JB> (...) You  may think it's funny, but I thought the big companies were
JB> the farmer's only  customers,  And the reason so many farms were going
JB> under was because the  companies had less and less to spend on more and
JB> more productive farmers.  
    It's not so funny.  The "Family Farm" is disappearing quickly and being 
absorbed by large conglomerates.  Many farms are no longer earned by the 
people who work them and those with small farms of their own are limited, 
both by availability and government regulation, in who they can sell to.
JB> Do most farmers hold 9-5s? 
    Can't say most because I truly don't know, but many of the ones I know 
o.
 
Bi> (...)  After all, they *are organic, free-range eggs!
JB> 
JB> Free-range??  I don't get it?  But it does sound like a 'green' name
JB> :) 
    Free range simply means that the chickens are allowed to roam about and 
not kept in individual pens or cages as you see with large poultry and egg 
producers.  My birds are "free-range" in that I do not keep them in a one 
bird per one foot wire cube cage situation.  I do not, however, allow them to 
run free about the farm.  They are kept in a nice large coop complete with a 
sheltered outside area.
Bi> As far as the hay goes, you're right, it wouldn't be hard to find
Bi> a market for it.  Unfortunately, not only do we need all the hay we
Bi> grow for our own livestock, but last year, because of the arrangement
JB> Have you ever grown enough hay to support yourself?  (IE not buy any) 
JB> What livestock??  Just cattle, or do you breed work animals?? 
JB> *THAT'S* the  kind of farming I'm interested in!  
    If we had kept all the hay we harvested last year we'd still be swimming 
in it as the only livestock (hay eating) we have at the moment are a small 
herd of goats (8).  Our daughter does own a horse but he's currently boarded 
elsewhere.  The intention is to move him up her sometime this summer, along 
with a couple other horses that belong to relatives.  With the addition of 
the horses, we'd have, again, to buy hay.
    Currently no animal breeding going on.  We let the goats dry up because 
milking them is a big commitment, but, if time permits, we may consider it 
again in the future.  In that case, they would have to be "freshened" (bred) 
again to begin producing milk.  "Freshening" is done yearly with goats.  I'm 
not certain about with cows, though I do know it needs to be done 
periodically.
    We don't have work animals, although we are looking into the possiblity 
of using draft horses to work our land.  We've only humorously looked at the 
possiblity of a dairy cow, but once again there's that *big time commitment 
to being there to do the milking.
    Once we have more horses, breeding them for possible sale animals is a 
real possibility.  I do curretnly breed exotic birds, but the market for them 
has kind of fallen off.
JB> What do you know of mad cow disease??  I  remember it being in the news a 
JB> while back, but I never learned anything  about it.  
    Probably don't know much more than you about it as I only followed it in 
the news as well.  About the most important thing I know about it is that 
it's yet to be a real concern in this country.
        Byrd Mann
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