26/11/2025
I used to think that cows were ruining our planet 🌎🐄
But then I learned that cows might actually save it 🤯
Rewilding is not always the solution; sometimes, you need management.
And yes, cows CAN ruin the planet, but that's not the cow's fault; it's the humans' fault for mismanaging the cow.
Allan Savory taught me that the classic idea of “just let nature rewild the land” only works in humid climates. In places where humidity is not evenly distributed throughout the year, removing animals makes the land collapse.
He explained that the world’s great grasslands were not created by the absence of animals but by their presence. Massive herds, chased by predators, were constantly on the move, fertilising the soil and stimulating new plant growth.
He showed me before-and-after photos of devastated landscapes transformed through planned grazing. Cattle, sheep and goats, when managed holistically, can restore soil, increase water retention and bring ecosystems back to life.
He realised in the 1960s that no machine or technology could ever replace the ecological function of large herbivores. The role animals play in soil formation, nutrient cycling and grassland renewal is irreplaceable.
To manage livestock in a way that heals land rather than harms it, Savory developed Holistic Planned Grazing. It was inspired not by agriculture but by military planning systems designed for unpredictable battlefield conditions.
I asked Savory whether simply leaving land to rewild wouldn’t be better. He showed me a U.S. National Park where livestock were removed seventy years ago. Despite decades of investment, it has continued to desertify and erode.
Savory’s lesson is simple yet radical: in seasonal drylands, rewilding without large herbivores fails. Animals are not the problem. Mismanagement is. With the right planning, livestock become a powerful tool for regeneration.
💥 So: what should you do with this information?
Realize that grazers can be a force of good.
If you decide to eat meat, make sure it's regenerative grass-fed.