Does rice milk or milk from grain-fed cows emit less methane?

[The Grand Nudger]

I don't think it's a high-quality article. It seems to assume that "organic" means "no pesticide", which is dead wrong.

Ish.  What "organic" means in the us, for example, actually can be reduced to a weird (and wholly disingenuous) "no pesticides" scheme.  It's a set of marketing standards more than anything else. In truth, organic farms use the same and very often more of the same pesticides employed in conventional production.  Conventionals have the benefit of additional allowable pesticides which are more effective, longer lasting, and can be applied more sparingly.  

This was something I spent the first three years of our operation (back in fl) trying to navigate with the customer.  I wanted to provide consistent high quality produce that was environmentally sound and financially advantageous to me and to them.  We went for sustainable over organic. Organic did not fit that bill - but it's increased it's market share since then and customers have (apparently) given up on getting a good deal..so we eventually decided to seek accreditation for our field ops.  The hydro was uncertifiable (but not for any reason other than administrative) until recently. We're looking to move again, and next time I won't bother with organic or sustainable marketing (at least, not at our scale - I'll rethink if I find 500 acres of premo cropland at a reasonable price with a wholesaler nearby, lol). We'll still -do- it, but nowadays it doesn't give you the edge over the supermarket like it did when we started - and I just cannot stand losing crops and livestock because some beady eyed fuck in East Libvillage has a pet cause. One of our biggest money makers has always been agritourism (because flowers)....just imagine how many times I've had to smile patiently and nod in approval as a retiree tells -me- all about farming on the one hour he spends out in my fields a year. We actually had to have a little talk to a lawyer about a particular phrase that never failed to fall from the lips of our customers. "What I love is how you do all this without pesticides and fertilizer". First rule of interacting with customers is you never disagree, but is agreement or assent of any kind legally actionable? Turns out..no. Them saying they love x, and you nodding your head, is just you agreeing that they love an idea, not a legally actionable claim on your part. Wasn't all bad, we once had two busloads of s american strawberry growers out to see a thing we were doing in partnership with the land grant sys and those guys didn't say a word - they were taking notes. If I told them we were grinding up babies to achieve our yields and that pesticide applications inside of rei and chi are a flavor enhancer...they'd have bolded and underlined that part for use back home.

So, you know, keep that in mind when you inevitably suggest, as you've already begun doing, that you have a better grasp on this shit than I do, better than land grant colleges do, better than the fucking usda does.... because you read a pro-plant milk article online. FWIW, I'm absolutely certain that rice milk (just like organics) has some valid and useful application somewhere, for some producers and some consumers. Wherever and whatever that is, it certainly isn't in effect around here or anywhere else I've ever farmed. It would be environmentally and economically disastrous, and yes, even compared to cattle, in much of the worlds productive space. You'd have to be a raving lunatic to tear up The Bluegrass and get rid of the grazers to make a play for terraced rice. I can't imagine why (or even how) dairies in wisconsin could or would be employed for rice. Much of the us is patently unsuitable for rice production of any kind. Which is probably why rice production is limited to a small area down in arkansas and louisiana - where it's a serious ecological concern in it's own right even given those conditions.