Roots So Deep: Stories from Farmers and Scientists about Soil Health & Farmer Wealth - GW 2024

Speaker: Peter Byck
Guided by director and wrangler of scientists Peter Byck, “Roots So Deep (you can see the devil down there)”is a 4-part documentary series all about adaptive cattle farmers and their conventional neighbours across the fence - and a group of maverick scientists conducting ground-breaking research that explores the costs and benefits of grazing in harmony with nature versus grazing in conflict with nature.
In this presentation, Byck screens clips from the series, and discusses research results from the decade-long, $10m research project conducted in the Southeast USA; research that asks: can this simple change in grazing practice help farmers get out of debt, restore their depleted soils, rebuild wildlife habitat and draw down huge amounts of carbon?
Filmed at the Groundswell Festival, Lannock Farm, Hertfordshire, England, June 2024
groundswellag.com

[@charlespaynter8987]

The parts of this presentation that show growers coming to terms with what they’ve been doing and then facing up to the need for change, which can be very daunting, are hugely powerful. It’s a bit like realising that how you’ve lived your life and brought your kids up has been heading in a wrong direction and that you’ve actually ended up, in some important aspects, doing the opposite of what you thought was right.
As a farmer myself, I know this feeling.
Credit to all involved in this film for their honesty and basic decency👏

[@triciahill216]

Great stuff! Thank you, Peter!

[@ollievw3450]

Nice, Peter is coming to KZN at a mere 10 minutes drive from my farm (I am Dutch myself). Won’t be able to make it myself, which is a massive disappointment, but I have told everyone I know in the vicinity to attend. Have fun there, SA is great and the people are fantastic. There are lots of little signs everywhere that people are getting into regenerative farming, I am sure his words will hit fertile soil.

[@sookibeulah9331]

What’s SA and KZN?

[@carboncowboys]

@@sookibeulah9331 South Africa and Kwazulu Natal

[@mitchell9782]

Woooo!

[@infocat13]

Let’s study AMP under photovoltaic panels:)

[@lauraw.7008]

Yes! There are some doing sheep mob grazing under solar panels.