LSB Ltd

Lifestyle farms are also known as small farms, homesteads or crofts in other parts of the world.

Many people dream of living on their own patch of land, growing food for the table and enjoying natural surroundings. It’s a very fulfilling way to live but dreams can be crushed by costly mistakes and a lack of basic knowledge.

The LSB site provides expert advice on all aspects of running a small farm including keeping and breeding livestock, maintaining pastures, growing crops and lots more. Articles are written specifically for lifestyle farmers and with New Zealand’s unique environment, laws and diseases in mind. Contributing authors include veterinarians, academics, farmers and business experts. New articles are added constantly to keep readers up to date with the latest developments in the sector.

LSB also runs online courses in conjunction with a New Zealand vet, to guide lifestyle farmers through everything they need to know to raise happy, healthy and profitable livestock. Courses are entirely self-contained and self-paced with video presentations and downloadable course books. There are in-depth courses for the main livestock species as well as shorter, cross-species courses for areas such as caring for feet and teeth.

The heart of LSB is an online forum which allows lifestyle farmers to share information and expertise and to seek help from the community. With over 20k members and over 44k topics the forums are a fantastic trove of useful information for anyone living on their own lifestyle farm.

LSB’s editor, Kate Brennan, has over 25 years experience of living on a lifestyle farm and raising cattle, chickens and generations of angora goats. She and her husband live in Northland on an off-grid, 88ha farm and aim to grow as much of their food as they can.