Introduction to
Sustainable Livestock Production
Dr. Susan Kerr
WSU-Klickitat County Extension Director
AGRICULTURE
YOUTH &
FAMILIES
HEALTH
ECONOMY
ENVIRONMENT
ENERGY
COMMUNITIES
DEFINITION OF SUSTAINABLE LIVESTOCK
PRODUCTION
“Socially just, humane, economically viable and
environmentally sound”
“Meets the needs of the current generation while
conserving resources for future generations”
“Economically viable, ecologically sound and
culturally responsible”
“Goals: environmental stewardship, farm
profitability and prosperous faming
communities”
Production of healthy animals and/or wholesome
food animal products while wisely using
environmental, social and financial resources
with concern for and attentiveness to animal
welfare
WHY DO YOU WANT TO RAISE LIVESTOCK?
• Want to produce healthy, wholesome
protein source for your family/public
• Want to produce fiber for self or sale
• Want to use livestock to manage plants
on property
• Want to help preserve an endangered
breed or species
• Want to make money/earn a living
• Want to keep low ag zoning tax rate
• “Love animals”
WHAT ARE YOUR RESOURCES?
• Acreage (own or lease; water availability, soil type,
slope, plant population...)
• Fences
• Buildings
• Labor (volunteer vs. paid)
• Savings, loans or other $$ sources
• Cost-sharing opportunities
• Advisors (Extension, NRCS, FSA, CPA,
veterinarian, neighbors, mentors, etc.)
• Time
• Skills and knowledge
• Other
WHAT ARE YOUR OPTIONS?
Any or all production phases
•
•
•
•
•
•
Dairy cattle
Beef cattle
Horses
Sheep
Goats
Swine
•
•
•
•
•
•
Poultry
Ostriches/emus
Rabbits
Llamas
Alpacas
Other
MORE QUESTIONS
•
•
•
•
•
•
Which breed(s)?
Purebred vs. crossbred?
Registered?
Sell breeding stock?
Retain ownership of young stock?
Raise replacements for others?
How will your product be unique?
A KEY TO SUCCESS:
Research, plan and plan some
more before starting.
p.s. Sometimes the answer is no.
KNOW BEFORE YOU GROW!
HOW AND WHERE WILL YOU
MARKET YOUR ANIMALS?
• Expected clientele
• Potential niche markets
• Advertising methods
GOOD ADVICE FOR ALL LIVESTOCK PRODUCERS:
“Pasture poultry operators must be prepared
to be very active in the marketing of their
products. Before developing an enterprise,
producers must research their potential
markets in order to determine customer
needs, what market to target, what type of
product to produce and how to best market
their product to the target market.”
--Alberta, Canada
Pasture Poultry Industry Highlights, 2000
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS ARE ESSENTIAL
• “Sustainable livestock production” must
also take financial sustainability into
consideration (for most people)
• Must know cost of production to determine
break-even pricing, profit margins and
payments to self for labor and management
• Example: Many small-scale goat producers
are actually losing money and don’t even
know it
• Marketing plan, business plan, enterprise
budgets and financial analyses are crucial
PRODUCT CLASSIFICATION
See definitions in WSDA’s “Green Book”
• Natural
• Grass fed
• Organic
• Pastured poultry
• Free range
• Etc.
WHAT ARE MEAT CONSUMERS’ CONCERNS?
