The life of a farmer isn’t as easy as you think. Despite working very hard on their farms, there is no full guarantee of crop success. Their crops could be hit by natural disasters like heavy hailing, raining, floods and other unfavorable weather conditions. Farming, in short, is a very risky commercial activity. The household of farmers is likely to face hardships in case of a crop failure.
In order to avoid the ill effects of crop failure, farmers generally tend to raise and keep livestock. Raising livestock is a kind of collateral security against crop failure. They could easily manage the expenses of their households by rearing and selling livestock and its allied products. Raising livestock keeps their hope of living a good life alive as it can be exchanged with others for money, food, and clothing.
Farmers engage themselves in various livestock occupations. Dairy farming is one such occupation that enables them rear cows and buffalos for milk and meat. Dairy farming is manageable for farmers since they have the easy availability of fodder, especially hay. They also have no shortage of feed which they obtain from their farms. They can satisfy their own personal consumption as well as sell the surplus to markets.
Farmers also do poultry farming; rearing hens, ducks, and geese for meat and eggs. Both personal consumption and making money by selling surplus to the market are achievable.
Beekeeping is another livestock occupation that farmers do for obtaining wax and honey. Beyond beekeeping, farmers also obtain silk for their own and market use by rearing silkworms as well.
Keeping livestock in homes makes farmers mitigate the risk of crop failure; after all, livestock has an economical value. Farmers trade livestock or cattle in exchange for money and other life necessities.