Book Description
Starting a small-scale livestock farm? First, you need this book! Yes, you can have a prosperous farm and achieve the lifestyle of your dreams ; and farming expert Carol Ekarius will show you how. Small farms can pay big dividends, Ekarius explains, but hard work alone isn't enough: Success demands knowledge and effective management. Ekarius's natural, organic approach to livestock management produces healthier animals, reduces feed and healthcare costs, and maximizes your profit. Through case studies of successful farmers, nitty-gritty details on every facet of livestock farming, and fascinating insights for working with nature instead of against it, you'll learn to make your farm thrive. Small-Scale Livestock Farming will help you: * Determine what you want from your farming life (even if your farm is simply a few backyard animals) * Choose suitable livestock * Understand housing, fencing, and feeding needs of livestock * Learn about reproducing stock and caring for your animals' hea
Customer Reviews:
Great book.......2007-10-13
Great book. I would have liked to see some more complete information on some topics, but it's a very useful read.
I loved this book.......2007-05-10
Small Scale LivestockFarming:... is a simple easy to read text containing a broad overview of many more topics with more depth than expected and providing numerous references for areas which the text is not indepth enough for your needs. This book had to be the best money spent on a starting source for related knowledge. It is highly recomended to anyone intested in this subject.
lots of frosting very little cake. .......2007-04-18
I was put off by the author so I had a difficult time finishing this book.
The section on biology was nothing more than an eighth grade biology course and really unnecessary.
It appears that information that would be easily gleaned from other sources was abundant but firsthand knowledge was seriously lacking.
I didn't like her double standards. She advises readers to "Feel free to mark up" (page 116). She prices her meat to rural buyers slightly higher than the local butcher but she would have raised her prices even higher if she had lived closer to urban buyers. I can understand pricing higher if you have to drive farther to get to the city but that's not the advice. Then, in a story on fighting a factory farm on pages 124 & 125 she dubs a local man "Joe Greed". According to the story he sued because he had planned to sell his land to the factory farm envisioning lots of dollars in his pockets but with the new zoning laws he wasn't able to. If he's Joe Greed then she's "Carol Greed" for wanting urbanites to pay more simply because they live in the city. I don't agree with either of them.
I wonder if she's taken to writing books on farming intended to sell to city folks who only dream of country living and will never know her advice is of little help.
It was the little things that made this book bothersome such as her advice to have a silage pile but according to the author a farmer needs lots of specialized equipment for this. In the book The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It Seymour describes how to harvest by hand. For those modern small scale farms an electric weed whacker makes it a little easier. Cut it, turn it, stack it right in the fields and cover it with a tarp, voila, a silage pile. Fence it in order to control feeding and your done, nothing special needed.
One other point that I found difficult was her statement that she followed all the guidelines to be organic but wasn't certified, but mostly she advises to call a vet. I would have excepted that advice if the author would have included some information on how to get the vet to help without the use of antibiotics. According to the author antibiotics negate an organic animal standing and it must be sold as conventional. She gives 3 or 4 treatments for ailing animals and acknowledges successes with alternative treatments even names a few but that's it. I would expect someone that was farming organically to have a wealth of knowledge and include it when writing on the subject.
Excellent Resource.......2003-10-22
My brother gave this book to me for my birthday, and it has been great. We are new to farming, and it has helped us determine how to move forward, and to plan for our operation. We're retired, but we need this to pay some income, and that is what this book is all about, making money, but doing it so you don't screw up the land. The author has lots of excellent advice not only on caring for your animals, but also on direct marketing to get a bigger share of the consumer's dollar. She writes with a down to earth style that I really appreciate.
