Farms have been around for thousand of years. Prehistoric man was a nomad and moved around to gather food. Than, people learned how to raise their own food and the first farm was born. For many centuries most of the people in the world lived off land - the land gave them everything food, jobs, clothing. It was industrialization that changed that and people started to move to towns to get jobs in factories. Although number of people living on farms is smaller today, farms are still very important. Farms feed the world.  Animal farms usually specialize in one type of animal. They are called specialized livestock farms. Specialized livestock farms make up almost half of the United States animal farms. Livestock farms raise animals to eat or sell. Two types of daisy farms are beef cattle and dairy cow farms.

BEEF CATTLE FARMS People raise beef cattle because of their meat. Beef is the meat of an adult cow. Calf meat is called veal. Both types of meat are eaten all over the world. There are many types or breeds of beef cattle.  One of the most important jobs of the farmer is to pick a right breed of his cattle. Different types of cattle are better suited for different climates.  Most cattle is registered when they are born. This way  farmer knows its ancestor. This is especially important now days because of the mad cow disease. Cattle spend its days grazing on the pasture. They eat grass. Farmers have to make sure to have a right number of cattle for the pasture, so that the grass would last until they need it. Most calves are born in the spring. When a calf is born they are given shots and branded. Farmers brand cows so that it is known who it belongs to if the cow wonders away. Close to summer, cattle is moved to new pasture. This allows the old pasture to grow back for the next year. In addition to grass, farmers put blocks of salt with minerals on the grass. Cattle likes to lick these salt blocks and that's how they get their minerals to grow better. In the fall, farmers will move their herds closer to the house. They can move their herds with horses or trucks. Most beef cattle is sold before the winter. Calves are sold to other farmers to raise them into grown cattle. They feed them so they can be sold. This take six to eight months . From here other farmers may buy them to fatten them up and raise them for beef. Others are sold to meat-processing plants and end up as veal. Raising beef cattle is cheaper than dairy cattle. This is because beef cattle eats just grass. Farmers do not have to buy them special food like they have to for dairy cattle.

DAIRY CATTLE FARMS Dairy farms are farms where cows are raised to make milk and milk products like cheese, ice cream, butter and whipping cream. Dairy cows are built differently than the beef cows. They usually have smaller rib cage and larger udders. At the dairy farm, the dairy cows are milked twice a day. At milking time, the dairy cows head to the milking barn to get milked. The milking takes place in the dairy parlor. A cow enters a stall where her udder is cleaned and massaged to stimulate the milk flow. A milking machine is hooked up to the udder of the cow and "slurps" the milk out - just like a baby calf would. As the milk comes through the milking machine, it is goes thru pipes into a holding tank where it is cooled to 38 degrees and is kept clean.