizes the concurrent opportunity to enhance the livelihoods of pastoral and agropastoral peoples.
- Author: John M Harper
The California Rangeland Research and Information Center at UC Davis is now offering all four modules of its online science-based course entitled the “Ecology and Management of Grazing.” This online course is organized in four modules that can be taken separately or in sequential order. The modules are 1) Introduction to Ecology and Grazing, 2) Foraging Behavior and Livestock Distribution, 3) Forage Quality and Grazing Animal Nutrition, and 4) Ranching and Grazing Systems. Each module is introduced by a documentary quality high definition video followed by a series of narrated PowerPoint presentations. There are reading assignments and practical exercises. Each module is self-paced and will take 10 to 20 hours to complete. Outlines for each module can be accessed via the online course registration page:
http://californiarangeland.ucdavis.edu/Grazing%20Management/online_course.htm
Course registration fees are $200 per module or $600 for all four modules. Registration fees can be reduced for groups of more than 10 people. Contact Mel George (mrgeorge@ucdavis.edu, phone 530-752-1720) for group discounts. Each module is approved by the Society for Range Management for 16 CEUs.
- Author: John M Harper
TWENTY-EIGHT HOUR LAW
A. Under the Twenty-Eight Hour Law, transporters are required to stop to provide animals with food, water, and rest. Transporters who have deprived livestock of food, water, or rest for more than 28 hours are in violation of the Twenty-Eight Hour Law (49 USC 80502).
B. If livestock arriving on a transport vehicle appear exhausted or dehydrated, IPP are to ask establishment management whether the truck driver stopped within 28 hours to provide the animals rest, food, and water. If the truck driver or establishment is unwilling to provide information, or if IPP believe the condition of the animals could be the result of being deprived of rest, food, and water for over 28 hours, IPP are to contact the APHIS, Area Veterinarian-in-Charge, via their FSIS chain of command, so that APHIS can conduct an investigation.
The full copy of the USDA FSIS Notice can be read at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/FSISNotices/06-10.pdf.
- Author: John M Harper
- Author: John M Harper
Meat Industry Capacity and Feasibility Study of the North Coast Region of California NOTE: This is a 1 MB file and may take a while to download. Printed copies are available from the Mendocino County Economic Development and Finance Corporation (MCEDFC) at a cost of $20. The full plans and technical specifications for the facility are also available from MCEDFC at a cost of $100.
I'm happy to respond to questions concerning this study through this BLOG.