Again, this one can be a surprise, since recent years have seen small-scale livestock become a heavily promoted part of the “back to the land” lifestyle.

But the reality is, looking at the numbers, livestock are virtually always an even worse economic decision than vegetable farming. Higher risk, greater opportunity costs, and even lower pay. 

Get livestock because you love animals and want to figure out how to create a humane, loving, and regenerative food system, not for the money. 

Some FREE folks will want livestock to help manage their land or to help their kids learn about their food. But as with the vegetable farming, in almost all cases, the livestock won’t be easily self-supporting, and you’ll need income from elsewhere to support the livestock hobby farm.