Animals

Small scale ranching and animal husbandry face a wide range of challenges in Washington state. The Small Farms Team has been working to assist animal producers in profitability, sustainable practices, and processing challenges. Recent years have seen the development of mobile processing units, successful efforts to adjust state poultry regulations, and the rise of consumer interest in sustainably produced meats. Links here provide the producer with information ranging from production to marketing.

Additional Resources

WSU Extension Central Washington Animal Agriculture Team. Provides research-based information to Central Washington livestock producers and natural resource managers to improve their economic status and quality of life while they create a quality product in a sustainable manner.

Drought Alert. This WSU site provides access to WSU Extension publications and news releases about drought concerns and issues, a list of experts on related subjects, and a list of useful links from other organizations and agencies.

On-Farm Composting of Livestock Mortalities. Washington State Department of Ecology. These guidelines provide the basics of composting large livestock as one possible animal mortality management tool. Proper composting of other types of livestock is allowed in Washington but is not covered in this guidance document. The focus is on managing what is considered routine, day-to-day livestock mortalities, and is not suitable for managing mortality due to reportable diseases.