My wife and I are currently working to get our farm going. We have raised steer in the past on a small lot, but we have now moved to 5.25 acres and are working that out.
One of our goals is to feed our family from the farm as much as possible, and take the remainder to sell and make some $$$ from. I work in town (about 15 miles away) and have a number of high paid technology workers around me who are willing to pay a premium for good food raised properly.
Because of this, we have decided to have a diverse farm with a large garden, an orchard, a market garden (which we hope to use to feed our animals rather than sell at the market) and 4 1 acre pastures. The pastures are in very good shape and we had them reseeded with a pasture mix last year. We didn't run any animals on it last year, but gave the sod a chance to form.
For this year, we will be getting 3 #500 steers, but are looking purchasing a bred Dexter to start our own herd from. Additionally, we are building a portable chicken coop for our 30 egg-layers to run in the pastures. We will be getting a few lambs from the auction for people who have requested them, and we're thinking of adding swine. If we did, we'd be interested in something we can run on the pasture, farrow in the spring and raise 6-10 piglets to butchering weight in the fall. From what I've read, full sized breeds would need to be ringed extensively to not tear the pastures to shreds, but what about smaller breeds? Specifically, the Potbellied Pig? From reading about them, it seems they can finish around 80-100 pounds by fall and they don't cause as much damage to the land because of their size. Any thoughts on these? Maybe another breed I have not thought of?
Thanks for your input,
Tom
One of our goals is to feed our family from the farm as much as possible, and take the remainder to sell and make some $$$ from. I work in town (about 15 miles away) and have a number of high paid technology workers around me who are willing to pay a premium for good food raised properly.
Because of this, we have decided to have a diverse farm with a large garden, an orchard, a market garden (which we hope to use to feed our animals rather than sell at the market) and 4 1 acre pastures. The pastures are in very good shape and we had them reseeded with a pasture mix last year. We didn't run any animals on it last year, but gave the sod a chance to form.
For this year, we will be getting 3 #500 steers, but are looking purchasing a bred Dexter to start our own herd from. Additionally, we are building a portable chicken coop for our 30 egg-layers to run in the pastures. We will be getting a few lambs from the auction for people who have requested them, and we're thinking of adding swine. If we did, we'd be interested in something we can run on the pasture, farrow in the spring and raise 6-10 piglets to butchering weight in the fall. From what I've read, full sized breeds would need to be ringed extensively to not tear the pastures to shreds, but what about smaller breeds? Specifically, the Potbellied Pig? From reading about them, it seems they can finish around 80-100 pounds by fall and they don't cause as much damage to the land because of their size. Any thoughts on these? Maybe another breed I have not thought of?
Thanks for your input,
Tom