Livestock

Workshop Session I: 8:30-9:30 a.m.

Appalachia Ohio’s Artisanal Meat Production

Leslie Schaller, Appalachian Center for Economic Networks

Appalachian Center for Economic Networks (ACEnet) will provide training and processing assistance to livestock farmers to expand product lines and increase sales for locally sourced, artisanal meats.

Workshop Session II: 9:45-10:45 a.m.

Revisiting Drum Silage

Jonathan Busse, Homestead Technologies

Forage independence is an elusive dream for many homesteaders and small producers. The cost of equipment and enough healthy land to produce a viable grazing system is difficult to acquire. The need for a modern guide with data to give confidence to small producers to branch out and try ensiling is needed. Ensiling could be a tool to help small producers to become forage independent, weather drought and long winters, all while taking advantage of the power of annual cover crops and abundant forage production.

Workshop Session III: 11-Noon

Exploring Heritage Pig and Broiler Breeds

Leah Bartel, Greenacres Foundation

Heritage breeds of pigs and meat chickens often come with a reputation of having better flavored meat than conventional breeds. In 2025, Greenacres conducted a study to determine the veracity of this popular belief. They looked at five different breeds of hogs and five breeds of meat chickens, tracking factors that would determine a farmer’s willingness to raise these breeds, including feed efficiency, cost of production, and general performance in a pasture-based system. The meat from each breed was flavor tested by a team, and these insights will be shared so farmers can make informed breed decisions.