Cattle changing ecology of the entire country

We were privileged to drive across the USA this year. It was humbling to view the majesty, immensity, and diversity of our land. Friendly, helpful folks everywhere, even during a pandemic.

What really shocked me though, was COWS! Cows everywhere! Millions of cattle grazing deserts, valleys, forests, and our highest meadows. If there aren’t cattle grazing, you’ll see miles and miles of GMO corn, soy and sorghum growing for feed. If you don’t see crops, you’ll see tractors mowing grasslands. Mowing and rolling grass into hay is ubiquitous. The energy expended to grow cows is astounding.

This animal changes the ecology of the entire USA! Erosion, polluted streams, endless fences, and invasive weeds are a result of grazing. Feed crops use billions of pounds of pesticides and herbicides. Monarch butterflies are almost extinct. Milkweed, the larvae’s sole source of habitat is plowed under, mowed or sprayed. Antelope, bear, elk, bison, deer, prairie dogs, bees, birds, and fish are sacrificed to raising beef. There is little space for wildlife.

I will never eat commercial meat again after visiting an RV Park in Oakley, Kansas. Outside, the stench of manure was overpowering. Cows were lowing the next morning and I realized the railway stockyard was close. The cattle would be shipped to the slaughterhouse. All of it together felt wrong.

We are what we eat. Know your rancher and farmer. Eat local, Eat organic. It’s a bit more expensive, but not in the long run. Our Earth, including us needs it.

— Trish Puterbaugh, Cohasset