Is This High School Biology???.......2003-08-02
I was looking for a substantial book about small-scale livestock farming, and instead I was treated to a very basic introduction to agriculture. This book would make a great high school agriculture text, but beyond that it falls short of providing any real, useful, institutional knowledge that I was looking for. For example, in the book the author reviews basic high biology concepts such as the water cycle, the food chain, and the energy pyramid. She also reminds readers how to round up or round down. And if that were not insulting enough, she then informs readers that to be a successful farmer, you must dress like a farmer; "clean bib overalls and a straw hat, or a plaid shirt, jeans, and a cowboy hat." Give me a break. Again, if you want a simplistic, new age, farming book of little practical use by an author who has less than a decade of farming experience, this book is for you. If you want a no-frills, no-fluff, useful, dirt under your nails, John Deere farmer kind of a book, I would look elsewhere and I would suggest Gene Logsdon's The Contrary Farmer.
Book Description
With grass-fed beef popping up on menus across North America, and more small-farm owners venturing into this growth area, the time is right for a comprehensive book on how to raise, manage, and market grass-fed cattle.
Grass-Fed Cattle, the newest addition to Storey’s library of best-selling livestock books, covers every aspect of raising and care, including herd selection, breeding, yearly cycles, cultivating and maintaining healthy soil and grass, fencing and pasture rotation, winter grazing, pests and diseases, and necessary equipment.
Author Julius Ruechel, who has been raising beef cattle on his family’s farm since his start as a 4-H member, packs this handbook with everything a farmer needs to know, regardless of herd size and acreage. His advice and systems are applicable to the smallest backyard hobby farms as well as the largest commercial herds and ranches.
In addition to essential farming information, Ruechel devotes a major section of the book to marketing. He discusses niche market opportunities, scheduling the selling and buying of cattle for the greatest profit, finishing the beef and arranging for slaughter, labeling, dynamic marketing, and financial planning and record keeping. He also includes chapters specially addressed to the conventional farmer who is transitioning to natural production, the farmer who is considering leasing or buying land, and the farmer who wishes to pursue organic certification.
The first book of its kind,
Grass-Fed Cattle is an indispensable, authoritative reference for anyone interested in raising cattle or looking for a profitable farm venture.
Customer Reviews:
If you only have one book on raising grass-feed cattle this is the one to have.......2007-07-18
I've read everything on raising grass-fed cattle from Allan Nation and Jim Garrish to Joel Salatin and I have to say, this is the most comprehensive guide to setting up a grass-fed beef business I've found.
You can only fully appreciate this book if you are actually trying to raise grass-fed animals. Each time I run into a difficulty with my herd or the land my cattle are grazing, I find sound guidance to the problem in this book. For instance, the section on managing the calving season on pasture (a topic I haven't seen mentioned in other books) seems particularly brilliant to me after having spent a day looking for a hidden calf.
If you are just setting up a grass-fed business this is the book to have. Julius Ruechel guides you in putting the pieces of land, vegetation, water, animals, and seasons together with human management to create a system that reflects and capitalizes on the synergistic complexity of nature while fully respecting all of her living components.
The only caution I would add is that it is a big continent, and no book can fully reflect the variations in climate, terrain, and scale found here. So you will need to adapt some of the advice to reflect your local conditions.
I have been reading these reader reviews for years, but this is the first book that has inspired me enough to write a review, so if you are reading Mr. Ruechel, please accept my thanks. I only wish your book had been out when I first entered this business.
OMG.......2007-07-07
This book sat way to long on my shelf. Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. Sometimes it takes someone outside of the industry to be able to step back and see what's wrong. Put your farm back in synch with nature and see your problems reduced and your profit increase. This book is the most well rounded book on every subject I've found. Also great worksheets to make your business plan.
Book Description
In All Flesh Is Grass: The Pleasures and Promises of Pasture Farming, Gene Logsdon explains that well-managed pastures are nutritious and palatable—virtual salads for livestock. Leafy pastures also hold the soil, increase biodiversity, and create lovely landscapes. Grass farming may be the solution for a stressed agricultural system based on an industrial model and propped up by federal subsidies. The pasture farming that Gene Logsdon practices can also produce grains, fruits, herbs, mushrooms, and salad greens for human consumption. The book explains historically effective practices and new techniques that have blossomed in recent years for the care and sustenance of horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, and poultry on pasture. Logsdon's warm profiles of successful grass farmers offer inspiration and ideas. His narrative is enriched by his experience as a "contrary farmer" on his own artisan-scale farm.The culmination of a lifetime's experience, this book is vital for owners of small acreages, home food producers, horse enthusiasts, and sustainable commercial farmers.
