To the editor:

I would like to refer the writer Ann Wilson, of “Meat costs” (Public Forum, April 17) to an article in Mother Earth News, April/May 2009 issue. It is titled “The Amazing Benefits of Grass-Fed Meat.”

No, maybe we are not in the “old days,” but with a real push by the people, our environment can return to farming/ranching methods that return a balance to man and nature. This article essentially discusses how converting more cropland to perennial pastures produces healthier meat, builds better soil, conserves water and combats climate change.

Focusing only on the energy flow of farming greatly understates the problem, because it doesn’t take into consideration the natural vs. unnatural cycling of organic matter. In corn and soy production, tilling adds oxygen which causes organic matter to decay, or oxidize, and be released to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, the “leading cause of global warming.”

With practices described in this article, we could turn millions of acres of row crops into “carbon sinks” and use permanent pasture to pull carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and conserve water, as well as slow global warming. Soil can absorb 1 1/2 inches of rain per hour whereas a permanent pasture can suck up as much as 7 inches of rain per hour.

Let’s get back to sustainable agriculture!