Ultra-High-Density Grazing (UHDG)

A bigger picture

There are two mayor belief systems in the world today, those who believe everything was created by a Creator, and
those who believe everything evolved from nothing.
Evolutionists might ask: Where does God come from, and out of what did he create everything?
Creationists will answer: We don’t know, but believe Him to exist from eternity until eternity, and that He created time,
space and matter.
Creationists might ask: Where does the “nothing” come from, out of which the Big Bang burst, and from which
everything evolved?
Evolutionists will answer: We don’t know, but we believe it (evolution) to be true.
Ultimately these two scenarios are the absolute starting point for both these arguments, therefore both these
arguments are belief systems and therefore religions in their core, and neither are science in their core. True science
might or might not come from one or both of these belief systems, but ultimately has to be reflected/proven as science
and not as religion.
Regardless from which point of view we look at life on earth, biodiversity and interaction between biodiversity stays
true, whether everything co-evolved, or were created. Although I am writing from a creationist point of view, the
information in this letter stays true regardless the reader’s religious beliefs.

Biodiversity and interaction between biodiversity is key to life in the creation, whether it is the interaction between
the sun, moon, stars and earth, or the interaction between humans, animals and plants, or the interaction between
plants, insects and soil, or the interaction between humans, animals or plants and micro-organisms. Everything was
created to interact with one another to create an optimum environment in which all can thrive, and man was
appointed to rule over these things, until his ego convinced him that he knows better than his Creator.

Due to the interference of man, links of interaction between biodiversity has been broken, since the earliest of times;
therefore, we live in a broken and degrading world. The scale of destruction that man leaves behind, can never be
repaired to its initial created state, all we can achieve, at this point in time, is to manage the little that is under our
control, to our fullest ability to repair such broken links. The interaction of constellations with earth, the effect of radio
signals on living organisms, organic and inorganic pollution in our streams and groundwater, etc, etc, we as individuals
have no control over; but, the interaction between living organisms, animals with animals, animals with plants, plants
with plants, plants with soil, etc, etc, on our own land, we as individuals do have, to a very large extend, control over.

If we look at UHDG from our Creator’s point of view, all of the UHDG principles stays true. The whole creation was
created and populated to its full capacity, earth was populated with macro-organisms (animals, plants, insects, fish,
crustaceans, etc, etc) (humans were instructed to multiply and inhabit the earth), and micro-organisms (bacteria,
fungi, etc, etc). In the same way that biodiversity on a global scale differs, from the Siberian Tundra, to the Americas’
Amazonia, to the African Sahara desert; biodiversity on an intermediate scale differs, between swamp land and high
land, ploughed soils, soils of grazing land and soils of forested lands on the same farm; biodiversity on a micro scale
also differs, between the gut, the skin, the bladder, the birth canal, saliva, etc. Biodiversity, and an Ultra-High-Density
thereof is therefore the key to a healthy eco-system, whether on a global or micro scale, and since all living organisms
lives off each other, Ultra-High-Density Grazing is a relevant concept to be used from our Creator’s point of view.

The whole of creation was created to interact, but man created fences to improve on genetic traits; antibiotics,
vaccines, herbicides, pesticides, etc, etc, to remedy defects caused by such fences; infrastructure (roads, cities, radio
communication, fossil fuels, etc, etc) to improve on lifestyle; and industrial by-products that pollutes creation in its
entirety; etc; etc. A vast number of species, that we know of, went extinct, we don’t know about the ones that we
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don’t know about. Species that were recorded as extinct are mainly those that were visible to the naked eye, we didn’t
record species in the microworld that went extinct, because we only recently started identifying a small number of the
more prominent ones that has a notable impact on humans, such as e-coli, staph, etc. Some of our learned colleagues
claims that 99% of organisms in the intestinal microbiome has been identified, but then again, they haven’t identified
those ones that already went extinct, nor have they built the next-generation microscopes and/or technologies that
will allow them to observe a yet smaller and/or different and previously unknown microworld…!!!. And, even if 99% of
the microbiome have been identified, they hardly understand the interaction between different plant species, how
much less the interaction between microspecies? What they do know is, the smaller the organisms, the more diverse
their species are; and, the smaller organisms have just as much of a profound effect on larger organisms than what
large organisms have on their smaller cousins.

