Having cattle on your farm can be a huge benefit \u2013 and it doesn\u2019t stop with the beef. One cow produces, on average, 12 tons of nitrogen-rich manure a year, perfect for fertilizing your fields and gardens. Manure is the best fertilizer for your crops and also can be sold. People will pay for organic manure.<\/p>\n
For the small farm and homestead, there are several breeds. Each of them has different strengths.<\/p>\n
Longhorn.\u00a0This is, by far, a favorite breed to raise here in Uganda especially in Western Uganda. This is because they\u00a0can be left\u00a0on pasture for weeks at a time without checking them, and they will be just fine.\u00a0The Longhorn comes from a very ancient breed of cattle. They are very hardy, and can get by just fine without you. They don\u2019t need help birthing their young, which is a huge plus to small farmers. Their meat is extremely lean and considered a delicacy by many. Longhorns are often used to breed with other cattle, and people will pay for your bull to breed their cattle.\u00a0Longhorns are not picky eaters. They will eat grass, shrubs, hay, corn,\u00a0just about anything organic. They are very docile, and good around families.<\/p>\n
Angus.\u00a0Angus cattle are one of the most popular breeds of cattle. They are excellent meat producers and can easily give you 50 percent of their weight in meat alone. Angus are fairly hardy for cattle, and can be left alone for some time. Free-ranging the cattle is very common, perhaps using supplemental hay and corn. The one disadvantage with Angus is, like many other breeds, they can have a hard time calving.\u00a0 It is not uncommon for farmers to have to assist.\u00a0 If you can\u2019t bring yourself to do this, stick with a hardier breed or avoid cattle.<\/p>\n
Highland Cattle.\u00a0There is not that large of a market for Highland cattle as there once was. But it still exists. The meat is very tender and rich. The breed is very hearty, like the Longhorn, and well-adapted for colder clients and higher elevations. The thick fur coat will keep these critters cold in well under freezing conditions.\u00a0Highland cattle are great grazers and do very well free-ranging. They have a high butter fat content in their milk, and can be used as the family dairy cow as well as a meat-provider.<\/p>\n
Hereford.\u00a0Another good meat producer. Like the Angus, you will have to keep a close eye on the cows during calving season, and some assistance to the new mothers may be needed. They are very similar in temperament to Angus, but require a little more oversight. Like Angus, they will fetch decent prices at the market for live cattle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Having cattle on your farm can be a huge benefit \u2013 and it doesn\u2019t stop […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5359,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beef-farming"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jaguzafarm.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jaguzafarm.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jaguzafarm.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jaguzafarm.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jaguzafarm.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jaguzafarm.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jaguzafarm.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jaguzafarm.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jaguzafarm.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jaguzafarm.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}