• Confidence factors
–Quality--Taste and tenderness
–Safety--lack of residues or hazards
• Ethical factors
–Products produced, harvested and handled
ethically
–Environmental concerns--E. coli, nitrates
• Nutritional factors
–Lean, low-fat, healthy source of protein and
B-vitamins
• Economic factors
–Reasonable purchase price, value for price
TYPES OF CONSUMERS
•
•
•
•
•
Vegans
Vegetarians
Omnivores
Grillivores
“Enlightened meat consumers”
INTENSIVE VS. EXTENSIVE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
• Intensive = smaller acreage, fewer
animals, more input costs per individual
animal, more labor more often, sell for
higher prices (often purebred/seedstock
operations)
• Extensive = larger acreage, more
animals, fewer input costs, less labor
less often, sell for lower prices (often
crossbred commercial herds)
PASTURE MANAGEMENT BASICS
• Your work: harvesting sunlight via plants,
managing through livestock grazing
• Continuous grazing is most common, most
destructive and least productive method
• Cross-fencing creates multiple grazing cells
and allows resting periods for re-growth
• Poor management results in water and soil
runoff, soil compaction, weeds, water
quality degradation, poor performance
• Poor management = very public black eye
for grazing and livestock production
HORSES
• Your goals and horse’s purpose?
• Options: breeding, boarding, training,
recreation, sheltering/rescue, therapy
• Difficult to turn a profit
• Very damaging to land if not
managed properly
• Input costs: land, fences, shelter, hay
and feed, veterinary (deworming,
vaccinations, teeth, misc.), hoof care,
breeding fees
HORSES CONTINUED
• Pasture rotation essential
• Sacrifice area
• Special considerations: mud and
manure management
www.kingcd.org/pub_mud_cre.pdf
www.horsesforcleanwater.com
MEAT GOATS
• Large growth in market since mid 1990s due
to Boer breed
• Other breeds: Spanish, Kiko, Fainting goat,
etc.
• Main consumers tend to be ethnic minorities,
specific people groups and immigrants
(Muslims, Hispanics, Jamaicans...) vs. Anglos
• Location of production must be near
consumers for greatest profit potential
• Parasitism, predators and fencing are big
issues
• Challenge: Marketing and USDA processing
DAIRY GOATS
• Several breeds to choose from
• Products: milk, cheese, yogurt, butter, ice
cream, soap (state and county laws)
• Milk production compatible with family’s
needs
• Small size
• Generally good disposition
• Social animals
• Require shelter
• Breed dairy doe to meat buck => meatier
kids to sell
DAIRY CATTLE
• Many breeds; most will make more milk
than one family can use (use Jersey?)
• Laws regulate sale of fluid milk
• Can make butter, ice cream, cheese...
• One cow shouldn’t provide 365 days of milk
• Need proper handling and milking facilities
• Need to calve to give milk; what to do with
calf?
• Source of first animal very important (many
diseases and conditions)
BEEF CATTLE
• Many breed choices (Angus, Waygu,
Dexter, Galloway, Scottish Highland...)
• Consider breed temperament
• Handling facilities are essential
• Fences (“good fences make good
neighbors”)
• Preferred calving date = ?
• Target customer = ? (niche markets)
• Purchase seedstock from reputable
source
SWINE
• Many breed choices
• Niche market: more moist, flavorful meat
vs. grocery store pork
• Customers: 4-H youth, pig roast events,
locker meat customers, breeding stock
• Difficult to be profitable
• Can be pastured, but can be destructive
• Many diseases
• Not for everyone (noise, smell)
• Pigs are omnivores but must cook any
garbage fed to them
• Piglets need supplemental heat
SHEEP
• Many breeds. Wool vs. hair breeds (“easy
care”), wool vs. meat breeds
• Products to market: wool, meat, breeding
stock, milk (?!), composted manure, grass
control, pelts, skulls
• Predator control and parasite issues
• Customers = 4-H youth, locker lamb clients
(whole, half or quarters), ethnic markets
• Ethnic market has specific dates; breed to
meet these markets
POULTRY
• Many breeds and species
• Many possible products to market (eggs,
breeding stock, 4-H birds, fryers/broilers,
manure, feathers)
• “Chicken tractor” concept very popular
• Predator control essential (owls, hawks,
coyotes, raccoons, dogs...)
• Portable chicken processing units
• Laws regarding product sales
• Poultry production cycle
• Disease considerations (Marek’s, lice,
coccidia...)
