Dan Severson came in and told us about livestock in Delaware. Dan is the New Castle County Ag Extension Agent and a specialist in ruminants. Livestock in the United States is a lot lower than what it used to be. He showed us the decline started around 1920’s after World War 1 and during the great depression. People were leaving the farms for factory jobs which was just reinforced by the dust bowl and World War 2. The decline in livestock has leveled off but is lower than what it was. Did you know the USA has the most affordable, safest, and abundant food in the world? Delaware is a chicken state, growing chickens and the feed for them, so other live stock is not that big here. 296 of 2,500 farms in Delaware have combined total of 3,800 head of beef cattle. From the 28 dairy operations, Including our own UDairy, there’s 4,800 head of dairy cattle. There’re 5,800 hogs from 59 farms, 1040 sheep from 69 farms, and about 2,000 goats from about 175 DE farms. Dan who has his own herd of goats explained niche industries for livestock. There’s more live stock in Delaware than what you may think but we’re definitely more focused on chicken production.