Small-Scale Livestock Production - NCSU

be influenced by the location and scale of yourbusiness—you won’t be purchasing feed by theton, so you lose some efficiencies of scale. A suburban area may have higher costs for feed thana more rural area. Check into costs where youare and be sure to account for feed costs in yourbudget. In some areas, feed costs may prohibitraising some species of livestock.For all livestock enterprises, feed and other costswill be incurred for weeks or months before anyincome is received. Cash flow during the firstfew years (or in an expansion year) can be a realproblem. Also, either drought or a harsh winter can increase the need for purchased feed. Besure to have a plan for paying for all expensesand think “worst-case scenario.” What if youhave to feed hay in July and August? What ifan animal dies and you can sell only four hogsinstead of five?Most sustainable livestock operations will utilize forages as much as possible. Sheep, goats,and cattle are ruminants and should have a forage-based diet. Chickens, hogs, and rabbits canalso utilize forage as a portion of their diets. Themore you can utilize forages, the less feed youhave to purchase. With a limited land base (fiveacres or less), access to adequate forage can bea challenge. It is important to understand howmuch pasture/forage you have available andwhat the realistic stocking rate is for your areaand for the species you are raising. Often whenlivestock are being raised on limited acreage,they are more confined and fed purchased feedssuch as hay and grain. Purchasing feed directlyaffects the profitability of your enterprise.Purchased feed must be properly stored in asecure location and protected from rain andfrom animal contamination (e.g., rodents orcats). This preserves the nutritive quality of thefeed and also protects animal health. If a ruminant breaks into the feed supply and overeatsgrain, it will get sick and may die. Cats maycarry toxoplasmosis and spread the disease toyour livestock or to the manager. Feed storagecan be in a covered trash can in your garage, oryou might need a separate shed for storing feed.Grazing animals on a small acreage will sometimes need to be fed hay. In a dry climate, haycould be purchased and stored in stacks wherelivestock can’t get to it. In areas where there israin, hay will lose a lot of nutritive quality unlesswww.attra.ncat.orgit is stored under a roof. A tarp cover can protect hay from rain, but condensation will gatherunder the tarp, causing mold growth. In someinstances, a hay grower may deliver hay in largebales or in small truckloads several times overthe course of the season. Expect to pay extra forthis service. If you have to haul your own hay,you will need a truck. Remember to allow timein your budget for acquiring, hauling, stacking, and feeding the hay. Ask your mentor howhe handles feed acquisition and storage as well asfeeding livestock.Another concern of livestock production ismanure handling. If you are raising animalson pasture, then you shouldn’t have much of amanure issue, as they will be depositing theirmanure directly onto the pasture. If animals arebeing raised in confinement, or if they gather ina barn, then you will have to deal with manure.For sanitary and health reasons, it is important to keep barns and holding areas free ofexcess manure. Manure can be composted orapplied directly to pastures and crops. Managing manure is not only important for the healthof your animals but also for neighbor relations.When choosing a livestock enterprise, take intoconsideration your local climatic conditions. Ifyou live in an area with harsh winters, adequateshelters will be necessary. Harsh winters posechallenges in providing water to livestock andin young animal survival. Because of these concerns, it may be advantageous to raise animalsthat do not overwinter. For example, meatbirdsare raised and harvested before winter. Feederpigs also can be purchased in the spring and soldbefore winter. If sheep or goats are part of thefarm, breeding can be planned so that lambs orkids are not born until springtime. Heaters forwater tanks may be a good idea as well. Colderclimates with shorter growing seasons also affectthe amount of forage produced and how manymonths your animals can graze in a year. Theshorter the growing season, the more feed youwill have to purchase.For alllivestockenterprises,feed and other costswill be incurred forweeks or monthsbefore any incomeis received.Hot weather also brings difficulty. Pastures stopgrowing, and animals eat less and can overheatand die. Internal parasite infections may riseto dangerous levels when animals are stressedby heat. Providing shade and cool, fresh waterand being watchful for disease problems andfor weight loss are good precautions. If heat isaccompanied by drought, as is often the case,ATTRAPage 3

