Poultry Farm Management

And, as with most farm chemicals, the “bad” flies build up a resistance to the product. Feed-through System A feed-through chemical known as an insect growth regulator disrupts the pupal stage of the fly life cycle.

This only disturbs the top few inches and leaves the microbial soil community largely untouched. A No-Till Strategy Soil is teeming with biological activity and life on the microscopic level.

While a Christmas tree farm does require year-round work, on a small scale, they can be managed with part-time labor until harvest time and still yield a few hundred dollars per acre in profit.

The ingredients for these value-added products come from member farms, and the facilities and labor to produce them are also funded by participating farms. These are happening on a large scale, but could absolutely be adapted to small-scale farming.

While soil is a complex system of organic matter and beneficial microbes, the Penn State Extension Service says we can think of it as a combination of solid mineral, organic particles and pore space.

Store hay where it's accessible. If you decide to stack large bales, arrange them the same way, but only if you have a tractor capable of lifting the bales. Don't stack hay higher than you can safely move it—this is especially important when stacking...

Farm landscapes are hardly boring—everything from your new goat shed to the chickens strutting across the yard to the neat rows of your garden tells a story of rewarding, hard work; a love for the land; and dreams coming to fruition (hopefully sooner...

Generally, you'll need to dig 5 to 7 inches deep for a sample in order to look down through the top layers of soil into the root zone, or where roots grow most actively. After you receive your soil report, the soil-management process begins.

In 1928, Demeter International was formed in Europe to support Steiner's methods. Much like a web, each organism on the farm—from the smallest microbe to the largest bovine—serves a critical function.

They discovered the farmland needed “fixing up” as much as the house and outbuildings; they soon learned to replenish the soil with natural practices like manure application and summer fallowing of specific pieces of ground.

Yet here in North America aquaculture is a relatively young industry. “Some years we make money, some years we don't,” says Nat, who in addition to farming, is a sous-chef at a local gourmet market that specializes in locally sourced foods.

To wrap your head around the construction of an aquaculture pond, use the diagram below to jog the pond-construction thought process. Use this visual diagram of an aquaculture pond to consider the best way to build your operation.

Sure, hog farming is a distinct undertaking marked by a set of unique challenges—chasing and corralling escaped oinkers is definitely a common activity—but generally speaking, if you feed a herd of pigs a daily ration of corn and soy, you're quite...

Keep receipts and record mileage for farm business. Budget funds accordingly, and always compare prices for supplies. Additionally, your local cooperative extension offers invaluable farm-transition workshops.

No blacksmith shop is complete without multiple sets of tongs to hold hot pieces of metal. These three lines are the three steps in forging a set of tong bits to hold flat metal. Now you can adjust the rivet tightness so that they open and close easily...

If you cross the logs at the end, you can create a good, solid end for the pile, though some people use steel fence posts to hold the ends. In 2008, the average emergency room visit from chain saw cuts took 112 stitches and cost around $12,000.

Once you've happily finished your task, pour yourself another beverage, find that comfy chair again and enjoy your well-deserved rest. First, what particular hobbies or areas of interest should you accommodate in the shop reorganization?

Winter Septic-System Worries Septic system freeze-ups are possible during winter months, and they sometimes occur during very cold snaps when there isn't enough snow to act as insulation.

Consider these farm insurance add-ons to keep your property and farm business protected. Business Interruption If your small-scale farm is also your business, this insurance covers you when something takes place that prevents you from carrying on.

Obtain References When seeking out a farm sitter, reach out to fellow farmers in the area or your local veterinarian's office for recommendations. All information regarding medication and nutrition should be in written form.

Farmers can commit to 10-year contracts that reduce property tax rates by 20 to 75 percent if located in designated areas. The opposite is the case for the residential landowner. Property tax policies vary from state to state, so you'll need to do a little...

Boiling water may be a good solution for a few isolated plants, though. They're cute and would provide hours of aggrav— … I mean entertainment. My husband and I already keep some bees with them, and because their land is so different than ours—we...

Lichens are quiet signals to the health of your farm, and you've probably passed them today without noticing them. They are hard to miss and create living three-dimensional sculptures on the trees and rocks where they grow into extensively branching shapes.

Sue Weaver, a Hobby Farms contributing editor, recounts lessons learned during the mostly magical spring births on her farm. Who can deny that the exhilarating and terrifying flush of springtime births isn't what every small farmer lives for?

Chefs despise this, and so, too, should farmers. I'm sure there are others, but also, I'm sure the chef could learn something from the farmer. Prep lists help to streamline the process so there is never a minute where cooks don't know what they should...

The other 6 houses are 55 x 500 and were built in 2011. (RButler) Driving Directions From I-59 S, take Exit 118 toward CR 3915, right onto CR 3915 for 5.1 miles, right on CR 16 for 0.5 miles, farm is on right

This Ozark Mountain Turkey Farm is comprised of two non-contiguous tracts. The 5 acre tract, Single Wide Mobile Home and non-operational turkey house lies just +/-0.35 miles North.