The livestock industry of America consists of beef, dairy, horses, swine, poultry, and other animals. The number of farms have declined since WWII, but modern technology has enabled the present farms to maximize production. Many farmers raise specific animal species in response to the wants of the public. Over time, the average amount of beef, pork, lamb, goat, poultry, and veal has fluctuated and production has adapted to meet these trends. A lot of money and time is invested into raising quality animals, but only a portion of the monetary gains from these animals return to the farmer. Much of the money earned for food products goes to the restaurant or supermarket selling the product. The development of farm to table programs has benefited the farmers and the community by connecting the two and removing the middleman for the purchase of food. Farm to table programs allow the farmer to connect with the community and the customers get a piece of mind on the quality of products that they are buying. Identifying the wants of a community is also beneficial to farmers. Dairy farmers have the opportunity to make ice cream or cheese to be sold. Meat producers can sell delicacies to customers of different cultures if those people live in the area. The production of animals is a promising industry that will continue to develop with technological advancements, the wants of the community, and other factors. Thank you to Dan Severson for teaching AGRI 130 students about animal agriculture in America.

Dan Severson is an Extension Agent in New Castle County. He came in and spoke to our class about the livestock industry in Delaware. I was very interested in learning about the livestock industry because that’s what I grew up around. Growing up my neighbor had a farm and he raised everything from sheep, beef cattle, goats, chickens, and turkeys. From working on the farm I knew a lot about the meat consumption. In consumptions terms lamb, veal, and goat have gone down in America. Most people just don’t like certain types of meat or they never want to try but in other countries they are in huge demand like goat and lamb. So to learn the number history was intriguing. For instance, the average age of a farmer is fifty-eight years and in order to be considered a farm, it’s not based off of your acreage it’s based off of sales. A farm has to make $1,000 a year in sales. Dan also mentioned that the livestock has more to it other than selling meat and fur. Apart from the meat processing aspect of the livestock industry, we are able to produce more, such as soaps and lotions. One thing that surprised me the most was that in the United States only 6.6% of our money is spent on food.

Livestock production in Delaware is extremely diverse, with each enterprise facing its own unique sets of benefits and challenges. While Delaware is clearly known for its poultry, beef, pork, sheep, goats, and dairy all play a role in Delaware’s agricultural output.

The beef industry in Delaware is very prevalent, especially in the lower two counties. Beef steers are raised for feedlot, cow/calf, stocker, show/genetics, and market purposes. There is similar stratification in the production of hogs, however hogs are a much smaller industry in our state. Similarly, sheep production has also declined, as the demand for wool has fallen. There are only 69 farmers in the state raising sheep. For goats, however, there are over 150 growers, doing either meat or milk production.

Beyond direct markets, livestock production in Delaware is used to fulfill many niche markets. Dairy products often go towards ice cream. Goat and sheep meat is used to supply the ethnic markets in the many urban centers surrounding Delaware. Furthermore as any native Delawarean would know, many livestock are raised for showing purposes at the one and only Delaware State Fair!

Livestock has always been something I have been quite passionate about, I enjoy showing animals at the Delaware State Fair and experiencing the responsibility of caring for these animals all throughout the year. One piece in listening to Dan speak was his section on hogs. It wasn’t a very lengthy topic or one we went into detail on, but it was the pure numbers that really interested me. My great grandfather was a hog farmer. He had a rather large piece of his farm dedicated to raising and selling his hogs. Today however, there is a staggeringly low number of hog farmers still around in Delaware. Another thing I found interesting while listening to this specific topic were all the different ways hogs are classified for selling and disbursement. These categories include farrow to finish, farrow to feeders, feeders to finish, genetics and show, direct market, and pasture; which all require many different processes in order to maximize profit in the industry. I never realized that there were so many different ways to raise hogs and it is sad to see the dwindling number of farmers in this industry in Delaware. I am glad, however, that Dan made this an apparent and memorable part of his presentation, it allowed me to carry this information past the classroom and apply it in my own life.

Dan Severson tells it like it is and made his lecture on the livestock industry very interesting. He started off by defining a farm as someone who makes $1000 a year in agricultural product sales. There are 10,000 farms in DE contributing $8 billion to the industry. In DE there are 500,000 acres in farm land with 200 acres/farm. He repeated what we have learned that 98% of farms are family owned and he informed us that if farmers join corporate companies its because it is in there best interest; if the farm got into trouble, the government could only come after the farmers farm assets and not everything that the farmer owned. Beef, lamb, and veal have all gone down in terms of consumption, pork and goat have stayed the same, and poultry has increased which all mirrors what we are seeing in markets today. Mr. Severson then went on to talk about the different markets for beef, pork, sheep, goats, and dairy. All have uses for genetics and showing but others have specialties. For instance, cows can be directly sold to market for freezing, hogs can be grown in pasture, sheep are grown for their wool/hair, goat milk is used for lotions and soaps, and dairy is made into milk, ice cream, lotions, and soaps. In general, dairy farmers are decreasing while farm sizes are increasing. It was a very interesting lecture and I learned that I can make some big money by becoming an agronomist.