How many of you have mixed farms?

Hi, I was just reading about the one crop farms, and that got me to thinking about mixed farms. I bought a set of chains from a guy the other day, for my old Ford 5000. When he opened the door, four big dogs came out to greet me, including a Saint Bernard, and another dog much bigger than that. It was the biggest dog I had ever seen, must have been over 200 pounds!

Anyways, he had lots of critters. A donkey or two, a few horses, goats, sheep, geese, chickens, but mostly beef cattle. I really like mixed farms, having grown up on one myself.

I was working on a pipeline one time beside a little mixed farm. It was awesome to watch as a woman came out with a border collie, and went about feeding the critters. The dog was really working the animals, separating them and moving them around the yard, just by whistles. And this seemed like her daily routine. I was very impressed, and nostalgic, and envious of her lifestyle...

I have a little 40 acre "farm", with a beautiful river all down one side, and government land on the other side of the river. One day, when I retire, I want the mixed farm lifestyle...

How many of you have mixed farms?

Bye for now, and Happy New Year!

Troy

I have a few horse, can't ride any more but they provide fertilizer for my garden and if the grand kids ever move this way will be good for them. I also have goats chickens ducks a goose and a Peacock. Plus 2 dogs and who knows how many cats. I still put up hay every year and do a garden and love to deer hunt. Funny this morning I looked out the kitchen window and watched 2 does feeding with in 30 yards of 2 deer stands. Bow season is open here till Jan 15th

I have beef cattle here. Right now I am backgrounding last years calf crop on corn silage. Last year was a first for me at raising corn. With the drought the corn might have made 50 bu/ac. I dug a trench silo and a neighbor came and chopped it for me. Really glad I did it this year. I have less than $100 a ton in the silage and with commodity feed around $300 a ton I have been able to keep these calves till after the first of the year.
A good border collie like the one you mentioned is priceless. Saw a guy once who had 2. Watched him load calves in a trailer in the middle of a field with those 2 collies. That was awesome to see.

Just crops, my day job has me traveling a lot and the wife does not want to take care of livestock. I grew up raising beef cattle and really miss it.

We have a closed cow/calf herd, from which we raise the calves to market finish. We keep breeding cows from our heifers, and replenish the bloodline by purchasing good bulls. Our herd is a Hereford/Angus/Charolais mix. We raise corn, soybeans, oats, and alfalfa, plus have a mix of pastures. We stopped raising pigs when the bottom fell out, but we have both meat and egg breeds of chickens. Also, the usual array of cats, bats, rats, and a wandering beagle/Aussie cross that won't stay home for all the tea in China. The farm has been in my family going on 5 generations. I expanded it a few years ago by 80 acres. We still pick a small amount of our corn by ear to grind for cattle feed. Plenty to keep Pop, my uncle, me, and my boy busy. A little too much, some days, but I would rather be busy than bored.

Mixed farms??? LOL! Well goats-Llahmas-pigs-chickens-gueinees-ducks-peacocks-feeder steers. Maybe this is a "mixed-up farm"!! Never a dull moment.I work in town 60 plus hrs a week and farm about 150 acres. The wife is a realtor and puts in about as many hrs as I do. But we love it! Doug

Hay, oats, Shetland sheep, Angora goats, Angora rabbits, as well as a few other breeds... Our product - various wool blends; fleeces, roving, handspun yarn, knitted items. That mixed up enough for you?

Well I guess I have a mixed farm. I feed cattle, I have brood cows, we raise corn/soybeans, and raise hay. The Grand daughters polluted the farm again with four horses. LOL Also too many dogs and cats.

I have been out of the hog business for about 10 years.

I have always thought that doing several different things was a pretty good insurance policy against having everything fail at the same time. Usually when one thing is bad one of the others will be doing well. So that kind of evens things out.

40 acre farm with a day job that I can do from the house (software development). 15 acres pasture and 25 acres timber.

Have 6 horses, 6 beef cattle, one longhorn steer, 7 sheep, a zillion layer chickens, umpteen cats, 3 dogs and an old goat (me, according to my wife!).

We sell beef and eggs. Will be selling lambs this spring for the first time.

We cut and sell hay in the local area. Enough for us and the rest gets sold. Some custom cutting also.

Would like to buy some more land for cattle and hay but surrounded by BTOs that snatch up everything around and flatten the fencerows to get a few more bushels per acre (another story).

John