Kim Pezza - Backyard Farming: Raising Cattle for Dairy and Beef

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Backyard Farming: Raising Cattle
Text copyright 2014 Hatherleigh Press

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN: 978-1-57826-495-7
eBook ISBN: 978-1-57826-496-4

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.

Cover Design by Carolyn Kasper
Interior Design by Nick Macagnone

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N ot too long ago, the family milk cow was a staple to be found in the backyards and fields of many rural homes, suburban areas, and even in some city backyards. Cows were kept for any number of reasons: to supply milk for drinking and cooking, to produce cream for homemade butter, or to provide beef for sale or at-home use. Calves were often kept and raised, either for eventual sale or to serve as a replacement for an aging dairy cow. Farms raising cattle for beef could be found throughout the country; out west, ranchers both large and small raised beef on vast cattle ranges that seemed to stretch on forever.

Today, while the large beef ranches still exist, there are not nearly as many as there used to be. The family milk cow has become a rarity, and although the practice of keeping cows for home-use has begun to make a comeback, it is on a much smaller scale than before. But regardless, no matter how large or small the farm, ranch or homestead, when picturing the ideal farm setup, most will include cattle of some type as part of that picture. The benefits of keeping your own cattle are much the same as they were many years ago: to provide for your own milk and/or meat. The beef available for purchase today often consists of cattlewho are natural herbivoreswhich have been raised on feed containing the ground-up remains of other cattle. Likewise, dairy animals are being given hormones to up their milk production. Across the board, horrible conditions abound (especially in the huge commercial factory farms, feed lots and slaughterhouses). With this in mind, raising your own cattle allows you to control what goes into your animal, as well as how your animal is cared for, right to the end.

Whether youre interested in dairy cattle or beef cattle, are looking to raise a couple animals or a small herd, Backyard Farming: Raising Cattle is the first step in introducing one of the most well-known and well loved animals to your farm or homestead.

Kim Pezza grew up among orchards and dairy and beef farms having lived most of her life in the Finger Lakes region of New York state. She has raised pigs, poultry and game birds, rabbits and goats, and is experienced in growing herbs and vegetables. In her spare time, Kim also teaches workshops in a variety of areas, from art and simple computers for seniors, to making herb butter, oils, and vinegars. She continues to learn new techniques and skills and is currently looking to turn her grandparents 1800s farm into a small, working homestead.

A lthough cattle ranches, cowboys and cattle drives seem synonymous with the western United States, cattlewhether dairy or beefare not native to this country.

Cattle were originally brought to the Americas by the Spanish in the late 15th century, during the colonizing expeditions of that century that resulted in Spanish control of the area that is now Florida. By approximately 1640, the importation of cattle ceased (for the most part), as sufficient stock had been raised and made to flourish locally. At this point, a thriving cattle trade between colonies, with Spanish Florida serving as the hub, began to develop in North America, stretching as far south as Cuba. In the 1600s, additional varieties of cattle, notably those popular in Great Britain, began to be seen in North America during the British colonization of the eastern seaboard, going to New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Virginia and Delaware.

So the first areas established for raising and breeding cattle in the United States were not in the west, as is commonly believed, but were rather in the Spanish settlements in southwest Florida. Historically, this area remains the oldest known cattle area in the United States, as well as the true origin of the American cowboy, nicknamed crackers for the sound their whips made when cracking in the air. The cattle raised in this area would become known as cracker cattle, which continues to be raised today, albeit as an endangered American breed, but is making a comeback on small homesteads and ranches in southwest Florida.

But the origin of these animals goes back far beyond the establishment of Spanish colonies in the New World. It is believed that cattle have been domesticated since the Neolithic period, and may have evolved from a small population of approximately 80 Aurochs (an early cattle type, now extinct, which will be covered in ) which were themselves domesticated over 10,000 years ago in Mesopotamia.

Currently, there are over 1 billion cattle in the world, dairy and beef combined, with approximately 89 million of those being located in the United States.

Cattle in Religious Tradition

While the word cattle has had a number of meanings throughout history, today the word simply refers to the common domesticated bovine. But cattle have held a position of spiritual significance since ancient times, being found in religion and mythology of many different cultures. Long considered a religious and practical symbol of wealth, the word cattle comes from the Anglo-Norman catel, which itself comes from the Latin caput, meaning personal property. The word cattle is also phonetically close to