If we look at somewhat preserved eco-systems, such as the Kruger National Park, or the Serengeti National Park, or
Yellowstone National Park, etc, we get some idea of how our Creator intended His creation to function. Keeping in
mind that under all circumstances the smaller organisms, of which we know the least, most probably plays the biggest
role in the biodiversity interaction chain between living organisms. Different global climates, as in these National
Parks, harbours completely different eco-systems, with their own unique living organisms occupying them; but,
different local climates, like a digestive tract and skin, also harbours completely different eco-systems, with their own
unique living organisms occupying them.
Animal interaction takes place within and between species in different ways, such as sharing a grazing field, sharing a
browsing tree, sharing a water pool, carnivorism, breeding habits, etc. In a similar way interaction takes place between
animals and plants; plants and plants; animals, plants, soil, insects and micro-organisms. Specific seasons create
specific and unavoidable interactive conditions; in the dry season water pools are fewer, smaller, farther apart and
greater diversity of species visit such pools. Saliva, urine, dung and other bodily fluids from all different kinds of
animals accumulate in these pools and by the end of the dry season, the intestinal microbiome diversity of the animals
drinking from these pools have been expanded to a maximum, most probably assisting them in digesting dry and
tannin rich foods, as well as preparing them for the new green season lying ahead. In the mid of the warm and rainy
season, muddy pastures rich in micro-life from urine, dung, rotting organic materials, etc, again expands the intestinal
microbiome of animals grazing on them to a maximum, most probably assisting them with natural resistance against
parasites and parasite borne diseases. It may however also be reasoned that exactly such circumstances are also the
reason for the outbreak of disease; however, a disease outbreak is not the norm but rather an exception to the norm,
because we don’t observe disease pestered National Parks on a yearly basis. Disease develops in a microbiome that is
out of balance and/or not diverse enough.

The Health of an intestinal microbiome plays a large role in the health of an animal, animals with a less diverse and/or
ill populated microbiome are more prone to sickness and disease, are more susceptible to parasite attacks, are less
efficient in digesting their food, have less resistance to sudden climatic changes, have a greater hormonal imbalance,
etc.

By fencing a property, only allowing certain animal species access to a property, deforesting and planting of
monoculture or a small diversity of grazing plants in deforested areas, implementing commercial agricultural and
livestock practices, the interaction chains between species are permanently broken and inevitably, extinction of
species will take place.

UHDG and genetic selection in a cow/calf operation proves how quick and effective interactions between living
organisms can be improved, and with improvement of these interactions comes improved profit margins. However,
UHDG and genetic selection can only improve what is in existence, the non-existent cannot be improved.

By separating our livestock and preventing them from interaction with a vast diversity of wildlife, and depriving them
from roaming freely on a diverse species of plants, we knowingly started selecting for specific desirable traits, but we
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also unknowingly selected for the extinction of certain micro-organisms that would normally allow these animals to
function to their fullest potential. Animals that are taken out of a diverse interactive environment, are deprived of a
diverse intestinal microbiome, are generally sick, are poor adaptors to new environment, are under productive, have
low to no resistance to parasites and parasite borne diseases, and give birth to sick, underdeveloped and/or dead
young. By including antibiotics, vaccines, hormonal treatments, herbicides, pesticides, etc, to the equation, it becomes
obvious why our animals are underperforming in most instances.

All of the antibodies, probiotics, etc, that is found in colostrum, the birth canal, and other bodily fluids, has its origin in
the digestive tract. An under developed microbiome in the digestive tract is the single most responsible factor for
underperforming, sick and/or dying animals.

Cattle grazing / roaming alongside African buffalo, does not go extinct due to “food and mouth disease (FMD)”,
although, most probably, all of the buffalo are carriers of the disease to a certain extent, but because these buffalo
have diverse and healthy intestinal microbiomes, FMD does not become an overwhelming organism within the diverse
microbiome, and therefore outbreaks are rare.

An animal gets approximately 80% of its natural resistance to disease from its mother’s womb, birth canal, colostrum
and milk, 20 % will be gained from its environment throughout its life; a mother with an unhealthy and/or non-diverse
microbiome, cannot supply her new-born with the necessary antibodies, pro-biotics, nutrients, etc, and such young
are prone to underperform or die, whether pre-natal or after birth.

By visiting an orphanage, where every child gets the same meal, in quantity and quality, it becomes obvious that the
children of obese mothers are prone to overweight problems, children of anorexic mothers are prone to underweight
problems, etc. This indicates, that for cattle to super perform in a feedlot or commercial dairy, specific microbiota in
the microbiome has to be killed off, in order to put the body in an unnatural state to reach a pre-determined outcome;
but since our learned colleagues don’t know exactly how and which microbiota to eliminate to achieve such outcome,
they make use of parental selection to create herds/breeds that performs under these conditions, and chose to call it
genetic traits. Although it is evident that there is a huge difference in genetic traits between feedlot performers and
grazing performers, the microbiota between these strains of animals are worlds apart.

It is also true that DNA plays a great role in the parents’ offspring, ie, height, stocky/skinny, masculine/feminine,
appearance, etc, but even some of these traits are to a greater or lesser extent influenced by the mother’s
microbiome and health, ie, stunted growth, poorly developed and/or disformed skeleton, under developed muscles
and/or organs, underdeveloped nervous system, etc.
Autism and allergies are but two of a vast array of “defects” that in the past have mostly been contributed to genetic
inheritance, but currently is understood to mostly be the result of underdevelopment in the womb, due to the
mother’s non-diverse and/or unhealthy microbiome; even autism in some cases are reversed and/or totally cured by
expanding the child’s intestinal microbiome diversity. In 2019 one in every sixty children in the USA have been
diagnosed with Autism, this figure more than doubled since 2000; does this indicate that Autistic people have more
children than non-Autistic people, or does it indicate that there is another factor at play that causes more people to
contract this disease?

