Big Payoff from BIG BIRDS

When Justin and Lucie Stephens settled on their property in Missouri, they wanted to raise an animal that could supplement their income.

“We thought cattle, but everybody does cattle,” Justin says.

In the end, the Stephens decided on a red-meat animal that provides large profits and fills a vacant niche in the meat market. However, this animal is so uncommon in the United States that few farmers consider it: ostriches.

Ostrich Market

Raising ostriches probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind for budding farmers. But Justin and

Lucie did their research and found that ostriches are remarkably lucrative.

“The benefit of farming ostriches is … supply and demand. There’s very low supply and very high demand,” Justin says.

Lucie adds that there’s a high market demand for almost every part