[Jupidu]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]A picture is worth a thousand farms, or maybe a million by Gene Logsdon
Magnificent stands of clover, like the one in the photo, were common in the eastern cornbelt fifty years ago. My field is remarkable only because the legume is white clover instead of the usual red or alfalfa and because not one bit of soil tillage or chemical fertilizer was used to achieve it.
... This clover is growing on land that has not been tilled at all for the last 12 years, and it will never be plowed again as long as I’m around. Another remarkable fact of the matter is that this field was partly under water a month before the photo was taken in late June. That kind of flooding would have ruined a stand of corn or soybeans. And if you can stomach one more brag, I know from experience that pasture or hay like this will produce steaks just as tasty as any from steers stuffed with corn.
... I see no reason why with this regimen, this field could not be grazed and occasionally cut for hay indefinitely, no cultivation necessary, the most efficient way possible to produce meat and dairy products. All I have to do is sow more seed some years if the clover does not naturally reseed itself— which it certainly will do after such a magnificent bloom this year.
... Or I could make hay instead since I have a surplus of pasture this year and hay prices are sky high....

[Kingcoal]

Very interesting. When you think about pre-oil, subsistence farmers, they usually had livestock. From what I understand, grain fed cattle produce more tender beef. Most cattle raised in south america are grazed.

A friend of mine lives on two acres and his wife keeps chickens as a hobby (don't ask, I don't know why since they don't eat any of them.) She started with a couple and has to give some away periodically to keep the population below thirty. She feeds them nothing but compost from her garden and other lawn refuse. They will eat anything and I mean anything and they produce eggs that are very tastey.