Crop agriculture kills and injures large numbers of small mammals, birds, and invertebrates through plowing, harvesting, and pest control — welfare considerations often absent from plant-based diet advocacy.
Intellectual honesty in animal welfare requires acknowledging that all food production systems cause some animal deaths and suffering — plant-based systems included. Crop harvest kills field animals. Irrigation impacts aquatic wildlife. Pest control kills invertebrates and sometimes non-target vertebrates. This does not invalidate the welfare case for reducing livestock production, since the aggregate welfare impact of livestock systems is substantially larger — but it does mean that genuine welfare optimization requires attention to crop production practices alongside livestock practices. Agricultural research into harvest timing, pest management, and land use can reduce the welfare footprint of plant-based food production.