Cattle Ranching and Deforestation

Cattle ranching, deforestation and reforestation.

Cattle ranching, particularly in the tropics, and especially in Central and South America (the main focus of this page), is a major cause of deforestation. Large areas of pristine climax rain forest have been, and are being, destroyed. You may also be interested in visiting the page “Oil Palms and Deforestation”. On this page, suggestions are made to improve the situation.

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Suggestions for reducing deforestation and the potentially negative environmental impacts of cattle ranching, and instead managing livestock for positive environmental and economic outcomes

It has been amply demonstrated that Allan Savory’s planned grazing/holistic management of livestock can actually improve the environment. In addition to this, my Animal Improved Dung Plus Seeds system of utilizing livestock used with planned grazing can further improve the environment and be used for reforestation – see the relevant pages on this site such as the page on ADS and FMNR for more.

In recent research, it has been proven that cattle (and presumably other livestock) can be used to good ecological and economic effect, where they are fed biochar and molasses, and then dung beetles incorporate their manure and biochar into the soil, improving soils and sequestering carbon (for thousands of years), and increasing productivity and profitability: Josephetal2015Pedosphere-Feedingbiochartocows

Also, for more, search on YouTube for “Doug Pow SustainabilityWestern Australia” and “Bernard Doube dung beetles”.

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Leucanea leucocephala, a high protein nitrogen-fixing fodder tree, with elephant grass as an under-storey (Cenchrus purpureus, prev. Pennisetum purpureum). This combination produces massive amounts of livestock feed, and has huge potential for carbon storage in soils. Photo: David Clode. Cairns, a wet tropical part of Australia.

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Fodder trees and reforesting cattle ranches (and other livestock farms)

Growing fodder trees and using livestock that browse leaves as well as graze grass (such as Bali cattle, also known as Banteng, and Galloway cattle) means more feed for livestock.

Therefore:

the same number of livestock can be kept in a smaller area with no loss of productivity and so a smaller area is deforested, meaning less deforestation in the first place, and/or space becomes available for reforestation,

or, the same numbers in the existing area, with extra productivity meaning there is no need for further deforestation,

or, more but well managed livestock in the existing area, with lower individual weight gains, but the same productivity overall, and no need for further deforestation,

and potentially more livestock in a smaller area with greatly increased productivity and less deforestation, if the livestock are very well managed, using planned grazing and the AID plus seeds system of treatments.

The important point is that Increased productivity means less deforestation, and adding trees means the ranches are being reforested.

Update April 2021: A scientific trial in North Queensland Australia has demonstrated that adding Nitrogen-fixing Leucaeana leucocephala fodder trees at 10 metre spacing to pasture has resulted in a doubling of livestock productivity gains: “steers in a leucaeana paddock were gaining 600g per day compared with 300g per day for steers grazing on pasture”.

Legume is viable fodder. Bronwyn Farr. Cairns Post, April 14 2021, page 24. cairnspost.com.au.

Note: It is usually best to establish trees and plants which are indigenous, and not introduced species, especially if they tend to be invasive weeds.

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Rather than creating treeless grassland from forest, trees can be added (or kept) to actually increase grass growth in some cases (e.g. rain trees Albizia saman/Samanea saman, Faidherbia albida, Prosopis cinerea, Parkia sp.). These trees also drop edible bean pods, leaves and flowers. All this provides more fodder in less space, and therefore lessens the trend toward deforestation.

More fodder available locally also reduces dependence on supplementary feed, such as soybeans, hay and corn, which have to be transported, and of course deforestation has also likely occurred in order to grow the supplementary feed.

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Adding trees (preferably indigenous) of course also means there is now forest or at least open grassy woodland in areas that were deforested, but probably with much less biodiversity than the original natural forest. Nevertheless, even a forest with low biodiversity still performs the functions of a forest, such as nutrient recycling from subsoil (tree roots generally grow deeper than grass roots), more transpiration and therefore more rainfall than just grasslands, higher humidity and a reduction in windiness (lower humidity tends to decrease photosynthesis because the stomata close, which means less growth, and windiness tends to do the same), temperature reduction and moderation, and so on.

As an aside, deforestation on the lower slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania has resulted in lower humidity in the air, including air at higher elevations, which in turn causes sublimation of ice directly into vapour, resulting in the loss of ice on the summit (not caused by anthropogenic global warming but by deforestation).

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Dragon fruit grown on trees (such as rain trees and oil palms in the tropics) could provide additional income selling the fruit for human consumption, and for animal fodder. Dragon fruit plants growing on tree trunks would provide habitat for wildlife and the flowers provide nectar for wildlife. Dragon fruit plants are easy to establish, from cuttings tied to trees or palms with string or just wedged in where possible. See photos further down this page.

