Regenerative farming and Agro-ecology

*April 2024

'Six Inches of Soil'  criticized for misleading data

The film 'Six inches of Soil', about three young people practising 'regenerative' agriculture on a farm in Cornwall, has recently received considerable attention, and shown at Eden Court in April .  However George Monbiot, a tireless campaigner against livestock farming for whom  'there's no such thing as a benign beef farm', has exposed a serious flaw in data presented in the film to support a claim that the farming methods described were sequestering more carbon than the cows were emitting.  It turned out that the data was not measured from the farm, but a “modeled scenario” which was later edited to look as if it was a result rather than a possibility.

Read more . .

Anonymous article on Terra Infirma website   
22 April 2024
A brief piece summarising Monbiot's investigation, and recommending people to see the film but be aware of the misrepresentation.

There’s no such thing as a benign beef farm     
Guardian  15 April 2024
George Monbiot's much longer article, referring to other films  'that provide a rosy view of livestock farming', and with many links to scientific articles supporting his case.

We shouldn’t have any beef with conscientious farmers
Guardian  24 April 2024
A letter from Rev Richard Stainer, saying that while he admires George Monbiot, the keeping of animals on a small scale encourages greater biodiversity, improves their welfare and produces high-quality beef or milk.

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