FIBER ANIMALS
• Llamas, alpacas, angora rabbits, sheep,
goats (cashmere and angora)
• Investigate markets and realistic prices first
• Special management tasks can increase
value (blankets)
• Breeding often for fiber color or quality
• Produce product consumer wants
• Location, location, location (near urban
area = $$$)
• Go to the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival!
www.flockandfiberfestival.com.
ROUTINE TASKS FOR VARIOUS SPECIES
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Disbudding/dehorning
Castrating
Docking
Vaccinating
Hoof trimming
Shearing
Deworming
ID (tags, brands, tattoos, chips)
Breeding
Transporting
ESSENTIALS OF NEONATAL CARE
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Warm and dry ASAP (human vs. dam)
Ensure adequate colostrum intake
Ensure proper maternal care
Care of umbilicus
“Clip, dip, strip and sip”
Do not interfere excessively
Minimize stress
Assess daily
Normal: sleep, stretch nurse, play
Major killers = hypothermia and starvation
RECORD KEEPING IS ESSENTIAL
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Taxes, proof of compliance, litigation...
Individual animal ID
Treatments
Meat and milk withholding periods
Feed labels
Animal origins
Animal performance
Breedings
Costs
Test results
NUTRITION
• Five major nutrients
• Ruminants vs. simple-stomached
animals
• Roughage (fresh vs. preserved)
• Concentrates
• Supplements
Ruminant vs. Simple-stomach
anatomy
BASIC NUTRION CONCEPTS
• Roughage is usually least expensive source
of nutrients
• Compare feeds on price per pound of
nutrient (protein, energy)
• Begin with animals’ dry matter requirement
as a % of body weight
• As requirements increase, increase
concentrates and decrease roughage
• Maximum roughage and minimum
concentrate diets are safest but least
productive (rice cakes vs. candy bars)
RATION FORMULATION
• Look up requirements
• See what you have on hand and how it
meets requirements
• Purchase deficient nutrients on leastcost basis
• Much will depend on animal’s status
(maintenance, growth, gestation,
lactation, etc.)
• www.uaex.edu/Other_Areas/publications
/PDF/FSA-3080.pdf
• www.nap.edu/topics.php?topic=296
COMPARING CONCENTRATES VIA COST PER UNIT
BASIS
• Soybean meal costs $290/ton and is 44%
Crude Protein (CP)
• Canola meal costs $160/ton and is 35%
CP
• Alfalfa hay costs $180/ton and is 18% CP
Which is the best value as a protein source?
TYPICAL DIETS
• Cattle: 2-3% BW DM; hay (grass or alfalfa),
pasture, trace mineral block, water, +/- cracked
corn or commercial COB/grain, water
• Horse: 1-2% BW DM; hay (grass or alfalfa mix),
pasture, trace mineral block, water, +/- COB/grain
• Swine: 10% roughage allowable; peas, corn, trace
mineral mix, water; commercial products easiest
but most expensive; many diets possible
depending on what is available
• Sheep: 2-5% BW DM; hay (grass or alfalfa),
pasture, trace mineral crumbles, water
• Goat: 2-6% BW DM; browse, graze; hay and grain
as needed to support production; trace mineral
crumbles, water
ASSESSING/MONITORING NUTRITIONAL STATUS
•
•
•
•
•
•
“Book values”
Health
Performance
Laboratory tests
“The husband’s eye”
Body condition score
BODY CONDITION SCORING
• Objective assessment of individual
animal’s fat cover
• 1-5 or 1-9 scale
• Uses skeletal landmarks
• Assess BC before breeding, giving birth,
while growing, several weeks into
lactation, winter and other critical times
• Can separate animals into feeding groups
based on BCS
BODY CONDITION SCORING
Figures from “Body condition
scoring of sheep”, EC 1433,
Oregon State University.