managers will need to prevent overgrazing andprovide supplemental feed if the pasture foragegets too short. Reducing the number of grazinganimals on the farm or leasing extra land mayalso help the situation.During all seasons, farmers must do what theycan to protect the natural resources of the farm:the forages, soil, and water. Managing grazing, preventing access to pastures during severedroughts or very wet periods, keeping plantcover on land to prevent erosion, and managingmanure and grazing to prevent water contamination are primary responsibilities of the landmanager. See the Resources section for moreinformation on protecting land and water.During allseasons,farmersmust do what theycan to protect thenatural resourcesof the farm.Page 4ATTRABefore you bring animals to your farm, try tolocate (through asking neighbors, searching thephone book or Internet, or checking with yourmentor) a veterinarian who will help if you havetrouble. If you start with healthy animals andkeep them adequately nourished and in a lowstress environment, you will usually have “goodluck” with animals. Still, not all animals willstay healthy. What will you do if an animal getssick or injured? While many areas have veterinarians nearby, not all veterinarians work withlivestock. In addition to fi nding a veterinarian, you should acquire some books to learn thebasic preventative health-care measures for thespecies you are raising and to learn somethingof the main diseases that may be a problem.Ask your local Cooperative Extension agent andyour mentor about what diseases to watch for.that you understand the risks of zoonotic illnesses and of injuries that might happen whenanimals are stressed. Learning about animalbehavior and reactions—and proper handling—will help a great deal in making your livestockenterprises a good experience. Your mentor willbe vital in showing you how to perform management tasks and how to safely work around theanimals. Handling animals calmly and quietlyhelps. Always be cautious around these classes:males, females with young, animals that havenot been handled (and so are afraid of people),and animals that have been handled too much(and so are not afraid of people). For example, alamb that was cute and friendly when fed froma bottle will grow up to be a dangerous rambecause it doesn’t fear or respect people. Similarly, a sow that was perfectly friendly and easyto deal with will be a different creature the dayafter she gives birth.Even animals that are not aggressive can causeinjury. A frightened sheep that is cornered couldjump and knock down a child. There are waysto lessen risks; awareness is the crucial first step.Besides consulting your mentor, take time toread about the species you raise and learn safehandling. See http://safemanitoba.com/uploads/animal web.pdf for a comprehensive (if scary)article on the subject. Also see http://lamar.colostate.edu/ grandin/references/new.corral.htmlfor information about animal behavior.If you see an animal that is “not acting right,”it is important to act quickly to figure out theproblem. In the first year or two, you will probably want to call your mentor to take a look atthe animal. If he agrees that there is a problemand you need a veterinarian, call one; this is notonly good for the animal but for furthering youreducation. Veterinary expenses may be highersome years as you run into problems, but if youlearn from each experience, expenses shoulddrop over time. Always ask how you might haveprevented the problem: Is there a vaccine? Doyou need to improve nutrition? Is sanitationadequate? Getting help promptly increases thechances of saving the animal and of preventingothers from getting sick.In addition to locating a mentor, an advisorknowledgeable about soil and water conservation,and a veterinarian, a farmer will need to identify a couple of sources of labor. It is best ifyour family can help, and the responsibility oflooking after animals is a character-buildingexperience for children. But when you need to beoff the farm for more than a day, you need someone to care for the animals. Willing neighbors,your mentor, responsible children from your local4-H club or FFA chapter, and older farm-raisedadults who have time on their hands are all goodoptions. Plan to write complete instructions andto give your chore person a tour, giving verbalinstructions. Leave them your cell phone number. And pay them well, in either dollars or someother compensation, as a competent and responsible person to fill in allows the farmers to havesome freedom.Another important concern is keeping yourselfand your family safe. It is especially importantOne of the side benefits of entering livestockproduction is that it will encourage you to getSmall-Scale Intensive Farm Training Program

