The Seasteading Institute

If a cowherd has his own pasture, he will be a wise steward of the land because it is economically rational for him to be. If the pature is a commons, then the economically rational thing for him (and every other cowherd) is to graze the hell out of the pasture so their cows get as much of the limited resource as possible: This maximizes their economic success both first order (his cows are fatter) and second order (his competitors cows will be less well nourished).

I disagree. Look at the thousands of “Hobby Farms” and production ranches in the US. Over-stocked and over-grazed, plus buying hay, ‘cubes(hay-pellets)’ and feed… Wise stewardship would limit livestock to about 1 per 8 acres(good land, good water). Instead, they are overstocked and buying feed, while usefull land is being needlessly wasted on grain and hay, to provide the feed-stock.

I have about 18 acres, not in use at the moment. An ideal set-up should allow for a cow and a pair of calves per year, under careful rotation and inter-grazing with a few goats, range-hogs and sheep, on that 18 acres. Rotation allows proper use and digestive-tract parasite destruction… Poultry will be a super-numerary crop, interspersed with the livestock.

Later,

J.L.F.

If you can’t swim with the big fish, stick to the reef

I found a video on Ostrom – her nobel speech. Very quick and dirty synopsis of her life’s work:

http://nobelprize.org/mediaplayer/index.php?id=1223&view=1).

some key takeaways: