Sheep.
• Guest post •
— by Viv Forbes, Chairman of Carbon Sense
5th August 2015
Yesterday morning, before the frost had left the grass, I was sitting quietly beside my fashionably-green wood-burning heater reading the latest explanation in “The Green Gospel” on why the Arctic ice had not yet melted. Suddenly Flora burst into the room like an Arctic Blizzard with a look on her face that said I was in big trouble.
“Did you tell that awful Professor Percival he could cut holes in Maria’s belly and leave her with a bum bag and a rubber sausage strapped to her back?”
Can’t believe this is happening? See:
http://www.scienceimage.csiro.au/tag/sheep/i/1898/testing-sheep-for-methane-production/10
“It’s all right dear,” I explained patiently. “The Prof has a new job researching how to stop sheep from adding carbon compounds to the atmosphere.” (Which means, translated crudely, “how to stop sheep from burping and farting”.)
“Well, tell him to torture that awful Dorper ram that butts me, not my darling Maria. Where are those animal cruelty people when I need them?”
The Prof had coached me on the settled-science story which I now relayed confidently to Flora: “Sheep and cows release lots of carbon-rich gases from both ends. The science says this will affect the atmosphere, heat up the globe, melt the ice caps and we will all drown. He is being paid big bucks to postpone that watery judgement day.”
Fred McNally, my crusty old neighbour on the other side, was not impressed with the Prof’s reasoning.
“Surely even a dopey hobby farmer like Percival understands the carbon cycle? Every sheep has two inlet pipes—one for food and water, one for air. And it has three exhaust pipes for wastes—liquids, solids and gases. Sheep cannot manufacture carbon. Every atom of carbon coming out of a sheep’s exhaust pipes must have come in via that sheep’s feed pipes. And every atom of carbon in the sheep feed must come from the grass, which gets it from … the atmosphere.
“Sheep live on recycled burps and farts. Along the way, lots of carbon is tied up in woolly jumpers and in the bodies of sheep, lambs, dingos and hungry humans. Why pick on a non-problem like sheep? Wild dogs have already eaten half of Australia’s flock—we need a predator among the plague of clueless Professors.
“Can’t the silly old fart see that all sheep are green?”
In the sanctimonious cant of those who preach the green religion, sheep (and cattle) should be hailed as “carbon neutral”.
Viv Forbes
forbes [at] carbon-sense [dot] com
Disclosure: The author does raise sheep and cattle on natural pasture, and “Maria” the pet ewe does exist.
More background reading
Boffins breeding burp-less sheep in Australia:
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/archive/news/burp-less-sheep-to-be-bred-in-australia/story-e6frf7l6-1225820519155
All cows are green:
http://carbon-sense.com/2008/04/06/all-cows-are-green/
The dogs that ate Australia’s sheep:
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/backgroundbriefing/2013-05-19/4691596
Views: 78
Reminds me of when I ran into Gareth Renowden at the Amberley farmers’ market a couple of weeks ago. He was selling truffles. We exchanged niceties and how frosty it was and he mentioned having to throw an extra log on the fire last night. I couldn’t resist and duly encouraged him to set the CO2 free as warm was good, cold bad. He paused then laughingly declared that the wood he burned was carbon neutral. Think that one through! Isn’t therefore coal carbon neutral? Or anything else one cares to name. Unfortunately in the market hurly-burly I did not have the wit to think it through quickly so just laughed and said “If you say so….”
Funny who you meet in the market.
By the way, Mike, it was good to catch up in the pub the other night.
Best wishes to you and your family; we must catch up again sometime
Indeed we must Andy. I had a thoroughly enjoyable time.