Hogs have a natural rooting instinct, so they use their grain-seeking snouts to loosen up the manure pile in the barn. Even though pork prices were rock-bottom, they contributed. The sheep are used not only for their meat and wool, but to graze the mustard in the sunflower field. The key is getting them out of the field before the mustard is consumed and they turn next to the sunflowers. Ducks are used for insect control.
Rabbits provide angora wool for spinning.
Chickens provide eggs for the family. Then there's the llama, which is too timid to protect the sheep and not tame enough to claim its wool, its two original purposes. What's ahead Selling over the Internet has mushroomed. And, in organically grown meat, the Jacobsons would have a specialty, niche product that could appeal to consumers in big cities. But they're reluctant about the risk and about getting too big.