Body Score #1
Body Score #5
REPRODUCTION
• Cattle: Polyestrus. 21-day cycle. Herdmates as
heat detectors. Easy to manipulate cycle. AI vs.
bull. Heat detection can be challenging. 9 month
pregnancy, re-breed ~ 2 mo. after calving; need 60
day dry period. Must have one calf every 12 mo.
for profit. May need assistance with calving. Twins
undesirable.
• Sheep: Some breeds seasonally polyestrous,
others polyestrous. 16-day cycle. Ram vs. AI. Can
use marking harness. Can synchronize breeding
to concentrate labor. Flushing increases twins/
triplets. Aim for >150% lamb crop. Rarely need
assistance. LAMBING SCHOOL!
REPRODUCTION CONTINUED
• Goats: Some seasonally polyestrus, others
polyestrus. Flushing to increase numbers of
kids. Bucks vs. AI. Bucks STINK and can
taint milk with odor. Rarely need help
kidding. Early puberty (>4 months!)
• Swine: Polyestrus. AI very common. Aim for
11 to 14 piglets or more. 21-day cycle.
Rarely need birthing assistance. Progress
through record keeping
• Horses: Seasonally polyestrous (spring).
Usually take mare to stud farm. Ultrasound
helpful. Twins are a disaster. Rarely need
help but problems severe when they occur
REPRODUCTION CONTINUED
• Males often lose much body condition
during breeding season
• Scrotal circumference correlated with
fertility
• Annual breeding soundness exam is
excellent management tool
• Need record keeping to avoid inbreeding
• Hot days: breed at night, keep males cool
during day to increase sperm survival
ARTIFICIAL VS. NATURAL INSEMINATION
• Danger of male on farm
• Noise and smell of male on farm
• Known genetic and performance information
available via AI
• Can select male with desirable trait to strengthen
specific aspects of herd
• AI has reduced conception rate vs. natural
• Heat detection easier with natural
• Timing more correct with natural
• More disease transmission with natural
• Higher costs with AI? Debatable
• Known fertility vs. guessed
HEALTH CONCERNS
• Nutritional
• Infectious (fungal, viral, bacterial,
parasitic)
• Traumatic
• Neoplastic (cancer)
• Iatrogenic (caused by humans)
• Congenital (birth defects)
• Toxic (plants, chemicals, etc.)
• Genetic
HEALTH CONTINUED
• Minimize by proper pre-purchase
screening tests and exams
• Have proper facilities ready for animals
• Emphasize sanitation, air quality, feed
quality and stress reduction
• Scrutinize environment for hazards
• Group animals according to age or
production stage; don’t hold back poor
doers
• Observe individuals daily
• Keep records (vaccinations, deworming...)
HEALTH CONTINUED
• Cattle: Johne’s disease, mastitis, scours,
pneumonia, pinkeye...
• Goats: Parasites, orf, foot rot, C.A.E., mastitis,
tetanus, toxoplasmosis...
• Sheep: Scrapie, C.L., foot rot, O.P.P., tetanus,
parasites, overeating disease, toxo...
• Swine: Erysipelas, T.G.E., pneumonia, PRRS...
• Horses: Tetanus, Encephalitis (inc. West Nile
Virus), Equine Protozoal Myelitis, thrush, colic,
rain rot, moonblindness...
• Poultry: Botulism, coccidiosis, Marek’s...
• All: Selenium deficiency, poisonous plants...
GENERAL PRINICIPLES OF PARASITE CONTROL
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Do not graze below 3”
Fence off wet areas
Do not graze wet grass
Rotate and rest pastures 21+ days
Harrow fields
Compost manure
Do not spread manure on pasture
Use multi-species grazing
Use dewormers judiciously
Use fecal exams strategically
Select for resistant animals
MILKING MANAGEMEMT
• Hand vs. machine milking
• Best practices: udder prep (pre-wash,
pre-dip, single-use towel to dry); use
sanitized milker; post-dip
• Dry off (timing, methods)
• Mastitis prevention: sanitation!
