Livestock as A Carbon Solution - article about a pilot project

I think many permies get this, but I found this article from my local coop newsletter stated it quite clearly:

Livestock often are vilified for producing more greenhouse gases than automobiles. Methane gas and the amount of water and grain required to produce meat and milk frequently are cited as environmentally disastrous.

What’s consistently ignored, however, is the failure of most research to distinguish between animals raised in confined feedlots and animals grazing on rangeland as nature intended in a holistic system. Research on holistic land management is, in fact, showing that large grazing animals are a vital and necessary part of the solution to climate change and carbon sequestration.

I found a quote along these lines before, which this article rounds out. Drove through the Palouse in Eastern Washington recently, and saw the signs for the Conservation Reserve Program, and now I know what it is!

The big "aha!":  folks can actually be paid carbon credits for this type of thing!

'03 cattle estimate us - 103.9 million

pre columbian estimated bison population - 60-100 million (350,000 now)

pre columbian estimated pronghorn population 30-40 million
(now 500,000 - 1,000,000)

numbers vary from source to source of course.

feedlot situations may have something to do with it. it is clear to me that it isn't about population  that is for sure.

Impressive stats, Leah!

Has anyone else heard of carbon credits being paid to those raising livestock with paddock shift or rotational grazing systems? The new farm income forum has me wondering whether this is or could be viable farm income.

Pre columbian livestock numbers have little bearing on greenhouse gasses today.

Unfortunately grassfed livestock produce more methane than feedlot do.
I don't have the data in front of me but it's unfortunately true.
Methane is 20 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon is, so I'm not sure of the logic behind this one

You might want to check this one out though.
http://www.agrometeorology.org/news/whats-new/japanese-researchers-discover-method-to-stop-cattle-from-emitting-methane
Personally I've been talking with Professor Takahashi at the Obihiro University of Agriculture here in Japan, and I'm currently using Yucca Shidigera extract at 0.1% of feed until a usable Cysteine based product comes into production.