to know neighbors and build a network of connections to work cooperatively. Besides the helpers already mentioned, a small farm may needsomeone to haul livestock to a processor or market. They will need to locate a feed source, afencing supply company, and someone with atractor to help occasionally with clipping pastures or spreading manure. Talking with otherproducers is the best way to find those local people you will need to be successful. Joining anassociation of producers is a good use of timeand energy. Check with your local CooperativeExtension office to learn of available groups or toget help in forming a new group.In addition to finding support in your neighborhood, you will need to have good relations withyour neighbors. You can help this along by communicating your plans, installing good fences toprevent your animals from making unwelcomevisits, and taking good care of your farm so thatit looks (and smells) healthy and attractive. Thiswill mean composting manure, keeping thefarm “picked up” (no old parts or tangled rolls ofwire lying around), promptly dealing with mortalities by composting well, and keeping animalswell cared for. If your neighbors are very closeto your farm, they may be bothered by roostersor your guardian dogs. Be sure to control youranimals and remember that an occasional giftof farm products or an offer to let the neighborsbring children over to pet the animals can helpa great deal.If you are raising livestock for meat, a primeconsideration that must be investigated early inyour planning process is the availability of processors to turn your animals into meat. Marketing options are contingent on the type ofprocessing you can access. In many areas, thisis the single largest stumbling block to raisingand marketing livestock on a small scale. Thereare three levels of meat inspection: federal, state,and uninspected or custom-slaughter plants.State-inspected meat cannot be sold outside ofthat state, and uninspected meat must be for theowner’s use only and labeled “not for sale.” Federally inspected processing plants that are willing to take a small number of animals, or evenkeep your meat separate, are very hard to find.You might have to base your marketing on usingstate-inspected facilities or make arrangementswith custom processors. A good option (if yourcustomer wants an entire animal) is to sell thewww.attra.ncat.organimal live, transport it to the butcher for yourclient, and have the client pick it up and payprocessing fees. Check with your state department of agriculture for your state’s regulationson processing, selling, and on-farm slaughter.Call the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service hotline at 800-535-4555 with any questionsabout federal regulations. The Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network also offers information and resources about meat-processing regulations and contacts for locating a processor.Table 1: Processing OptionsThere are several different levels of processing, and access to them willaffect how you can market your animals.Federal- or USDAInspected PlantsFederal plants can process meat for nationwide sale.State-Inspected PlantsOnly about half of the states have a stateinspection program. State-inspected plantscan process any meat, but it is stamped forsale only within that state (unless the processor participates in the new USDA program thatallows for interstate sale of specially inspectedmeat).Custom Exempt PlantsA custom plant processes for individual use.The meat must be stamped “not for sale.”On-Farm Slaughter(exempt frominspection)Animals are processed by the owner for individual use. Regulations vary by state.If you are planning a meat business, you mustfactor in the costs of processing, hauling theanimals to the processor, and picking up themeat afterwards. It is possible that the processor’s share of the income will be more thanyours. Remember that selling meat (or eatingit) is not possible without someone performingthis step, and a good processor is well worththe price.Having determined your marketing options,you are now ready to think about the scale ofthe enterprise. Will you be raising livestock forhome use only or for both home use and commercial production? Your family should agree ongoals for the farm. Your goals and plans mustfactor in the reality of your farm. How muchlabor and how much land do you have? Do youATTRAPage 5

have a working knowledge of livestock, or isthat one of the things you will acquire throughyour enterprises? It is wise to start with a smallnumber of fairly inexpensive animals (“trainers”)—making sure they are healthy—and learnbasic production and handling and marketingby raising just a few at first. This is a risk management technique: you will make mistakes butthey won’t be as devastating. You will also learnwhether you like the animals well enough tocontinue; if so, you can expand.It is a goodassumption thatno livestockenterprise will allowyou to get rich quick.How much you can expand depends on youravailable land base. You must protect the forages, soil, and water of your farm. If you don’toverstock the farm, livestock can improve theforages and soil and therefore increase waterretention on your farm. However, overstockingcan deplete all the resources and contaminatethe water. You must think of long-term consequences, not short-term gain.How much income can you expect from yourlivestock? That depends on your choice of species and the way you manage and market them.Some rough indication will be touched on in theindividual species sections of this publication. Itis a good assumption that no livestock enterprisewill allow you to get rich quick; use a sharp pencil and realistic numbers to figure out possibleincome and expenses. Budgets are provided, butyou must always do homework to get figuresfor your own area. There are many things thatcan affect your profitability and income, including production efficiencies, feed costs, types ofproducts, marketing streams, and what pricing your local area can support. These factorsare different for all operations, which is why itis so important to keep records and determinethe best products and pricing for your location.That sharp pencil should be used all throughyour farming experience. Tracking expensesand income, observing yields, noting what market prices were for a certain date and a certainweight of animal, learning what your actualcosts of production are, and noting labor usewill all help in planning for next year and inadapting enterprises for better results. Keepingand reviewing good records is what will allow asmall farm to be more than a hobby—and allowa farmer to determine whether it is a viable business, an enjoyable hobby, or a money pit. Eachof those situations is possible with any livestockenterprise. Record-keeping forms can be foundPage 6ATTRAin many production books (see Resources) orcan be designed to fit your needs. These recordsare vital at tax time or whenever you are making decisions.Once you have developed expertise with youranimal enterprises, built your network of helpful people (mentors, processors, veterinarians,chore helpers, and vendors), and determinedthat you can make a profit with the farm, youmay be ready to expand operations. Sometimes aneighbor will be willing to let you use their landif they believe your grazers will improve it, orsomeone nearby might lease you acreage. Adding land adds fencing cost and time, and perhapstravel time, and also presents the challenges ofproviding water and adequate observation.Another possibility for increasing income mightbe to stack enterprises. For example, perhaps youcould add sheep to your laying-hen operation,and let them graze ahead of the hens to keepgrass manageable. A few pigs might be helpfulto use extra milk and whey from your dairygoat operation. Or you might diversify yourproduct mix by selling breeding stock as well asmeat animals.Another potential way to add revenue to yourfarm is to add value to raw products. For example, make soap using some of the milk fromyour goats, process wool into yarn, or make hogsinto sausage. Diversifying your product mix canalso help you reach more customers and greatlyincrease your network and profits. Rememberthat each new product takes time, expertise, andpossibly additional equipment, as well as marketing. Track time and expenses so you willknow which diversification strategy was helpfuland which was more trouble than it was worth.See the Resources section for books, websites,and publications to further your understanding of managing a small farm that includes livestock. Some key considerations relevant to particular species follow.Species ConsiderationsBeesSmall-scale intensive farmers are using small acreages to grow an abundance of food that is safe andsustainably raised. Many of them are beginningfarmers with limited resources who are producingcrops and livestock on small land bases. Others areSmall-Scale Intensive Farm Training Program

