Barnyard Bunch
Animal agriculture is awesome! Farm animals are very important in our everyday lives. They provide food, but they also eat by-products from food production that humans can't eat. And many everyday products we all use are made from the by-products of meat consumption.
Beef cattle
Have you heard of the word "upcycling?" When you find another use for something that you don't want to throw away - like using a cool looking jar as a vase - that's upcycling.
Did you know cattle are amazing upcyclers? According to beefresearch.org, "90% of the feed consumed through the lifetime of grain-fed cattle is human-inedible." That means you can't eat it, but cattle can. Cattle also make good use of land that is only good for growing grass (and not crops to feed people).
Compared to 1977, today's beef farmers and ranchers produce the same amount of beef with 33% fewer cattle. Improved efficiency and animal well-being mean a 16% lower carbon footprint and fewer natural resources being used for every pound of beef produced, according to beefitswhatsfordinner.com
According to beefitswhatsfordinner.com, cattle eat numerous food byproducts unsuitable for human consumption. For instance, cattle eat distillers grains from the corn ethanol industry, cottonseed, which is a byproduct of cotton production, and beet pulp, which is a byproduct of sugar beet production. The best part is that all those byproducts help make nutritious beef for us to eat.
Beef provides nutrients like zinc, iron, protein, and B vitamins. Half of the fat in beef is monounsaturated, the same heart-healthy fats found in olive oil.
Learn more about beef's nutrition here.
According to the National Ag Statistics Service, as of 2022, there were 886,405 beef cows in the state.
Finally, learn about all the ways beef cattle do more than feed us, and are used to make everything from medicines to chalk at On Your Table's More Than Food page.
Dairy cows
Milk, yogurt, cheese and ice cream are all yummy products we get from dairy cows. Milk is a great, affordable source of 13 essential nutrients, according to usdairy.com. It contains, among other nutrients, protein, calcium and vitamin D.
Did you know that even if you have trouble digesting lactose, which is a particular sugar found in milk, lactose-free milk provides all the same essential nutrients as regular milk, but without lactose? Learn more here.
According to the American Farm Bureau Federation's Foundation for Agriculture, a typical Holstein dairy cow weighs 1,500 pounds and will produce, on average, more than 25,000 pounds of milk each year.
One day's production of milk per cow can be 105 pounds of milk, which can make
- 4.8 pound of butter or
- 8.7 gallons of ice cream or
- 10.5 pounds of cheese
The National Ag Statistics Service Census of Agriculture indicated there were 14,191 head of milk cows in North Dakota in 2022.
Pigs
Pork is the meat we get from pigs and is a great source of nutrients like niacin, thiamin, vitamin B-6, and protein.
While we all know bacon comes from pigs, did you know that many cuts of pork are leaner than chicken? In fact, according to pork.org, today's pork has about 16% less fat and 27% less saturated fat as compared to pork from 30 years ago.
In this graphic, My Fearless Kitchen shows how much bacon you can get from one pig.
According to the National Ag Statistics Service, in 2022, there were 161,489 pigs in North Dakota.
Did you know that pigs don't sweat? They roll around in the mud to help them stay cooler.
Learn about the every day products you use are by-products from pigs. Why do you think they call a football the "old pigskin?"
Sheep
Sheep give us food, wool, and a number of useful by-products.
According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, in North Dakota, the number of sheep and lambs in 2024 was 63,000 head. The top four sheep counties in the state in 2024 were:
4. Adams with 3,800 head
3. Kidder with 4,000 head
2. Dickey with 5,200 head
1. Bowman with 5,500 head
(Click here for a NASS map of North Dakota and the lamb and sheep inventory)
Lanolin, also known as "wool grease" is produced by the sebaceous glands of sheep and is an oily, water soluble substance which lends itself to inclusion in a variety of personal care products for people. A more complete list of by-products from sheep can be found here: Everything but the Baaaa.....
According to the American Lamb Association, a 3 oz. serving of lamb is an excellent source of protein, zinc, selenium riboflavin, niacin and vitamin B12. In fact, a 3 oz. serving contains 23 grams of protein, or 46% of the daily recommended value.
Goats
Goats are considered "specialty livestock" in North Dakota, like rabbit, llamas, bison and elk.
According to the North Dakota Department of Agriculture's kid publication Ag Mag, there are three types of goats.:
- Dairy - Around the globe, goat milk is consumed by more people than any other milk.
- Meat - Goat meat is one of the most popular meats in the world.
- Fiber
Dairy goats are milked and the fluid milk can be consumed or made into other dairy products, like cheese. If you've ever had ricotta cheese, that's a goat cheese. Goat milk contains a different type of protein than most cow milk, so people who are allergic to cow's milk or "lactose intolerant" may be able to drink goat milk without a problem.
While any goat can be used for meat, meat goats are typically more muscled than other goats. Goat meat is lean and doesn't contain "marbling."
Fiber goats are raised for the fiber from their fleece.
Like sheep, goats are ruminants, meaning they have a four-part stomach. They can digest course materials (including noxious weeds like Canada thistle and leafy spurge.)
In North Dakota, there are about 335 farms with goats, for a total of 6,631 (according to NASS from 2017.) According to LeAnn Harner of the North Dakota Goat Association, the number of goats on farms is steadily increasing. "They are a very popular choice for 4-H and FFA projects, as goats are small, easy to handle and can be very friendly," she says.
Chickens
Chicken is one of the most widely consumed meats in the United States. According to the Carlisle Technology website, Americans ate 98.9 pounds of chicken in 2022, compared to 59.1 pounds of beef and 51.1 pounds of pork. The N.D. Agriculture Department indicates that about 1 million poultry, including turkeys, live in the state.
Recently, however, more people in the state have looked into raising backyard chickens for meat, eggs and as 4-H projects. In March of 2022, NDSU Extension issued a Beginners Guide to Raising Chickens.
Honorable Mention
While we don't eat bees, they do produce the sticky, sweet, golden goodness we love to eat — honey!
Did you know that North Dakota has been #1 in the production of honey for 20 years? It's true. There are approximately 511,000 honey producing colonies in the state.