well, as a kid I always wondered what the heck happened to the so-called fertile crescent... having noticed that they now seemed to be mostly arid wastelands. Later study and not a few works on the environmental impacts of agriculture helped clarify a number of points.

suffice it to say... modern agriculture is not kind to the environment. As for the feedlot mentality and CAFO - concentrated animal feeding units- that is not sound practice either... and that is what is known as throwing out the baby with the bath water. Why would any sane person think it has to be either all.. all or nothing? Look to nature to see possibilities... and there are very sound reasons why there are predators to keep herbivore populations in check.

The big but here is that there is a lot of land that is perfectly good for raising forests and pastureland that is best utilized in that manner and not put to the plow. Or have we completely forgotten the 1930s Dust Bowl or how rainforests turn to barren mineral soils called latterite when put to the plow?

The land I live on is hilly and the soil in poor shape thanks to the previous owner who grew potatoes. It is now pasture and woodlot and slowly restoring its tilth. With some intensive work, I could grow enough vegetables to feed a few families for a year... providing I eliminate all the hedgerows and the deer and other wildlife that share the land with me. I prefer to share with critters other than my own species.