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Some other trees (preferably indigenous, or if necessary naturalized, but not invasive weedy species) that could be used for shade and fodder, as well as nitrogen fixation:

Erythrina spp. Nitrogen-fixing, fodder, nectar for wildlife. Can be grown from stump cuttings (sc), see note below.

Sesbania spp. as above. Flowers of S. grandiflora can be eaten by humans.

Gliricidia sepium as above (sc)

Leucaena spp. as above

Enterolobium cyclocarpum as above

Parkia spp. as above

Albizia spp. as above

Faidherbia albida (drier tropics, African origin) as above

Prosopis cineraria, Prosopis spp. as above

Acacia spp. as above, but only a few species are suitable for fodder

Casuarina spp. – nitrogen-fixing and some species provide fodder.

Moringa oleifera – fodder, human food, nectar for insects. (sc)

Some of these trees can be grown relatively easily and cheaply from large stump cuttings pushed directly into the ground, normally at the start of the wet season or early in the wet season.

Nitrogen-fixing trees have the additional advantage of increasing soil fertility, resulting in higher productivity in less space.

In time, more tree growth will result in more shade. Some pasture species which are shade tolerant include Desmodium heterocarpon subsp. ovalifolium and some cultivars of Guinea grass, e.g. cv. ‘Embue’ and ‘Petrie’ (in the wet tropics and perhaps subtropics).

Some species of trees can be coppiced or pollarded to provide more light for pasture grasses. See the excellent web site Tropicalforages.org.

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In summary, deforested areas which have been converted to pasture can be at least partially restored by establishing complementary species of trees, and if the AID plus seeds method is used, the livestock themselves can be used to establish the trees, and in addition perhaps add biodiversity to the pastures. It is therefore possible to reproduce an ecosystem which goes some way to restoring the biodiversity and stability of the original vegetation.

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Living fences

Livestock need to be kept away from new trees by some means or another, until they have had time to establish. Trees need individual guards, or areas need to be at least temporarily fenced off, or livestock kept out of the area until the trees establish.

For long term planned grazing management, one option is living fences, where plants can be grown closely together to form living fences. These living fences can divide larger fields into smaller areas, which helps to manage the livestock in a planned grazing system. Living fences are already popular in Central America, with Gliricidia sepium being one of the more popular species. One or two strands of barbed wire are normally used to make the fence effective in the early establishment phase.

The plants can provide additional fodder, as well as shelter from wind and hot sun for livestock. Living fences provide an opportunity to grow many different plant species to enormously increase biodiversity and provide habitat for wildlife. With increased plant biodiversity, the opportunity of beekeeping for honey becomes available.

A common combination in wet tropical regions is coral trees i.e. indigenous Erythrina spp. and elephant grass (Napier grass, Bana grass Cenchrus purpureus, previously Pennisetum purpureum). There are many other useful species and combinations of species.

Gliricidia sepium

Calliandra spp.

Ficus spp.

Premna spp.

Erythrina spp.

Inga spp.

Bougainvillea

Aloe spp.

bamboos

Murray paniculata

Guavas – Psidium spp (can be weeds outside of their natural range)

Eugenia uniflora needs to be combined with sturdier species, but provides nectar for wildlife, and fruit for people and wildlife. Likely to be a weed if it is grown where it does not naturally occur.

Cordyline spp. (along with other sturdier species)

Senna spp.

Sesbania spp.

Opuntia spp. (can often be weeds where they are not native)

Euphorbia spp.

Moringa oleifera

Cereus and similar columnar cactus spp.

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Sesbania species could be added between oil palms to provide some more biodiversity, shelter, and nitrogen fixation, much like gliricidia in cocoa and coffee plantations.

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Epiphytes

Some plant species can be grown as epiphytes on the tree trunks once the trees are established, to provide additional income sources and increase wildlife habitat value and biodiversity.

Dragon fruit is very easy to grow, and provides food for people, and probably a wide range of domestic livestock. It could be suitable to grow on palms in oil palm plantations.

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dragon fruit – human food, wildlife food, and possibly fodder for livestock

pepper vine

vanilla

For habitat and to increase biodiversity:

Scindapsis

Philodendron spp.

various climbing ferns, orchids and other epiphytes (many possibilities).

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Epiphytes provide habitat for wildlife of many species, including arthropods, tree frogs, reptiles, birds, mammals, etc.

Conclusion

There are many beneficial and synergistic solutions to the environmental problems of cattle ranching. These solutions can reduce deforestation as well as add forests to the ranches themselves, while maintaining the productivity and profitability of cattle ranches.

Your suggestions

You are welcome to add any constructive comments or suggestions in the comments section below, or email me with any additional ideas you may have: daveclode@hotmail.com.

Resources

PROSEA No. 11 Auxilliary Plants. (Plant Resources of South-east Asia).

http://www.tropicalforages.org

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