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Triple-Purpose Cattle
and their roles on the farm
Many, many farms keep cows for their meat and/or milk production. And they are certainly excellent producers of both. However, our cows have a variety of jobs on the farm, jobs that none of our other animals can do quite as well as they can. Here's a partial list of our cows' work load:
* Land building. Our farm sits on the side of a hill, and the topography is very uneven. We hardly have a flat spot on the property. So our cows are land-builders. We accomplish this by housing the cows in a small yards and feed them their hay on the ground. The combination of waste hay, manure and bedding can build up very quickly, and will fill in any low spots we happen to have in that yard. When their current yard ground level has been sufficiently built up, we move them to another yard and the cycle begins again.
* Animal feed. We are not yet licensed for retail milk sales, but our cows' milk is used in a wide variety of ways. We save colostrum after each calf's birth which can be used as substitute colostrum for youngsters of other species. Our pigs also thrive on cow's milk as a valuable source of calories, protein and other nutrients that are costly to provide from other sources.
* Soil innoculation. Soils are living, breathing collections of macro- and micro-organisms. When starting with bare or abused ground, sometimes that ground needs to be innoculated with new bacterial cultures. Cow manure, well managed, can give soils a potent boost of both microorganism populations as well as organic matter. Combine that with the right ratio of carbon-rich bedding, and cows can lay down a sheet of living compost wherever they go. You can't buy that kind of soil fertility, not at any cost.
* Heat production. Cattle are basically walking compost piles. An individual cow's rumen volume is considerable, and the heat she puts out is also considerable. In cool or cold climates like we have, that heat source can make a nice difference in winter housing conditions. If other animals or plants are housed in connected housing, they can benefit from that heat source indirectly.
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Animal Power
We are actively exploring alternatives to conventional, petroleum-driven power sources on the farm. Oxen-drawn implements, treadmills, and various harnessing methods can provide tremendous, practical, cost-effective power to farming, logging, milling and household power needs. Our
animal power
page provides more details, as well as updates on our particular efforts.
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Weblog Archives
We are still building out this new blog archiving system, so please be patient with us as we do so. We think you'll be pleased with the results.
In the meantime, feel free to look through our current and past blog entries while they're still on monthly pages. Check back soon and we'll hopefully have them all sorted quickly. Thank you for your patience.
Archives in Chronological Order
Current Entries:
Current Month's Entries
Previous Month's Entries:
October 2011 Weblog Entries
Sept 2011 Weblog Entries
Aug 2011 Weblog Entries
July 2011 Weblog Entries
June 2011 Weblog Entries
May 2011 Weblog Entries
April 2011 Weblog Entries
March 2011 Weblog Entries
February 2011 Weblog Entries
January 2011 Weblog Entries
Archives By Category
This section is still under construction. We hope to have it finished soon. Please feel free to explore the following categories, and check back often for additional categories. Thank you for your patience!
CATEGORIES:
Animal Husbandry
Cows
Ethics, Policies and Politics
Farm Lifestyle
Farm Planning
Farm Marketing
Horticulture
Hogs
Livestock Guardian Dogs
On-Farm Resource Management
Veterinary Services
Weather Issues
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