Predator-Proofing Your Chicken Coop: A May Pre-Summer Checklist
12 things to check on your coop before peak summer predator season — hardware cloth specs, latch types, what fails first, and the fixes that hold.
Livestock
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2026 FDA Raw Milk Enforcement: What Actually Changed for Homesteaders
The 2026 FDA raw milk enforcement push targets interstate sales only. Here’s what actually changed, what didn’t, and the three verifications you need before you sell another jar from your homestead.
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Suppressors on the Homestead: Predator Control, Hearing Protection, and the 42-State Legal Map
The $200 tax stamp is gone as of January 1, 2026, and Form 4 approvals are running 4–11 days. Here’s the practical case for suppressors on a working homestead — predator control, humane dispatch, hearing protection, and the 42-state legal map.
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Grow Sunflowers Easily: Brighten Your Homestead Today
Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) are a homesteader’s dream—vibrant, hardy, and incredibly versatile. If you want to grow sunflowers on your homestead, you’re in for a treat! These towering beauties with their cheerful blooms don’t just add a pop of color; they also provide seeds for snacking, oil production, and livestock feed. Plus, they attract pollinators to…
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Animals | Food Preservation | Livestock | Recipes | Skills
Render Beef Tallow at Home: Master Homesteading Fat Now
Homesteaders can easily render beef tallow at home, turning beef fat from suet or trimmings into a versatile, shelf-stable cooking fat. This traditional process aligns with the self-sufficient, zero-waste ethos of homesteading, using byproducts from cattle you raise or source locally. Beyond cooking, beef tallow shines in soap-making, candles, balms, lotions, and even leather conditioning….
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USDA Launches Workshops on Livestock Risk Management
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is hosting more than a dozen in-person and virtual workshops this winter for producers to learn about new and expanded livestock risk management products. The “Livestock Roadshow,” hosted by USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA), will highlight policy improvements based on feedback from America’s livestock producers as part of the…
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The Benefits of Beef Share
Almost a month ago, we published a story on the benefits of cow share for those looking for access to raw milk. In the article, we mentioned that options also exist for those looking for steady access to organic beef, but glossed over the details. As it turns out, however, folks are curious about beef…
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The Benefits of Cow Share
If you’re in the homesteader community, chances are you already have heard of the benefits of raw, unpasteurized milk. There are, obviously, quite a few controversies surrounding the health risks concerning raw milk, hence the stringent regulations surrounding its consumption in most US States. Most who regularly consume it agree, however, that the benefits far…
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Hay! That’s Not Straw!
When I first started homesteading, I didn’t know the difference between hay and straw. Not because I was uneducated; it’s just not something a suburban kid would ever have known. I had country cousins whom I visited, and my uncle even raised quail at our house. It was just something that I never caught onto….
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6 Ways Diatomaceous Earth Can Help Your Homestead’s Health
If you can pronounce Diatomaceous earth, kudos. If you can SPELL Diatomaceous earth, double kudos. But even if you mispronounce it like I do, (Dianysis, Diagnosis, Dionysus) that doesn’t mean you can’t use it as an effective tool on your farm or homestead. So, what is Diatomaceous earth? It looks like something Tony Montana would…
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Snow on the Fields
Chances are, if your homestead sits anywhere north of Texas this year, you have seen a fresh blanket of snow or two coat your land. If you live near where I do, that blanket didn’t just fall, but has lasted for several weeks now (and counting). We all love the fluffy white stuff for our…
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Cow Milking 101
Its the time of year when many ranchers are weaning calves away from their mothers. While this can result in quite a bit of bawling and, depending on where you calf pen is located, some sleepless nights, it also signals the beginning of a great time to start getting some pure, unpasteurized, unhomogenized cow milk…
