During a week of field visits to Point Reyes National Seashore, my ecologist’s eyes were struck by the contrast between degraded cattle pastures and the remnants of wild coastal grassland. It underscores a key point: Don’t confuse “organic” with “environmentally sustainable.” Livestock grazing on Point Reyes is a continually unfolding environmental train wreck. Organic ranching is just ranching with all the environmental damage but no chemical additives.
For example, native bunchgrasses growing in the livestock-free elk preserve have deep, abundant root systems that sequester large amounts of soil carbon. Meanwhile, dairy and beef cattle operations have converted their fenced paddocks to non-native annual grasses that have shallow roots sequestering little carbon. Thus, in addition to the potent greenhouse-gas emissions from the cattle’s digestive tracts (methane), ranching impairs carbon sequestration in the soil.