Melissa Nelson - The Complete Guide to Small Scale Farming: Everything You Need to Know about Raising Beef and Dairy Cattle, Rabbits, Ducks, and Other Small Ani

A few years back we lost our beloved pet dog Bear, who was not only our best and dearest friend but also the Vice President of Sunshine here at Atlantic Publishing. He did not receive a salary but worked tirelessly 24 hours a day to please his parents.

Bear was a rescue dog who turned around and showered myself, my wife, Sherri, his grandparents Jean, Bob, and Nancy, and every person and animal he met (well, maybe not rabbits) with friendship and love. He made a lot of people smile every day.

We wanted you to know a portion of the profits of this book will be donated in Bears memory to local animal shelters, parks, conservation organizations, and other individuals and nonprofit organizations in need of assistance.

Douglas and Sherri Brown

PS: We have since adopted two more rescue dogs: first Scout, and the following year, Ginger. They were both mixed golden retrievers who needed a home.

Want to help animals and the world? Here are a dozen easy suggestions you and your family can implement today:

• Adopt and rescue a pet from a local shelter.
• Support local and no-kill animal shelters.
• Plant a tree to honor someone you love.
• Be a developer put up some birdhouses.
• Buy live, potted Christmas trees and replant them.
• Make sure you spend time with your animals each day.
• Save natural resources by recycling and buying recycled products.
• Drink tap water, or filter your own water at home.
• Whenever possible, limit your use of or do not use pesticides.
• If you eat seafood, make sustainable choices.
• Support your local farmers market.
• Get outside. Visit a park, volunteer, walk your dog, or ride your bike.

Five years ago, Atlantic Publishing signed the Green Press Initiative. These guidelines promote environmentally friendly practices, such as using recycled stock and vegetable-based inks, avoiding waste, choosing energy-efficient resources, and promoting a no-pulping policy. We now use 100-percent recycled stock on all our books. The results: in one year, switching to post-consumer recycled stock saved 24 mature trees, 5,000 gallons of water, the equivalent of the total energy used for one home in a year, and the equivalent of the greenhouse gases from one car driven for a year.

Dedication and Acknowledgments

Dedication: To my parents, Henry and Suzanne Nelson, who instilled in me a healthy respect and love of all creatures great and small.

Acknowledgements: Writing a book is usually considered a lonely process, as the writer spends much time alone researching material and writing text. But no writer is an island, and during the creative process many people contribute to make a book successful. First, Id like to thank those friends and family who supported and encouraged my decision to strike out in writing. Particularly, Id like to thank Karen Hipple-Perez, who always had a ready ear to listen to my ideas and to help sort through things; Jennifer Hipple, a fellow writer; my sister, Rosanna Callahan; and my brother, Terry Nelson.

I would also like to thank the participants in my case studies who really made the book with their real life experiences. They were all very open and willing to share their experiences.

Introduction

Farming is one of the oldest professions. Planting crops and raising livestock has been part of every culture from ancient times up to the present day. Even though very few people raise livestock or plant crops, every person is affected by agriculture. While modern day agricultural policies have made small-scale commodity crop raising (soybeans, wheat, and corn) cost prohibitive, many small-scale livestock farms thrive as a viable source of side income or family food source with a minimal outlay of cash. Livestock ownership has been closely related to individual wealth and societal advancement. Farm animals have also been mentioned frequently in literature and art: Shepherds are prominent figures in the Bible, and Egyptian carvings depict oxen pulling plows.