Marls,
Thank you so much for this link. It's very inspiring. [spoiler alert] Using livestock to improve the land seems to be spreading now, as popularized by Polyface Farm (
http://polyfacehenhouse.com/) through Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma. The problem, once again, is our system that subsides large agribusinesses and punishes small-scale farms, since wise live-stock use is labor intensive, requiring deep knowledge and experience on each particular piece of land, and cannot be applied to large scale farms.
What are we to do? Maybe the problem could be the solution. Requiring small-scale operation could mean that it can be applied to small pieces of land that is not conducive to traditional farm practice. Could a group of us own a herd of cattle, taking turns moving them from one small open space to another every two weeks? There are plenty of open fields scattered through our town! Crazy idea, but just throwing it out there.
Keiko