A story of farmland regeneration with grazing cattle to feed on weeds - May 2004

A story of farmland regeneration with grazing cattle to feed on weeds - May 2004
I was standing in front of abandoned farmland. What used to be rice fields had become overgrown with weeds, unmaintained due to lack of labor, and a hotbed of insects, putting a burden on the villagers. The old farmers were losing their strength, as they could barely carry the mowers. At a time when everyone was wondering what to do, the idea of "letting the cows loose" came up.

At first, I was skeptical, but when I learned about actual examples in Kanagawa and Tokushima, I was amazed to hear that a cow can eat 50 to 70 kilograms of grass per day, and that the land can be cleared in 20 days. It was not just the numbers, but the realization that the farmers in the field nodded their heads and said, "This will eliminate the need for labor," that touched my heart. When we actually tried grazing, it was unforgettable to see the cows grazing and roaming, and the weeds that had been so overgrown slowly disappearing.

And the cows didn't just clear the grass. Their feces turned into manure, softening the soil. Seeing the farmland rejuvenated by the power of nature, without relying on chemical herbicides, made me think, "Isn't this the natural cycle?" For us, who were facing a labor shortage, cows were not only reliable laborers, but also allies in protecting the land.

In the context of the "circular society" and conservation agriculture that was spreading in the 2000s, this idea of grazing was not a breakthrough, but rather a way of life. This experience made me believe that there is still a future for rural areas that have been devastated. What the cows taught me was not to turn nature into an enemy, but rather a tangible sense that we can regenerate farmland by walking with it.