Many farmers are helping their communities remove it from the waste stream by recycling it as animal bedding. This fact sheet addresses some of the farmers' most common concerns. Farmers who have used newspaper for bedding claim that it's comparable with, or even superior to, conventional bedding. It's drier and generally cleaner than other bedding materials and doesn't harbor certain mold or fungus spores like hay or straw do. Penn State research shows newspaper to be more absorbent than straw, hay, shavings or sawdust, so it tends to keep barns cleaner and drier.
Newspaper is safe for bedding all types of farm animals - from dairy cows to swine to poultry.
Tests in Penn State's agronomy department showed that levels of heavy metals and trace elements in newspaper exceed safety standards. Some dairy farmers have even reported decreased incidents of common bovine health problems, such as mastitis, with newspaper bedding. Research has shown that, due to its dryness, newspaper generally has lower bacteria levels than other bedding materials. Often the animals will start to eat the newspaper. Research has confirmed that this poses no health threat to the animals.