The influence of the gut microbiome on the rest of the body have only really come under the microscope within the
last ten years, but it is evident that the gut microbiome is the single most influential part of a body towards all axis of
the body, with the gut-brain axis probably being the most prominent of these influenced axis. Every single action of
the nervous system is influenced to a great extend by the gut microbiome, and illnesses/diseases such as Alzheimer’s,
Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis, Depression, Epilepsy, as well as muscular disfunctions (muscles are controlled by the
nervous system) such as heart diseases, are all influenced to a great extent by the gut microbiota.
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Under our current commercialised dairy practices, where a cow gets injected with hormones, antibiotics and vaccines,
to get her to perform at her ultimate prospected level, a dairy calf will die if someone looks at it cross eyed. These
calves are born with an almost non-existent microbiome, they are lucky if they enjoy a full day of mothers’ milk before
they are fed some plastic milk concoction of hormones, soy and other chemicals, and they have to face a new strain of
scours’ outbreak almost on a seasonal basis.

Under UHDG, visual genetic selection is made to improve hormonal balance and inherent body condition in a herd, to
maximise profit per hectare. However, the above information makes it evident that most of the wanted traits by which
such selections are made, are to a lesser or greater extend influenced by the microbiome of the individual animal, and
therefore it is impossible to know whether or not we are currently selecting the absolute best genetics as breeding
animals, or simply selecting above average but more healthy animals. Millenia ago, livestock have been removed from
their natural roaming environments and forced to perform in less ideal environments, together with antibiotics and
high energy diets, our livestock experienced mass extinction of micro-organisms in their microbiome, leaving us with
animals that are underperforming in every aspect. Since UHDG and selection for fertility, hormonal balance, inherent
body condition, etc, can only improve that which already exist, the solution does not only lie with UHDG, as we
currently understand it, but by UHDG on the scale seen from our Creator’s point of view. Since human practices are
the cause of certain species within an environment to go extinct, the only way to re-introduce such species is via
human interference. By implementing UHDG, and witnessing the transformation of our land and livestock, does not
mean our livestock are performing to their ultimate potential, and therefore we don’t necessarily produce maximum
profit per hectare.

It is evident that UHDG are lightyears ahead of the rest of livestock and environment management practices, but we
should always be on the lookout for possible areas to improve.

Unfortunately, our medical industry’s current view on medicine, for the most part, does not allow for natural
processes to be recognised as true medicine, and therefore such natural processes rarely gets funded or studied by
medical institutions. Medicine is seen as a concoction of mostly inorganic chemicals put together in a laboratory,
capable of altering the body’s natural processes. This is exactly the kind of practices that broke the links of interaction
in the microbiome in the first place, and can therefore not be used to re-connect such interactions.

Some of the questions at hand, are therefore as follow:

Is it possible to re-introduce extinct micro-organisms to the intestinal microbiome of a herd or individuals within a
herd, without knowing what went extinct?
Can we increase our profit per hectare if we expand the diversity of micro-organisms in our animals?
Can we improve our genetics when selecting from animals with a more diverse microbiome?
What else can be done to remedy the flaws in our current system?

Specific problems/shortcomings on a piece of land must be addressed to ensure, not only a sustainable but also an
increase in maximum profit per hectare. Some examples might be loss of topsoil, that might be remedied by UHDG, or
by planting a diverse species of grazing plants, or both; erosion trenches, that might be filled on intervals to slow down
the flow of water, or by UHDG, or by planting specific species of plants in these trenches, of a combination of the
above; a decline in biodiversity of plants in pastures, that might be remedied by UHDG, or by over seeding the
pastures, or both.
These are however obvious problems, with proven remedies; the not so obvious problems are the ones that we need
to address in cost effective, practical and sustainable manners.

Increasing the diversity of a microbiome can be done via faecal transplantation, but this field of study is not complete
and poses numerous risks, also it might not be financially or practically viable on a livestock operation.
Collecting saliva from diverse species of animals to use in a transplant, will definitely not be practically viable.
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Selecting for early maturity, continued fertility, hormonal balance, inherent body condition, etc, might at the present
moment be the ultimate practical way, to select for the healthier individuals in a herd, thereby systematically
increasing the diversity of micro-organisms present in a herd; further UHDG places a herd of animals in very close
proximity and the microbiota diversity will quickly balance out between individuals within the herd, but every time we
treat for parasites, diseases, etc, this diversity will be destroyed in our animals, and the selection process for breeding
genetics will therefore also be flawed to a certain degree due to our intervention.

Commercial pro-biotics is an option, but these are probable manufactured for the dairy and/or feedlot industries,
where animals need to be in a state with ill microbiota to perform and rarely if ever encounter the same challenges
than grazing animals, and will therefore not be sufficient for the challenge at hand, to keep grazing animals at
optimum health at any given time, in order to produce maximum profit per hectare.

Knowing that there are people on this group with a much wider and deeper knowledge and understanding on this
subject, I’ll leave this in your competent hands to come up with practical and sustainable solutions to the challenges at
hand. Any thoughts on possible solutions will be appreciated.

Thank you

Gert v d Wouden