currently farming on a larger scale and are starting to see the benefits of diversifying or downsizingtheir operations. Much of the success of all of thesefarmers is related to the pollination services of thehoney bee (Apis melifera). This section provides ageneral overview of keeping honey bees on a smallscale farm and includes legal and safety information on keeping bees in populated areas. Urbanenvironments can provide excellent foraging forbees, with less exposure to the pests, diseases, andeven pesticides that can be devastating to a colony.The Value of Honey BeesOver 150 crops grown in the U.S. are pollinatedby honey bees, including many fruits, berries,nuts, melons, cucumbers, broccoli, clovers, andalfalfa. These crops make up one-third of theU.S. diet and contribute over 14 billion to theU.S. agricultural economy (ABF, 2011). Whilecrops such as blueberries and cherries are 90%dependent on honey bee pollination, almondsare 100% dependent on honey bees for pollination. Of the honey bee colonies in the U.S., twothirds travel around the country each year pollinating crops during bloom time, including overone million colonies in California alone, just topollinate the state’s almond crop. According tothe USDA’s National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS), there were more than 2.7 millioncolonies in the U.S. in 2010 (USDA-NASS,2011). The honey bee is one of the most beneficial insects, yet colony numbers in the U.S.have declined 45% over the past 60 years (NAS,2007).In addition to the tremendous value honey beesprovide as pollinators, they also provide agricultural products, such as honey, pollen, and propolis. Close to 200 million pounds of honey wereharvested in 2010, with a retail cost of around 1.75 per pound (USDA-NASS, 2011). Whilethere isn’t much money to be made sellinghoney on a small scale, there are several valueadded products that can be made from the produce of the hive, such as candles and mead, awine made with honey.Starting an ApiaryThe Legalities of BeekeepingPrior to establishing an apiary, it is important tounderstand the legalities involved with keepingwww.attra.ncat.orgUrban hive, New Orleans, Louisiana. Photo: Andy Pressman, NCAThoney bees in your area. Many states require theyearly registration of hives through the department of agriculture. This may involve a yearlyfee for a permit as well as an inspection for disease. For more information on registering bees,contact your state department of agriculture orvisit the following web link for a listing of stateagricultural services: n inspection may also be required for transporting bees. Keep in mind when moving beesthat if a hive is moved more than five feet fromits original location, the hive must be moved atleast three miles away so that field bees do notreturn to the old site and become lost (Sammataro and Avitabile, 1998).A local municipality may also have its own set ofrules and regulations for keeping bees. As morepeople become interested in keeping honey bees,many cities across the country have changedlocal ordinances to allow for keeping bees on asmall scale. Whether the hives are located on asmall-scale farm, in a backyard, or on a rooftop,local ordinances are created for the safety of thecommunity, the beekeeper, and the bees. Theyspecify the number of hives allowed, the typesof hives that can be used, and where hives canbe located. Bees that are kept in populated areasneed to be managed appropriately so that theydo not become a nuisance.ATTRAPage 7

“Keeping bees successfully in a populatedarea requires an intimate understandingof basic bee biology, property rights, andhuman psychology” (Caron, 2000).Beekeeping SupportRelated ultureAlternative Pollinators:Native BeesSetting up

scale intensive production. Many small-scale farming operations have a vegetable crop focus. With a limited land base, high-value specialty crop production is a logical choice. However, don't overlook livestock as a possible enterprise for small acreages. Th ere are many benefi ts to raising livestock on a small scale. Livestock make a great .