Customer Reviews:
Good specifics on pasture.......2006-07-29
I liked Logsdon't specifics on the effects of different kinds of pasture. I think he misses an important opportunity with his unstructured grazing--See Joel Salatin's Salad Bar Beef for balance. The intense management of grazing (Salatin) makes a more sanitary environment and eliminates the need for antibiotics. Salatin is indifferent to the choices of grass variety on which Logsdon devotes so much time. The two authors provide complementary perspectives, including different details. Logsdon discusses fencing in some detail--I share his reluctance to depend on electric fence for boundaries-Salatin dismisses it and goes all electric. Both authors are persuasive advocates for grass fed beef.
interesting book.......2006-03-18
I found this book to be well writtten and thought out. It is full of interesting ideas some of which I will be trying myself.
A pleasant surpise!.......2006-02-21
I picked up this book along with a half dozen or so others on small farms, pasture farming, and hobby farms. My intention is to turn 10 or so acres into semi-self reliant, possibly profitable (10 cents more than it cost would be acceptable), low maintenance farm.
What I expected was a book on what grass to plant on X acres, Y numbers of paddocks needed, Z livestock it would support, and how often to move the livestock from one paddock to the next.
What I recieved was wisdom, experience, humor, history, and practical instructions all neatly put together. It gave me a lot of great ideas on what to do for a small farm to make pasture/rotation grazing work.
It covers all the different types of livestock (Cows -Dairy and Meat, Sheep, Goats, Pigs, Chickens), fencing, farm chores, planting, and has chapters dedicated to the grasses, legumes, and grains that are of value to pasture farming.
Mixed in is much humor, practical tips, philosophical ideas on america, and much more.
I was was sorry when I finished the book, and that is saying a lot when you remember that this is a farming book!
It was a pleasure to read. I added three more of Mr. Logsdon's books to my reading list just so I could read some more of his finely written experiences during a lifetime of farming.
For any interested in American agriculture's history and directions.......2006-02-09
All Flesh Is Grass: The Pleasures And Promises Of Pasture Farming is for any interested in American agriculture's history and directions. Author Gene Logsdon believes pastoral farming is a solution for a stressed agricultural system, and explains different techniques and practices past and present which hold the potential for changing and benefiting farming. His own experience as a 'contrary farmer' on his small-scale farm provides a foundation of experience for his tips.
This book will stir up your passion..........2005-08-25
A compelling look at the benefits and solid argument for pasture farming. Skillfully written as if you were engaged in a friendly dialogue with an old friend, you are provided with more than an armfull of knowledge to guide you down the path of true agrarianism with respect to livestock and crop farming. I came away with a clearer sense of the merits of adhering to the natural cycle and relationship between the earth and the farmer. Most importantly, I came away with the notion that farming is best when the farmer provides an environment where the animals can work for themselves - it is more environmentally-friendly, more productive and more economical.
Book Description
¥ Step-by-step guide to prairie restoration from site selection through burning ¥ 20 color photographs ¥ Conservation guidelines from The Nature Conservancy ¥ Reference list of Midwest seed sources and services and books on prairie plant restoration and identiÞcation
Customer Reviews:
Prairie Reconstruction.......2007-01-12
This book provided an excellent introduction into the basic principles of prairie reconstruction. The book is concise, informative, well-written, and leaves the reader with a new appreciation of the prairie habitat. I purchased this book as an introduction to establishing prairie habitat on my own farmland, which is currently in the government "CRP" and "wetland restoration" programs. It enhanced my education and helped focus my efforts.
