Address all questions to Aggie@Homestead.org
Hi Aggie! I love your site, and you give great advice! I was hoping you could help me.
My boyfriend and I will be getting married in the next year, and we want to own a small self-sufficient farm. I just want to be sure we are doing everything we can to prepare for making this happen. I have been doing a lot of research on your site and others, and I have found something that I would love to do, and am currently in the process of trying it for the first time and then plan to perfect that craft until I can make some money at it.
We are having trouble deciding if we would rather raise cows or goats, because we are unsure which is the best for our needs. He is a teacher and will continue teaching once we begin farming, so the livestock we choose needs to conform to that type of schedule, and needs it to be low in maintenance. We are wanting to own the livestock solely for breeding purposes, then to sell the off-spring. We live in central Indiana, so the livestock also needs to have great demand in our area. I have a significantly larger amount of knowledge on cows, but am very able and willing to do any further research I need to raise the best livestock for our farm.
We are looking at buying 5 acres, and will have a limited amount of capital to work with. So, any needed fencing, buildings, etc will need to be taken into consideration.
However, I am working a second job and we are both working hard to pay off all of our debt and decrease our spending to maximize our savings.
Is there anything else we should be thinking about, considering, or doing to prepare? Do you have any recommendations for livestock? Are there other options we should be considering?
Thanks so much!
KristieDear Kristie,
As I've done before, I'd advise you to find your market before you choose your livestock. If you are indeed as open-minded as you sound, then the most important factor to consider is which species will give you the best return on your time and money. You should be able to figure that out in a day or two of investigating your local markets and calculating your expected costs.
I should think that if you're planning to sell your increase, as opposed to selling milk, for example, then you ought to be able to manage to raise your animals according to your own schedule, whichever beast you choose.
I think I'd also consider buying more land. Land is certainly expensive, but the price does go down as the number of acres increases. If you think that five acres is the most you can afford in any case, then you might also consider raising young dairy calves for slaughter, as opposed to the very few cow-calf "units" you could maintain on very small acreage.
No doubt many folk consider me old fashioned, but I think you'll do better with any common farm animal, be it cattle, goats, pigs, horses or sheep than with some of the more exotic species now in vogue. If I see someone selling alpaca-burgers, I may change my mind.
Dear Aggie,
It seems as though we started getting ticks after we had a delivery of mulch brought to our house. Prior to this we never found any ticks in our yard. Since the delivery of the mulch last spring we have found three. Could the ticks be living in the mulch? If so how can we get rid of them? Our yard has a large pond with various plants and the mulch is around the pond and plants. Please advise on what we can do so we can enjoy our yard without worrying about ticks.
Thanks
AnnDear Ann,
If the mulch came from a source closely associated with animals, such as used bedding, then it's quite possible that ticks may have come with the mulch. However, they won't live in it for long because there's nothing there for them to eat. The best thing you can do to minimize ticks on your property is to mow the grass and keep warm-blooded animals away. If you're doing that anyway, I don't think you'll have a lasting problem.
Dear Aggie,
I've been thinking of raising approx. 50 steer calves from Feb-Oct. However, I have no idea where to get them, or what to do with them in October! I've searched high and low and cannot find information on where to "take them to market". Also, I have no idea how to decipher market prices!
Thanks!Melissa
Dear Melissa,
First let me say that fifty steer calves is a pretty large financial investment as well as quite an ambitious undertaking for someone with your apparent lack of experience. If you anticipate buying unweaned calves, then they'll have to be bottle-fed for some while and that can be quite a time-consuming chore. I'm not trying to discourage you, but you might consider starting with four or five calves.
As for where you get them, look in the phonebook yellow pages for "livestock auctions" I went to the online Verizon Superpages and got 26 responses in your state of Colorado alone.
Livestock auctions are likely to be a puzzlement in themselves, but one has to start somewhere. Look for a friendly face or two and ask questions.
Address all questions to Aggie@Homestead.org
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