Grazing critical to ecology

Grassland farming is not only the basis of organic farming, but the basis of all farming, and hence the basis of civilization itself. 
 
The reason for this bold proclamation is, first of all, based on the fact that there is far more land across North America (and throughout the world) that is not arable, which means it cannot support cultivation and the production of crops. This land will literally blow away in the wind if it is broken up (cultivated), which is exactly what happened to vast expanses of land in the United States and Canada back in the Dirty Thirties. 
 
So, our choices are either to set these vast expanses of land aside – as the urban elite of pro-National-Park movement suggest – or we can allow ruminants to graze it, thereby providing us with a sustainable food source. 
 
The problem with setting this land aside is that this turns out to be worse than breaking it up to plant crops. Because, unless grassland is grazed, it loses its symbiotic hold on the land and, pretty soon – sometimes after only a few short years – the grass goes to seed, dies, the seeds either blow away or are eaten by rodents and birds, and the land turns to dust. After all, keep in mind that the reason this land is not arable, and is classified as grassland, is because it is very light land. In other words, it is essentially dust being held together by grass. 
 
Contrary to what many conservationists believe, the more that ruminants graze grass, the stronger it becomes. As long as grazing is managed properly and there is no overgrazing, this agronomic activity build the strength of the soil that supports our grasslands, and ensures their longevity. If this was not the case, the buffalo would have destroyed the grasslands of the North-American Midwest thousands of years ago. 
 
It’s the same as when conservationists try to preserve a forest. Unless a forest is occasionally burned to the ground (or harvested for lumber) it becomes an old-growth forest with no undergrowth, and hence no food for animals like squirrels, rabbits and mice; no grass for ruminants like deer, and hence no prey for predators or quarry for humans. This is why Indians used to burn down old forests. The lesson: there’s no food in an old forest. Likewise, there is no food in an un-grazed or “preserved” grassland. In fact, preserving grassland is an agronomic and ecological oxymoron. 
 
The Sahara desert, it’s worth noting, was once one of the world’s largest grasslands until overgrazing led to its destruction. This was all purely natural. Humans were not involved. Likewise, there are areas of North America that used to be grassland, and again, before humans, were overgrazed through natural processes (perhaps due to a decades-long drought which forced ruminants to overgraze) and are now permanently condemned to be deserts. 
 
Thankfully, with well-informed humans involved, we can ensure that modern farming never harms our grasslands either by cultivating them, overgrazing them, or by attempting to preserve them. To do any of these things to our grasslands would be, in a word, irresponsible.

Mischa Popoff