Farming is one of the oldest professions. Planting crops and raising livestock has been part of every culture from ancient times up to the present day. Even though very few people raise livestock or plant crops, every person is affected by agriculture. While modern day agricultural policies have made small-scale commodity crop raising (soybeans, wheat, and corn) cost prohibitive, many small-scale livestock farms thrive as a viable source of side income or family food source with a minimal outlay of cash. Livestock ownership has been closely related to individual wealth and societal advancement. Farm animals have also been mentioned frequently in literature and art: Shepherds are prominent figures in the Bible, and Egyptian carvings depict oxen pulling plows.
Kings and royalty throughout history have laid claim to large tracts of land worked by servants, slaves, and serfs. American plantation owners did the same in the United States, and large bonanza farms grew wheat and cattle in the Great Plains. Today, most chickens, turkeys, and pigs are grown by or under contract to multinational corporations in confinement buildings. Large dairies comprising thousands of cows have rapidly replaced the small dairy farms of yesteryear. Most beef cattle are fed up to slaughter weight in huge commercial feedlots.
Throughout history, most of the world’s population engaged in farming; there have always been small farmers who claimed a plot of land and planted crops. If they had the means, they would also keep livestock. The bounty from the farm would primarily be used for family consumption with small amounts left over to trade or sell for items the family could not produce on the farm. This way of farming has been the backbone of American agriculture up until the end of World War II. Since then, the landscape of farming changed dramatically. The Green Revolution, the introduction of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides, and powerful machinery capable of tilling hundreds of acres in a day prompted the demise of the small-family farm and ushered in the era of big farms. One person now did the work formerly done by 20 farmers.
This change brought with it an exodus of people from the farms and the rural communities that served them. For the past few decades, many towns and villages in rural America have become virtual ghost towns. Young adults have flocked to the larger cities where well-paying jobs are less physically intense and more pleasant than mucking out a pig stall or stacking hay in hot weather. The health benefits, working conditions, and steady paycheck offer more than the uncertainty surrounding farming. Larger farms produced surpluses of grain and livestock, lowering the grocery bill for the average consumer. This savings created a larger disposable income — or so the thought went.
There have always been stalwart small-scale farmers. They have hovered on the edges of the march of modernization, at times vilified as roadblocks on the way to progress or as environmental zealots. There was no room allowed for these backward-thinking people at the modern agriculture feed trough. However, the tide is changing, creating a paradigm shift from the thought that the top food priorities should be a cheap food supply and it should be available in large quantities. While we always will want plenty of food, people are taking a closer look at the true cost of our “cheap” food. Transporting food hundreds of miles from where it is produced is looked upon as a waste of costly fuel. Blanketing millions of acres of crops with expensive pesticides and chemical fertilizers has raised the issue of contaminated land and water. Raising livestock from hatching or birth until slaughter day in total confinement raises questions surrounding animal welfare. Losing the collective knowledge of how food is produced — no, milk is not made in the grocery store — has left the last few generations clueless on how to plant a garden, much less how to raise a chicken.
People are trickling back to the country, returning to their roots, or establishing new roots in the land. Many are former professionals who are tired of the corporate battles. Others have become fed up with the hassles of city living. Still others come seeking a healthier way of raising their children. Whatever the reason, these folks are creating a ripple in the rural landscape, reviving communities and reshaping agriculture. Optimists say this ripple may turn into a wave and could make small-scale sustainable agriculture the norm. While this may not happen, there is change happening as attested by the fact that universities and colleges are undertaking serious research in the sustainable agriculture field. Markets are opening, and merchants are anxious for milk, eggs, and meat produced using these practices.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines a farm as “any operation that sells at least $1,000 of agricultural commodities, or that would have sold that amount of produce (livestock) under normal circumstances,” according to its Web site, www.ers.usda.gov/data/farmincome/Sizedefinition.htm. Many small-scale farms can easily sell that amount of livestock or produce each year, so they are counted as a farm in official numbers. Regardless if you do meet the official definition of a farm, a few factors have remained constant in agriculture throughout the years. It is a tough business requiring physical labor, while working in a field of uncertainties due to weather, disease, and injuries. Market volatility is also a big uncertainty in agriculture. All these factors can combine in a disastrous way to drive a well-meaning farmer from their livelihood, or they can build a person’s character and resourcefulness in ways never thought possible.
This book will help you get off on the right foot in establishing a small-scale enterprise. You will learn how to prepare for newly hatched chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, quails, guinea fowl, and pheasants. You will learn how to choose healthy goats, sheep, cattle, and pigs before you bring them home to your farm. Once you have your livestock, you will learn how to recognize the signs of an ill animal or bird and how to treat a sick animal. In order to properly use your investment, you will learn how to harvest milk, handle eggs, breed birds and animals, market your livestock, and butcher your own meat. In a nutshell, you will learn the ins and outs of livestock farming from experts and pros in the business. But as with most things, you will learn best by doing. Most likely, you will experience a few setbacks your first year or two. With practice, research, and determination, your foray into small-scale farming will be a fun and rewarding experience for you and your family.
Before you embark on a small-scale enterprise, do your research. Research the breeds available, the equipment needed, the physical labor requirements, and — equally important — the markets available to sell the products your livestock produce. You will have to ask yourself some tough questions. To begin, do you have the resources to finance a poultry or livestock enterprise? Can you physically handle the species you would like to raise? Is there a reliable source of feed near your farm? Is there an available, nearby market for your product, or do you have to create a market? This book can help answer these questions and more. These are just a few of the many questions you need to seriously contemplate before you make a single purchase related to small-scale farming. Instead of jumping into a larger-scale poultry or livestock operation, you might want to start with a small flock of chickens or a pair of breeding rabbits to make sure you enjoy working with animals or birds daily. Do not invest a lot of money until you are absolutely certain this is something you would like to do as a business or to provide your family with milk or meat.
However, do not let these precautions dissuade you from attempting to raise poultry or livestock on your farm. As long as you go in clear-eyed and levelheaded with reasonable expectations, you just might find raising a few birds, rabbits, sheep, or cows will suit you just fine. As you will see from some of the case studies in this book, farming is a family affair, and children can become just as invested as adults in rearing animals.