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Crop and Livestock Production
Sustainable farms are managed to balance the "triple bottom line" of economics, environment, and quality of life. Another way to say it is that sustainable farmers want to be profitable, practice good stewardship of the environment, and enjoy their lifestyle.
The crops and the livestock that are raised to achieve those goals may be typical ones like corn, wheat, soybean, and dairy cattle. They may be less common crops like flax and barley, and livestock like meat goats or honeybees. They could even be really unusual things like mushrooms and earthworms!
Sustainable farms are likely to have a combination of crops and livestock. These balance each other and contribute to the triple bottom line. Livestock convert low-value grains and forages into high-value meat and dairy products. Livestock produce nutrients that can be returned to the soil, reducing the need for purchased fertilizers. Multiple sources of income--from sale of crops, livestock, and livestock products--reduce farmers' financial risk from failure of any one income source.
