The Cows · Page 2
Once, we were wild and fierce and roamed the open grasslands and savannah in great herds.
The soil grew deep and black under our trampling hooves.
Some of the most fertile soils on the planet have been created by herds of grazing animals kept on the move by predators.
When the settlers arrived on the prairies, the depth of the dark topsoil created by herds of bison was 30–40 centimeters.
It took Europeans less than a hundred years to make a dust bowl out of the prairie by upsetting the delicate balance using ill-adapted agricultural practices in a ‘brittle’ landscape. Plowing, keeping animals in fences for long periods without moving (overgrazing), and killing the prairie dogs who had been aerating the soil, all contributed to this process.