tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35188043.post5865855431131528474..comments2023-11-07T06:51:41.301-06:00Comments on The Beginning Farmer: Purebreed Livestock or Not...Ethan Bookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01333115493519268802noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35188043.post-63256507624338991412007-12-06T22:33:00.000-06:002007-12-06T22:33:00.000-06:00"Yeoman - Saying the taste is so much better is al..."Yeoman - Saying the taste is so much better is almost an understatement. I can't wait to start raising our own pork so I can get my hands on that tasty food. Since I've had some small farm raised Berkshire bacon I have hardly had any store bought bacon because it is so bad! Oh, and the hams..."<BR/><BR/>That's quite true.<BR/><BR/>More than once my wife and I have had the odd experience of eating in a restaurant at the invitation of somebody else, who then praises the beef, while we look at each other, mutually thinking it's pretty mediocre. Certainly not as good as the one at home in the freezer.Yeomanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13907293659510877574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35188043.post-73637578932244068772007-12-05T22:18:00.000-06:002007-12-05T22:18:00.000-06:00Yeoman - Saying the taste is so much better is alm...Yeoman - Saying the taste is so much better is almost an understatement. I can't wait to start raising our own pork so I can get my hands on that tasty food. Since I've had some small farm raised Berkshire bacon I have hardly had any store bought bacon because it is so bad! Oh, and the hams...Ethan Bookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01333115493519268802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35188043.post-32336852663736026662007-12-05T10:17:00.000-06:002007-12-05T10:17:00.000-06:00The opportunities for pigs in local markets is int...The opportunities for pigs in local markets is interesting. One of my wife's uncles started a pig raising operation last year, in addition to his farming operations. We bought one from them. What a difference between a small farm raised pig and a supermarket raised one. The farm pig is so much better, it's unbelievable.<BR/><BR/>Of course, I have the same reaction on beef. We've been eating our own beef for years. On the odd occasions I have store bought beef, or restaurant beef, it's really disappointing.Yeomanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13907293659510877574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35188043.post-68703716982155146362007-12-04T20:57:00.000-06:002007-12-04T20:57:00.000-06:00We went with mixed breed. I selected for the chara...We went with mixed breed. I selected for the characteristics we wanted in the starter animals, looking at them and their mothers. Pigs in our case. Then each generation we pick the best of the best to keep for breeding thus gradually improving our line. Pigs are great for this because they are so genetically plastic, grow so rapidly, mature early, have large litters and can easily farrow twice a year or more. The less than perfect are culled to the table.Walter Jeffrieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12720110642967540506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35188043.post-75687286982185893832007-12-04T20:13:00.000-06:002007-12-04T20:13:00.000-06:00"Yeoman - I guess it depends on where you are goin..."Yeoman - I guess it depends on where you are going to sell you livestock"<BR/><BR/>That's no doubt true, and gets back to the local nature of agriculture. In my area, the cattle buyers and the sale barns are the only game in town. There's not much of any other kind of market, other than the few head I sell to folks who want a beef or half a beef.<BR/><BR/>Of course, having said that, perhaps I simply don't appreciate the potential for another market. I really ought to look in to it.Yeomanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13907293659510877574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35188043.post-35399370342261190972007-12-04T15:16:00.000-06:002007-12-04T15:16:00.000-06:00Sugar Creek - You do bring up a good point there. ...Sugar Creek - You do bring up a good point there. One thing about the heritage breeds or minor breeds is that they can be difficult to find and expensive to haul in to the farm. That can be a limiting factor on what you end up raising unless like you said you are going to spend the big money to raise seedstock.<BR/><BR/>Yeoman - I guess it depends on where you are going to sell you livestock. Are you going to sell to the commercial market, are you going to sell to the seedstock people, or are you going to create your own direct to the customer market. For me the reason I decided to go with Dexters is because I plan on starting my herd slowly and building my market ... along the way I can sell seedstock, although I won't get the high dollar prices. The Dexters represented things that I believed would be marketable to people wanting to buy directly from the farmer ... especially when talking about grass fed which is what we are doing. That being said I believe the people with small hobby farms do end up with registered this or that and then have a difficult time selling them because if you are going to sell those registered animals at the purebred premiums you have to play the game ... become active in the breed association, go to the shows, talk the talk and walk the walk ...Ethan Bookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01333115493519268802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35188043.post-48875991110718728842007-12-04T13:47:00.000-06:002007-12-04T13:47:00.000-06:00I don't know anything about pigs, only cattle, so ...I don't know anything about pigs, only cattle, so perhaps I should abstain.