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Can charcoal make beef better for the environment?
Cattle farming is a large source of agriculture's methane emissions.
Mikki Cusack asks whether a remedy dating from the 3rd Century BC could help cut emissions and boost soil health.
- Mikki Cusack
- BBC
On a hot December day on a cattle farm in Western Australia, the smell of manure is hard to ignore.
But not for long – as I watch, a cluster of dung beetles is hard at work and soon the cows’ manure will be buried in the soil.
On a warm day it can take less than an hour for the beetles to eradicate a cowpat completely from the paddock’s surface.
Other times, when the conditions are cooler and the…