• Bacterial culture and sensitivity
• Intramammary infusions vs. milk out
DISEASE PREVENTION
• Work with your veterinarian to develop
a vaccination program for your farm
• Provide nutritional quality and quantity
• Practice biosecurity measures
• Minimize or eliminate visitors
• Have a closed flock
• Quarantine herd additions
• Purchase from reputable sources
• Isolate sick animals
• Necropsy deaths
PRINCIPLES OF IMMUNOLOGY
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Most animals born immunocompetent
Passive vs. active immunity
Colostrum
Vaccinations
Maternal antibody interference
Vaccines vs. antitoxins
Factors influencing vaccine response
BIOSECURITY
• Domestic and international disease
concerns
• Accidental vs. intentional introduction
• Closed vs. open herds
• Going to shows increases disease risks
• Quarantine and isolation protocols
• Hand washing
• Boot washing (clean then disinfect)
• Pre-purchase testing
• DO NOT BRING HOME ANIMALS FROM
SALE YARDS!
ANIMAL MEDICATIONS: STAYING WITHIN THE LAW
• Producers must use animal health products
EXACTLY AS INSTRUCTED ON THE
LABEL or violate the federal Food Safety
Act (fines, jail time)
• Only exception: using a medication other
than instructed on the label ON THE
ADVICE OF A LICENSED VETERINARIAN
WITH WHOM YOU HAVE A VALID
VETERINARIAN-CLIENT-PATIENT
RELATIONSHIP.
FOOD PRODUCT QUALITY ASSURANCE AND YOU
• Vast majority of food animal products
end up on someone’s plate
• For repeat customers, all food animal
products must be perceived as safe,
wholesome, delicious and a good value
• Handling, feeding, genetics, housing,
management practices all affect QA
• Significant dockage for QA violations
(PSE, injection lesions, dark cutters,
bruises, etc.), fines for residues
ORGANIC LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION
• See WSDA “green book”
• Much research needed to document
effective practices
• Challenges: parasite control
• Consider information sources
• Sick animals must have effective
treatment; treat and remove from
organic production and/or sell
SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Obtain animals from reputable sources
Emphasize sanitation
Quarantine and isolate
Provide excellent nutrition
Minimize stress
Provide excellent air quality without drafts
Prevent overcrowding
Feed in mangers, not directly on ground
Ensure production and consumption of high-quality
colostrum
• Keep closed herd
• Emphasize best pasture management practices
RESOURCES
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Horse Industry Handbook
WSDA’s “Green Book” (marketing)
4-H resources
Kidding Pen newsletter (goats)
WSU SW WA Lambing School
Oregon Meat Goat Producers’ assoc.
Diseases of Dairy Goats WREP0033
WSU Extension “Dairy Science” pub
RESOURCES
• www.animalag.wsu.edu
• www.attra.org
• http://extension.oregonstate.edu/wasco/
smallfarms/SmallFarms.php
• http://smallfarms.oregonstate.edu/newsletter
• http://smallfarms.wsu.edu
• http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/
pdf/pnw/pnw225.pdf
• www.sheepandgoat.com
• http://pubs.wsu.edu
• www.clemson.edu/agronomy/goats
RESOURCES
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/
http://extn.msu.montana.edu/ag.asp
http://info.ag.uidaho.edu:591/catalog
https://engineering.purdue.edu/ABE/Extensi
on/mwps_docs.whtml
www.public.iastate.edu/~mwps_dis/mwps_
web/frame_p.html
www.adga.org
www.meatgoats.com
http://poultryone.com
http://beef.osu.edu/library/cownutr.html
The information herein is supplied for educational or reference
purposes only, and with the understanding that no
discrimination is intended. Listing of commercial products
implies no endorsement by WSU Extension. Criticism of
products or equipment not listed is neither implied nor intended.
Extension programs and policies are consistent with federal and
state laws and regulations on nondiscrimination regarding race,
color, gender, national origin, religion, age, disability, and sexual
orientation. Evidence of noncompliance may be reported through
your local Extension office.