<BR/><BR/>However, here one thing I would do is look at what markets well, in terms of return. It might surprise you. Most cattlemen around here now raise Black Baldies, as they market well and give a good return. There might very well be no solid reason why these cattle sell better than others (although I suspect there are some) but its what the buyers want in a cow calf operation.<BR/><BR/>I often notice that folks who leap into cattle with no background will go for a "classic", or even exotic, breed. But when they go to sell, they suffer as a result.Yeomanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13907293659510877574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35188043.post-50625277261309623712007-12-04T10:49:00.000-06:002007-12-04T10:49:00.000-06:00We started out with a purebred Large Black boar an...We started out with a purebred Large Black boar and a York/Duroc/?? cross gilt. That was some good pork! <BR/><BR/>I decided I wanted to then go with Chester White gilts, and I really wanted to cross them to Large Black. But our boar was too big for gilts, and it was too costly to go to Indiana and get a new one. <BR/><BR/>So we ended up with a Berk boar. We're happy with that cross, but we both think that the LB cross was better. If we had any sort of decent facilities for raising hogs on this farm I would start a LB herd and sell breeding stock, and also crossbreed with Chesters for meat to sell. Maybe someday!sugarcreekfarmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09655268212094370061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35188043.post-41517845807584330752007-12-03T18:49:00.000-06:002007-12-03T18:49:00.000-06:00Good points! iluvabbeef I think you brought up a ...Good points! iluvabbeef I think you brought up a point that relates to the reason that I ended up on the Dexters. I do not plan on selling to the market so I thought I could get something different, and like Tim mentioned there are a couple possible markets.<BR/><BR/>Tim, thanks for the links to your posts. Pretty interesting stuff! I know that my uncle (years ago) had some Ossabaws that he was crossing with other hogs for the benefits of the hybrid vigor. It worked well, but then he decided to get out of hogs and into dairy. I may have to try and tap him for some knowledge.Ethan Bookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01333115493519268802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35188043.post-27859356939827588182007-12-03T17:13:00.000-06:002007-12-03T17:13:00.000-06:00Ethan,Good question. I debated this back and forth...Ethan,<BR/><BR/>Good question. I debated this back and forth earlier this year before I made my decisions for Nature's Harmony Farm. As you said, you can realize tremendous benefits through heterosis by crossing dominant/desired characteristics of different animals. This can be a great approach for people that are very interested in productivity, which is what Joel Salatin speaks a lot about.<BR/><BR/>In the end, I made a decision to go registered purebreed. For cows, after considerable research, I selected Murray Grey as the herd. You can read my reasons on posts I made here <A HREF="http://www.naturesharmonyfarm.com/grass-fed-meat-farm-blog/2007/8/31/our-first-cows.html" REL="nofollow">Our First Cows</A>, and see pictures of our cows that just arrived last weekend <A HREF="http://www.naturesharmonyfarm.com/grass-fed-meat-farm-blog/2007/12/2/our-cows-have-arrived.html" REL="nofollow">on this post</A>. We're the only breeder of Murray Grey's in Georgia, which gives us an element of differentiation. Also, we now have two income options at our disposal; processing culls for grass fed beef OR selling them to others who want the MG genetics in their herd (perhaps for hybrid vigor). We'll probably keep the best of the group to build up our herd, but with the bull calfs, we may sell the great ones to others to help their herd.<BR/><BR/>In the end, I felt the benefit of having two different income paths (grass fed beef and purebred cattle) was the right choice for us. For pigs, we did the same thing, and went with <A HREF="http://www.naturesharmonyfarm.com/grass-fed-meat-farm-blog/2007/6/18/ossabaw-pigs.html" REL="nofollow">Ossabaw Pigs</A> and <A HREF="http://www.naturesharmonyfarm.com/grass-fed-meat-farm-blog/2007/11/18/berkshire-piggies.html" REL="nofollow">Berkshire Pigs</A>.<BR/><BR/>Good luck with your choice!<BR/><BR/>Tim Young<BR/><A HREF="http://www.naturesharmonyfarm.com" REL="nofollow">Nature's Harmony Farm</A><BR/>Elberton, GAAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35188043.post-31963409981874219762007-12-03T13:26:00.000-06:002007-12-03T13:26:00.000-06:00There are a lot of things to think about when deci...There are a lot of things to think about when deciding whether to have purebreds or crossbreds on your farm: what sort of market are you wanting to go into (selling privately or to the outside market), are you willing to go the extra mile to promote your breed of interest, etc.<BR/><BR/>With a crossbred herd you might have to think about whether you're wanting to follow a crossbreeding plan (though I'm not sure if folks do follow this sort of management with swine or sheep); I've calculated and done some work figgering out a crossbreeding plan for cattle (a two-way cross), and it is pretty hectic. BUT, you get animals with better longetivity, carcass quality, etc. (like you just mentioned).<BR/><BR/>Whereas with a purebred herd, yeah you have the extra cost of paying a fee for every animal born to be registered in an organization of interest, and enter into shows to promote yourself and your breed, at least you don't have to have to go to the extent of planning out a crossbreeding regime.<BR/><BR/>I guess it all depends on what you want to achieve, what your interested in, things like that.IluvABbeefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18421637196406538911noreply@blogger.com