Products such as leather, wool, medicines and numerous environmentally safe non-food products are supplied by farm animals. In addition, animal agriculture harnesses productivity from forages grown on land unsuitable for row-crop production. About two-thirds of the feed energy used by farm animals comes from feedstuffs that people do not eat.
Efforts also are under way to further enhance farm animals' cohabitation with wildlife.
While the general public holds America's farmers and ranchers in high regard, farmers do not take this goodwill for granted. American farmers are early adopters of better methods to care for their animals and the environment around them.