“For farmers around the world, animals produce meat, milk and eggs for direct sustenance and income,” she said. “Farm animals enhance biological cycling by consuming resources that would otherwise be wasted, and returning nutrients to soils in biologically available forms. Omnivorous chickens, turkeys and pigs can eat kitchen scraps, farm by-products and surplus crops. Grazing cattle, sheep and goats trigger plant growth by pruning and mowing naturally occurring rain-watered vegetation and can be move around according to local conditions. All of these creatures-through the aggregate impact of their mouths, feet, urine and manure-catalyze biological activity in soils. Ecologically vibrant soil fosters water-holding capacity, vegetative growth, and carbon sequestration, building the foundation for ecosystem biodiversity.”
