Farming has become a popular option for many people. It represents an opportunity to provide for yourself and your family without having to rely on an employer. In these difficult economic times with rising unemployment that’s a real bonus.
Farming also allows you to get back to nature and reduces your impact on the environment. However, before you start farming you’ll need to choose the type of farming you wish to do.
While many people like the idea of growing crops, sustainable livestock farming is also a good option.
What Is Sustainable Livestock Farming?
Sustainable livestock farming means looking after the planet while breeding livestock for the market. You’ll still be raising cattle that needs to be slaughtered in order to feed people. But, you are deciding not to invest in harsh conditions. Instead, you’ll make sure that all your livestock have plenty of space and freedom.
You’ll also ensure they are fed naturally and, when the time comes, are killed humanely.
In short, you’ll respect them as living animals and give them a good life, even if it’s a short one.
The sustainable approach extends to land management as well. The more natural your approach the better for the environment. This proves you can farm and look after the planet.
Getting Started
Getting started in sustainable farming isn’t difficult. You will need to decide the size of farm you’re going to have. This will be based on how much money you need to make to look after your farm and your family.
In short, you will need to sit down and work out how much it costs to get your farm up and running and how much you’ll make from your livestock. Understanding these figures will allow you to ask for livestock finance, proving that you don’t need to do it alone or have a fortune in the bank.
It will also help you to locate the right-sized piece of land and work out what buildings are needed. The exact details will depend on how many animals you intend to keep and which ones.
It’s imperative that you include the cost of building these facilities into your calculations. You need to ensure you have enough money to last from when you start farming until you collect the money from your first harvest.
Building The Farm
The first step is working out what you want or need to keep and how much it will cost you, along with what profit you should make. You can then start to build the farm. Obviously you need to locate the right size and, unless you already have some.
You will then need to create your buildings, ensuring your livestock have somewhere safe to go and that they are humanely looked after. It will be important to consider their welfare at every step of the process. This will allow you to sell humanely processed livestock which is worth more.
You will also need to identify a humane slaughterhouse not too far from your farm; there is no point in raising livestock humanely if it’s not backed up by a humane slaughter.