Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think I'll practice with one or two feeder pigs for personal use before deciding whether or not this will work as a farm venture. If I can keep them happy and healthy without killing myself, I might get a bred sow the next year and see if I can manage her and a litter of piglets... and so on and so forth.
The best advice ever is to start small and grow slow... and only expand what makes sense and works on your farm! Fighting Nature is a losing proposition - even if you manage to get short-term gains through brute force and lots of money, you'll end up losing in the long run.
Thanks for sharing what didn't work on your farm BrokenTap. For all us "newbies", it's good to hear things that we should be aware may not work, not just the "you can do it" messages. There are several crops and ventures I'm not willing to try where I'll be at because I've talked with established farmers in the area, and others that I'm going to start a very small trial with first before committing to (like hogs). Every piece of land is different, and every region has different climate and soil... heck even what works on the next farm over may not work on your humble acres. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to farming and husbandry, just best practices and guidelines. I also agree that researching and understanding historical methods greatly improves ones chances.
No problem. I think the worst post I ever saw on farming was actually not on this forum but another forum and they person said this...
"My neighbors are all getting into Nut Trees, do you think I should bulldoze my Grandfather's 400 acre farm and get into this as well."
I could not type NO fast or big enough. I call myself a cautious optimistic person, or in the words of Ronald Reagan...Trust, but verify! They might be oxy morons but they kind of work. It goes without saying, if you are doing what others are doing, you already are behind the marketing curve, and merely following and not leading, not to mention lacking the passion it will take to stay in it when the going gets rough.
I am a history buff so matching agriculture up with history is a perfect match for me. I really wanted to go with beef, but even with free calves available from the dairy farm, it did not pencil out. With something different needed I turned to history.
I already knew this place grows grass really well so it was a matter of finding a species of livestock that did well here on grass. Of the past 400 years of farming here by my family alone, only 30 years did not include sheep. Sheep farming here in 2009 is unheard of, and I get really teased for "thinking outside the box" with my livestock choice, but the truth is sheep farming was far more dominant here then cows ever were. The idea was sound, if they did well for the first 370 years, why shouldn't they do well 30 years later?
BT - that's pretty much how I figure it goes with goats as well. All throughout history, man has had goats... it is theorized to be the second domesticated animal (dogs being first, chickens & horses being tied for third). Goats pretty much work everywhere if you get the right breed... you just gotta know which breed works best in your area. Sheep are pretty much the same way, although they are just a tiny bit less hardy than goats in some aspects... so, again, it pays to know your area and your breeds!
A local farmer friend of mine gave me some invaluable advice: "Raise & grow what you & your family are interested in and would like to eat. Once you have enough of that left over, then worry about whatever else your market might want." Coupling that with the "start small" advice gives you a pretty good starting point in any farm plan... and gives you accurate real-life data from your farm to do the business plan projections with. I'd never want to jump into full-scale anything using "market" averages... use the averages to devise your small-scale experiment and then use that data to expand to full scale. For example, corn yields well below average in my area, some of the other grains are closer but only for certain cultivars... if I went into full-scale husbandry expecting to be able to grow/use corn as the primary winter feed, I'd fail before I even started... and even trying to do it with another grain might not work out either, not even if Bob down the road can grow enough.
Location: Oklahoma(formerly SoCalif) Originally Mich,
13,387 posts, read 19,432,243 times
Reputation: 4611
Quote:
Originally Posted by MissingAll4Seasons
BT - that's pretty much how I figure it goes with goats as well. All throughout history, man has had goats... it is theorized to be the second domesticated animal (dogs being first, chickens & horses being tied for third). Goats pretty much work everywhere if you get the right breed... you just gotta know which breed works best in your area. Sheep are pretty much the same way, although they are just a tiny bit less hardy than goats in some aspects... so, again, it pays to know your area and your breeds!
A local farmer friend of mine gave me some invaluable advice: "Raise & grow what you & your family are interested in and would like to eat. Once you have enough of that left over, then worry about whatever else your market might want." Coupling that with the "start small" advice gives you a pretty good starting point in any farm plan... and gives you accurate real-life data from your farm to do the business plan projections with. I'd never want to jump into full-scale anything using "market" averages... use the averages to devise your small-scale experiment and then use that data to expand to full scale. For example, corn yields well below average in my area, some of the other grains are closer but only for certain cultivars... if I went into full-scale husbandry expecting to be able to grow/use corn as the primary winter feed, I'd fail before I even started... and even trying to do it with another grain might not work out either, not even if Bob down the road can grow enough.
In Michigan we grew field corn and then shredded it into silage for the winter.
Mkfarnam - that is certainly another "out of box" solution rather than just relying on corn meal from the kernels. Unfortunately, even that wouldn't be cost-effective (time or money) where I'm at... corn just doesn't grow well enough in the Alaskan Interior for it to be feasible on a smaller-scale farm. I could probably get just enough to grow in a garden scenario for humans with a little left for the animals (plus silage from the stalks), but not enough be my primary animal feed source.
This is a perfect example of why there is no one-size-fits-all agricultural method... things just don't grow the same from place to place. Even though you can get corn to grow reasonably well in cold climates like Maine and Michigan, it's still doesn't grow well in Alaska. Conversely, I can grow "bumper crops" of monster cabbages and other cold-temp veg in AK that wouldn't survive so well in the hot SW.
Location: Oklahoma(formerly SoCalif) Originally Mich,
13,387 posts, read 19,432,243 times
Reputation: 4611
Quote:
Originally Posted by MissingAll4Seasons
Mkfarnam - that is certainly another "out of box" solution rather than just relying on corn meal from the kernels. Unfortunately, even that wouldn't be cost-effective (time or money) where I'm at... corn just doesn't grow well enough in the Alaskan Interior for it to be feasible on a smaller-scale farm. I could probably get just enough to grow in a garden scenario for humans with a little left for the animals (plus silage from the stalks), but not enough be my primary animal feed source.
This is a perfect example of why there is no one-size-fits-all agricultural method... things just don't grow the same from place to place. Even though you can get corn to grow reasonably well in cold climates like Maine and Michigan, it's still doesn't grow well in Alaska. Conversely, I can grow "bumper crops" of monster cabbages and other cold-temp veg in AK that wouldn't survive so well in the hot SW.
I think that Maine and Michigan are what you might call "rich soil" states and with both states surrounded by or being close to bodies of fresh water lakes and rivers, has something to do with it.
Now with Alaska being more of a (my name) "Volcanic surface" state. Are'nt alot of open sufaces, hard surfaces up there?
I know that there's good soil up there, there has to be with all the woodland and wildlife preserves.
Alaska is so darned huge it really depends on where you're at. Where we'll be, it's semi-volcanic but mostly glacial-river. So we have a lot more frozen (permafrost) silt and gravel than we do solid hard volcanic surface formations. We do have pretty good soil, even if it is a little thin, since we're in the middle of a boreal forest but it's so cold up there it takes a long time for things to decompose into rich humus for topsoil.
Yes, there are several alternate feed crops (including swedes/rutabegas) that grow quite well in AK during the 100-day season... but they certainly aren't going to conveniently over-winter in the ground that's for sure There are also some early-maturing or cold varieties of grains that do well enough... usually what the rest of the country consider winter or fall/spring variety will grow in the summer quite well (with the long daylight hours) and can make it to harvest if it can handle a few early hard frosts. But almost nothing except softwoods and bushes survive in the ground or on the field over the winter when the average temp -40F (actual, not windchill), lows to -70F (with or without windchill), and avg of 5 feet of snow.
It's tricky, but doable
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
