All Flesh Is Grass: Pleasures & Promises Of Pasture Farming [Paperback]

Gene Logsdon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2004

In All Flesh Is Grass: The Pleasures and Promises of Pasture Farming, Gene Logsdon explains that well-managed pastures are nutritious and palatable—virtual salads for livestock. Leafy pastures also hold the soil, increase biodiversity, and create lovely landscapes. Grass farming may be the solution for a stressed agricultural system based on an industrial model and propped up by federal subsidies. The pasture farming that Gene Logsdon practices can also produce grains, fruits, herbs, mushrooms, and salad greens for human consumption. The book explains historically effective practices and new techniques that have blossomed in recent years for the care and sustenance of horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, and poultry on pasture. Logsdon's warm profiles of successful grass farmers offer inspiration and ideas. His narrative is enriched by his experience as a "contrary farmer" on his own artisan-scale farm.The culmination of a lifetime's experience, this book is vital for owners of small acreages, home food producers, horse enthusiasts, and sustainable commercial farmers.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Logsdon, an Ohio farmer who has written more than 20 books, brings his gentle iconoclasm to the case against the grain feeding of livestock in favor of pasture farming. His arguments against grain feeding: the too-heavy investment in machinery for sowing and harvesting of grain, the need for pesticides to protect monocultural grain crops, the environmental costs required to haul grain to livestock farmers, storage costs, the need to dispose of manure from livestock feedlots, and the steep labor costs to manage all of this. His arguments for pasturing: "The animals do the harvesting, apply their manure for fertilizer, and eat most of the weeds." As it has for years, Logsdon's conversational style makes his material immediately appealing, but there is also solid advice on how to pasture various kinds of livestock (cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, horses, mules, donkeys, chickens, ducks, geese, and turkeys), how to rotate grass crops, which grasses work best, how to water livestock, how to incorporate some grains into the animals' diets, and which fences make for the best neighbors. A deceptively important book for the working, the would-be, and the armchair farmer alike. Alan Moores
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"In an era of growing concerns about our food, Gene Logsdon offers a practical way to steer American agriculture in a direction that ensures a livelihood for family farmers, takes care of the land, and provides fresh, healthy food for all. Over the years, industrial farming methods and grain-based livestock operations have led to the decline of family farm agriculture. All Flesh is Grass is a how-to manifesto for family farmers and food activists alike committed to taking back control of our food and farms."—Willie Nelson, President and Founder, Farm Aid

"All Flesh is Grass explains the immense benefits of taking our livestock out of the feedlots and raising them in a natural setting on their native diets. It's all there: the history, the politics, the practices, and the passion."—Jo Robinson, creator of www.eatwild.com

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Swallow Press; 1 edition (November 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804010692
• ISBN-13: 978-0804010696
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #84,465 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #18 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Agricultural Sciences > Agronomy
  • #29 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Agricultural Sciences > Sustainable Agriculture
  • #87 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Essays

More About the Author

Gene Logsdon farms in Upper Sandusky, Ohio. He is one of the clearest and most original voices of rural America. He has published more that a dozen books; his Chelsea Green books include Living at Nature's Pace, The Contrary Farmer's Invitation to Gardening, Good Spirits, and The Contrary Farmer.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good specifics on pasture, July 28, 2006

By 

William J. Pardee (Decorah, IA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: All Flesh Is Grass: Pleasures & Promises Of Pasture Farming (Paperback)

I liked Logsdon't specifics on the effects of different kinds of pasture. I think he misses an important opportunity with his unstructured grazing--See Joel Salatin's Salad Bar Beef for balance. The intense management of grazing (Salatin) makes a more sanitary environment and eliminates the need for antibiotics. Salatin is indifferent to the choices of grass variety on which Logsdon devotes so much time. The two authors provide complementary perspectives, including different details. Logsdon discusses fencing in some detail--I share his reluctance to depend on electric fence for boundaries-Salatin dismisses it and goes all electric. Both authors are persuasive advocates for grass fed beef.

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grass-Fed is Best, September 26, 2004

By 

John Langlois (Estillfork, AL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: All Flesh Is Grass: Pleasures & Promises Of Pasture Farming (Paperback)

Gene Logsdon understands what farming should have always been and still could be. The book is very focused on the cumulative health benefits that come from feeding the soil, the plants, the animals and you. He has little patience with agribusiness and is not afraid to name names.

This book is a "must have" for those new to farm ownership. Pratical matters such as "cattle panels verses woven-wire fences" and stock ponds are presented in ways that integrate the farm into healthy cycles of growth and rest.

A stronger section on the health benefits of raw milk would have made the section on milk and dairy from grass-fed cows more complete. But not even Gene can be expected to discuss everything.

Buy it and give it to your closest farming friends.

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book will stir up your passion..., August 25, 2005

By 

Wabi Sabi "bona-fide bibliomaniac" (rural USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: All Flesh Is Grass: Pleasures & Promises Of Pasture Farming (Paperback)

A compelling look at the benefits and solid argument for pasture farming. Skillfully written as if you were engaged in a friendly dialogue with an old friend, you are provided with more than an armfull of knowledge to guide you down the path of true agrarianism with respect to livestock and crop farming. I came away with a clearer sense of the merits of adhering to the natural cycle and relationship between the earth and the farmer. Most importantly, I came away with the notion that farming is best when the farmer provides an environment where the animals can work for themselves - it is more environmentally-friendly, more productive and more economical.