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Pasture Management: Benefits of Biodiverse Forage
Pasture management for livestock far too often falls to using artificial stimulants, and not by selecting the right plants and managing the soil. But the latter is by far the better way. Acres U.S.A.,...
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Cattle Breeds: An Introduction to Randall Cattle
For farmers interested in old-time subsistence cattle for a homestead or small grass based dairy, Randalls may be just the ticket. Acres U.S.A., the monthly magazine of eco-farming, is packed with...
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Kunekune Pigs: Perfect for Small Farms
Kunekune pigs (pronounced “cooney cooney”) are a smart option for small farms. Kunekune means “fat and round” in the Maori language. These tasseled, sweet-tempered, medium-sized pigs hail from New...
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Composting Tips and Strategies for Balanced Compost
Before starting the composting process, it is important to know how to blend the right materials to provide a balanced food supply for your digester microbes. No single material is sufficient by...
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Livestock Grazing: The Organic Farmer’s Dilemma
Cattle need minerals, in adequate amounts and in a balance, just as the soil does. If minerals are in short supply in the feeds (dairy nutrition starts in the soil), you will certainly need to add...
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Cow Comfort: Alleviating Stress for Improved Production
As I listened to Tom and Sally Brown, organic dairy farmers from Groton, New York, describe their struggle with Johne’s, I was reminded of what Dr. Ann Wells, D.V.M., from Arkansas says about cattle...
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Managing Parasites in Livestock
Internal parasites are part and parcel of the animal’s ecosystem, or its “body ecology.” Wild ungulates are continually moving, leaving their parasite loads behind where they desiccate in the sun or...
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Preventing Pasture Bloat in Cattle
Cattle bloating can be prevented with a good diet. With grazing season starting again, please keep in mind that legume pastures (clover and alfalfa) tend to cause bloating problems at any time of the...
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Weathering Drought
With the arrival of spring, farmers and gardeners look forward to the start of the growing season. As temperatures warm, spring planting can begin. Fruit trees will break winter dormancy. Pastures...
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In Support of Small Cows
By now most people know that more revenue and more pounds do not automatically equal more profit, which is why I am going to show you that small cows can be profitable. I believe that you can...
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Good Grazing Management: Build a Drought Reserve
One of the best ways to prepare for drought is by building and maintaining a drought reserve. A drought reserve is forage (grass, forbs, brush or whatever your livestock will eat) that is not consumed...
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Book of the Week: Cure Your Own Cattle
If I could get the animals back to a life as nearly as economically practicable to what it was before man perverted them to his own use, and provide them as fully as possible with all the requirements...
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Flock Management for Increased Production
Decades ago the worth of a well-bred adult chicken or clutch of hatching eggs was believed to hold the same value as a working man’s wages for a day, highlighting the importance of proper flock...
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Top 10 Reasons to Raise & Eat Grass-Fed Meat
Diana Rodgers lives on a working organic farm west of Boston, Massachusetts. Clark Farm raises lamb, goat, pastured pork, eggs, vegetables and berries. The animals look serene in the golden green...
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Wool Artist Supports Fiber Farmers
Lani Estill met me at her shop in downtown Cedarville, California, and showed me pictures of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. We sat in the store, surrounded by brilliantly colored yarn, soft and...
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Shift the Workload: Focus on Livestock Culling, Genetics
Raising livestock on any size operation is hard work. There’s no way around it. However, you can minimize your personal time and labor investment by shifting your farm’s workload from yourself to your...
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Book excerpt: Reproduction and Animal Health
By Gearld Fry Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from the Acres U.S.A. title Reproduction and Animal Health, by Gearld Fry. Copyright 2003, softcover, 218 pages. We republished this excerpt in 2018 in...
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Book of the Week: Grass, the Forgiveness of Nature
By Charles Walters Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from Acres U.S.A. original book, Grass, the Forgiveness of Nature, written by Acres U.S.A. founder Charles Walters. Copyright 2006, softcover, 320...
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Book of the Week: Dirt Hog
By Kelly Klober Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt from an Acres U.S.A. book, Dirt Hog, written by Kelly Klober. Copyright 2007, softcover, 320 pages. Regular price: $25.00. Hogs are actually...
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From Grass to Glass: Organic Dairy Farming
Maybe it’s a chance remark heard from a fellow farmer or an epiphany that comes while attending a farming conference. It lands on fertile ground and a way of looking at things, a way of being in the...
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