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The sheer amount of excrement that you have to handle is absurd, and it's a well documented problem that the nitrogen leaks into aquifers and nearby water, causing massive problems (including the dead zone in the gulf of mexico). This is without commenting on how removing trees in the pasture reduces absorbtion of the nutrients on location and helps with the leaking into water.
What is done to animals in farms is also far from what most people would consider acceptable.
You might be out of touch with what this industry actually comprises.
Esit: And it's impossible to enforce anything on farmers regarding this, there are barely inspections every couple years of the state of the building, enforcing waste management and animal welfare is a pipe dream.
This is life. We must eat. Large scale plant agriculture is also destructive. There is no escape.
We have to at least try to make an effort and not give up and "enjoy the status quo while it lasts"
It's going to take work - giving up before trying isn't going to help. And telling others to give up won't either.
Citation needed.
I'm not sure you've ever been around industrial scale mono-cropping agriculture. The amount of pesticides, fertilizers, and herbicides is astronomical.
And you are worried about a little cow poop? Which is natural and beneficial to the soil? Have you ever heard of regenerative agriculture? That is what I practice.
We live in such an alarmist society one can read a few headlines and think the world is going to end. Or think they are educated about a topic.
So it's a little off topic - regenerative agriculture is not going to feed the world. It's a little "I got mine, fuck the next guy" kind of thinking - not meant as a jab.
We're not going away from mono crops and fertilizer use anytime soon.
It's trivial to show that to feed animals, we have to grow food - monocultures actually. So not raising animals lets us grow less food - less fertilizer. We also cut down transportation of the feed, heating for the animals, running costs, and excrement production.
I am well aware that growing plants is not a clean, pure and friendly thing. But raising animals multiplies anything negative you find about growing plants.
(And about alarmism - I'm not reading headlines, I'm visiting farms, working on them and chatting with farmers, scientists and lawyers on the subject. I'm not just telling you to watch Cowspiracy or whatnot)