Farmers have big jobs. The workers grow crops. They raise animals. Some farming practices hurt our planet though. For example, people cut down trees to give cows room to . But don’t let that get your moooo-d down. Scientists worked with farmers in Brazil to find a solution! The experts released a report on March 17.
Peter Newton worked on the report. Newton explained the idea behind the study. “Brazilian farmers produce a lot of beef,” he said. “But cows need space to graze,” he added. Newton said people have cut down a lot of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest. This made space for farmland.
This deforestation fuels . Trees store greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide. Chopping down trees releases these gases. The gases trap heat. This leads to climate change.
Luckily, the scientists have a solution. “One way to protect the forests is by grazing more cows on less land,” Newton shared. However, “this type of farming requires special skills,” the scientist said. Learning a new skill can be hard. “It helps if there’s someone who can show us how,” Newton said.
Newton and his team were those helpers. The scientists trained hundreds of Brazilian farmers. “One group of farmers was taught skills in a large group,” Newton said. “Those farmers did not change their farming style,” he added.
The other farmers learned in a large group too. But they also got one-on-one lessons afterward. “The second group of farmers did improve their farming methods,” Newton said. “They were able to graze more cows on less land,” he added. “They made more money. And they lowered their farms’ greenhouse gas !” That means the farmers had less of an effect on climate change.
The scientists hope to make farming more . The researchers learned how important it is to talk to farmers about environmentally friendly practices. And Newton said: “The way in which that knowledge is taught makes a big difference.”
Updated March 22, 2022, 5:01 P.M. (ET)
By Alexa Tirapelli