Average customer rating:
|
Grass Farming
M. McG. Cooper , and
D. W. Morris
Manufacturer: Farming Press Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 General
| Plants
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0852361408 |
Average customer rating:
- great quick reference book
|
Turfgrass Management
A. J. Turgeon
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Gardening & Horticulture
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
Grasses
| Plants
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Agricultural Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Living on the Land
| Ecology
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
| Architecture
| Hunting & Fishing
General
| Agricultural Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Arts & Photography
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Home & Garden
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Outdoors & Nature
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Professional
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Science
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
The Mathematics of Turfgrass Maintenance, 3rd Edition
-
Soil Science & Management
-
Turfgrass: Science and Culture
-
Fundamentals of Turfgrass Management
-
Landscape Construction
ASIN: 0136283489 |
Customer Reviews:
great quick reference book.......2000-04-09
After being out of the superentendent side of the business for a few years this book brought me back up to speed. The text is well written and easy to understand. I recommend it highly for anyone who needs a book "just to be sure"!
Average customer rating:
|
Barley: Genetics, Composition, Structure and Uses
Manufacturer: Blackwell Publishing Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Plants
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Grasses
| Plants
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Botany
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Food Science
| Agricultural Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Agricultural Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Botany
| Biological Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1405123710 |
Average customer rating:
|
Common Veld and Pasture Grasses of Natal
N.M. Tainton , and
et al
Manufacturer: Shuter & Shooter (Pty) Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Agriculture
| Science, Nature & How It Works
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Gardening & Horticulture
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Agricultural Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Crop Science
| Agricultural Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0869853260 |
Customer Reviews:
Arkansas and the New South: 1847-1920.......2000-04-05
A very interesting book! Moneyhon's focuses on the rebuilding of Arkansas' government and economy is very concise. He details the difficult tasks of building an infrastructure to lure industry and commerce to Arkansas. Another area that the book focused on was the begining of the transformation from the slave labor economy to a more modern agricultural and industrial economy. Moneyhon also does a good job of describing the hardships of the countless poor farmers and sharecroppers. The plights of the newly freed slaves are also portrayed in detail. Being from Arkansas, this book not only expanded the stories that I was already familiar with, but also taught me new histories of the state. A "must read" if you are interested in the post-Civil War South.
Books:
- Spore Liberation in Cryptogams (Biological Readers)
- Step-by-Step Composition Techniques for Digital Photographers (Digital Quick Guides series)
- Symptoms of virus diseases in plants: With indexes of names of symptoms in English, Dutch, German, French, Italian, and Spanish
- That's What Kids Are For: Phoebe Flower's Adventures
- The 2007 Import and Export Market for Seaweeds and Other Algae in Australia
- The Art of Digital Wedding Photography: Professional Techniques with Style (Amphoto)
- The Cat's Meow: Purr-fect Quilts for Cat Lovers, 10th Anniversary Special Edition
- The Complete Guide to Water Gardens, Ponds & Fountains (Complete Guide)
- The genus Tamarix (Publications of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities : Section of sciences)
- The Heaven Tree Trilogy: The Heaven Tree, the Green Branch, the Scarlet Seed
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Brand From the Inside: Eight Essentials to Emotionally Connect Your Employees to Your Business
- The Favored Child : A Novel
- Rainer Werner Fassbinder: Plays
- Probability, Random Variables and Stochastic Processes with Errata Sheet
- The Everything Kids' Mazes Book: Twist, Squirm, and Wind Your Way Through Subways, Museums, Monster
- The Runner
- The Oak Inside the Acorn
- The Fed: The Inside Story How World's Most Powerful Financial Institution Drives Markets
- Lotus Wrks TD IBM 5"-C21 Acctg 1st Yr
- Dalva
Storey's Guide to Raising Beef Cattle: Health/Handling/Breeding
Making Your Small Farm Profitable: Apply 25 Guiding Principles/Develop New Crops & New Markets/Maximize Net Profits Per Acre
Successful Small-Scale Farming: An Organic Approach (Down-To-Earth Book)
You Can Farm: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Start & Succeed in a Farming Enterprise
Five Acres and Independence
