Support urban livestock and our fellow Badseed farmers this Thursday, 9:30 a.m.!

[Season Burnett, KCCSAC Director]

Dear Friends,

BADSEED Farm needs your support this Thursday, August 13 to help make
urban livestock legal in Kansas City, Missouri. Please come support
our appeal to the Property Maintenance Appeals Board in the Council
Chambers on the 26th Floor of City Hall at 414 E 12th St., KCMO at
9:30 a.m. We would like to have several hundred supporters present to
ensure the success of our appeal. Those who attend may have the
opportunity to voice their support for our three goats and fifteen
hens.

Below is a description of our livestock management practices for those
who would like to know more information.

Thanks, and we hope to see you Thursday!!

Dan and Brooke
BADSEED Farm
1201 W Bannister Rd., Kansas City, MO 64114 (816)-472-0027
www.badseedfarm.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BADSEED is a “beyond-organic” urban farm in the West Bannister
neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri. We grow over 100 varieties of
vegetables and fruits on less than an acre of land. Through farming,
we strive to provide ourselves with our basic needs and to nurture the
land, while offering quality food to the Kansas City community.

BADSEED Market is an all-organic farmers’ market hosted in the
Crossroads District of Kansas City, Missouri every Friday night from
4:30 – 9 p.m. at 1909 McGee St. In addition to the fruits and
vegetables offered by BADSEED Farm and other urban growers, the market
also offers basic organic goods like eggs, cheese, bread and coffee.

BADSEED is also engaged in educating both adults and children about
local food and agriculture. Our store at 1909 McGee offers classes in
urban homesteading skills, including canning and preserving, beer
brewing, herbal medicine making, gardening, and much more. You can
check out our full list of classes with course descriptions online at
www.badseedfarm.com. Additionally, we frequently offer tours to
school-aged children, volunteer groups, and other interested
individuals.

Animals at BADSEED
In 2008, BADSEED introduced goats to the farm as part of our
continuing effort to provide our basic needs. In 2009, we now have
three goats and fifteen chickens that we have raised from their
infancy. Not only do goats and chickens fulfill our need for eggs and
cheese, but they also serve as an important source of fertility and
pest management.

Three Goats
When it comes to goats and sheep, farmers in our community have found
that a minimum of three animals make a happy herd. Our experience
confirms this conventional wisdom. In 2008 we had two goats. The
pair constantly tried to escape their pen, and could be heard crying
all day. Now that we have three, the animals are much calmer, never
try to escape, and only cry when hungry.

Four Pens
BADSEED Farm strives to raise extremely healthy animals. We maintain
four separate pens, and our animals rotate from one pen to the next
every week. The chickens always occupy the pen that the goats most
recently vacated. Chickens feed on the worms and maggots in the
manure of other animals. In doing so, they eliminate dangerous
parasites that can infect a healthy animal. When the chickens and
goats return to the same pen after four weeks, they find a healthy
environment free of harmful parasites, and an abundance of food that
has regrown since their last visit.

Why on the Periphery?
Our four goat pens are right up against our property lines. We have
set up our pens in this way because goats naturally feed on trees,
brush and undergrowth. This diet abounds along our fence line, but
cannot be found anywhere else on the farm.

Healthy & Happy Animals.
If we at BADSEED cannot raise healthy and happy animals, we don’t want
to raise animals at all. According to Kansas City, Missouri’s code of
ordinances, we should maintain only two livestock animals at least 200
feet from neighboring houses, and fifteen chickens within no less than
100 feet. While we can legally maintain goats and chickens on our
property within these guidelines, we feel that the animals will be
happier and healthier under the conditions we have created for them.

Happy & Healthy Neighbors
If our animals were confined to a small space 200 feet from all of our
neighbors, BADSEED Farm would be much more smelly and noisy, and much
less healthy. Lacking entertainment, confined chickens and goats make
all sorts of noises, and managing manure becomes a huge task. Manure
would sit in a big pile, rather than scattered over a large area. The
rotational system that we presently use will make for a much happier
community at-large.

Come Visit!
I have yet to meet a child who didn’t love goats, nor a goat who
didn’t love a child. Of course, we adults are allowed to love them,
too. Please come and meet the girls for yourself. You’ll see why we
have grown so attached to them!