We have never seen anything like this before.  According to satellite data that was just released by Reuters, “at least 1 million acres of U.S. farmland” were covered by water for at least seven days this month.  That is an agricultural disaster without equal in modern American history, and yet the mainstream media is treating this like it is some sort of second class story.  It isn’t.  This is the biggest news story of 2019 so far, and people want to know what is going on.  A few days ago, I posted a story entitled ‘“As Many As A Million Calves Lost In Nebraska” – Beef Prices In The U.S. To Escalate Dramatically In The Coming Months’, and it has already been shared on social media more than 145,000 times.  Farming communities all over the central part of the nation now look like war zones as a result of all this flooding, but the media elites on the east and west coasts don’t want to write about it.  And with more flooding on the way for the next two months, this crisis is only going to get worse.

This is the time of year when farmers are gearing up to plant wheat, corn and soybeans, and now a substantial portion of our farmland will not be able to be used at all this year.  According to Reuters, at least a million acres of farmland were covered by floodwaters for at least seven days this month, and that “will likely reduce corn, wheat and soy production this year”…

At least 1 million acres (405,000 hectares) of U.S. farmland were flooded after the “bomb cyclone” storm left wide swaths of nine major grain producing states under water this month, satellite data analyzed by Gro Intelligence for Reuters showed.

Farms from the Dakotas to Missouri and beyond have been under water for a week or more, possibly impeding planting and damaging soil. The floods, which came just weeks before planting season starts in the Midwest, will likely reduce corn, wheat and soy production this year.

And with “as many as a million calves” lost to the flooding, a lot less food than anticipated is going to be produced in the United States for the foreseeable future.

Between March 8th and March 21st, almost 1.1 million acres of cropland and over 84,000 acres of pastureland were covered by water for at least a week.  With more rain on the way, it is essentially going to be impossible for most of those acres to be usable this year.

In Iowa, 474,271 acres were covered by floodwaters for at least seven days in March, and Iowa farmers are facing some very tough deadlines.  Corn must be planted by May 31st and soybeans must be planted by June 15th in order to qualify for flood insurance.  For most Iowa farms that were covered by floodwaters, that is going to be impossible.

Overall, the recent flooding caused “at least $3 billion” in economic damage according to authorities, but many believe that the final number will be far higher.

Thousands upon thousands of farms have been completely destroyed, and thousands upon thousands of farmers will not plant any crops at all this year.

In addition to the vast agricultural devastation that we have witnessed, thousands upon thousands of homes have been destroyed as well, and now the National Ground Water Association is warning that “the safety of more than a million private water wells” could be compromised…

Record flooding in the Midwest is now threatening the safety of more than a million private water wells. The National Ground Water Association estimates that people living in more than 300 counties across 10 states have their groundwater threatened from bacterial and industrial contamination carried by flood waters.

If you live in the middle of the country and there is a chance that your well may have been compromised, please don’t take any unnecessary chances.  Contaminated water can be really, really bad news.

Unfortunately, this is just the beginning.  According to the NOAA, we are entering an “unprecedented flood season” that could potentially “impact an even bigger area of cropland”…

Spring floods could yet impact an even bigger area of cropland. The U.S. government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has warned of what could be an “unprecedented flood season” as it forecasts heavy spring rains. Rivers may swell further as a deep snow pack in northern growing areas melts.

In my previous article entitled ‘”200 Million People At Risk: National Weather Service Warns Apocalyptic Midwest Floods Are “A Preview Of What We Expect Throughout The Rest Of The Spring”’, I included a map from the NOAA which shows which areas of the central part of the country are projected to receive unusually high levels of rainfall over the next few months.

Unfortunately, there is a tremendous amount of overlap with areas that have already been devastated by flooding.

On Friday and Saturday, there will be “more heavy rains” in the Midwest, and Nebraska is in “the direct path” of the center of the storm…

From the Central Plains to the Midwest, it has been a disastrous spring for river flooding. A weather system slated to bring more heavy rains Friday into Saturday could aggravate the situation along and near the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.

It’s a one-two punch that combines additional rainwater with fresh runoff from snowmelt. Perhaps worst off is Nebraska, in the direct path of Friday’s quick burst of moisture. Barely a week has passed since Gov. Pete Ricketts estimated the cost of ongoing flooding in that state at more than $1 billion.

This is it.  America is being hammered by one storm after another, and I very much encourage you to get prepared for a very rough ride ahead.

There is going to be a lot more flooding.  Prices for beef, dairy, wheat, corn and soy products are going to rise significantly, and just when you think they are way too high they are going to keep on rising.

This is already the worst agricultural disaster in modern American history, and federal authorities are telling us that we should expect things to continue to get worse for at least two more months.

Perhaps the mainstream media will eventually decide to take this story seriously, but until they do those of us in the alternative media will do our best to keep you updated.

About the author: Michael Snyder is a nationally-syndicated writer, media personality and political activist. He is the author of four books including Get Prepared Now, The Beginning Of The End and Living A Life That Really Matters. His articles are originally published on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News. From there, his articles are republished on dozens of other prominent websites. If you would like to republish his articles, please feel free to do so. The more people that see this information the better, and we need to wake more people up while there is still time.

According to Agriculture Secretary Sunny Purdue, there “may be as many as a million calves lost in Nebraska” due to the catastrophic flooding that has hit the state.  This is not a rumor, this is not an exaggeration, and this is not based on any sort of speculation.  This number comes to us directly from the top agriculture official in the entire country, and it means that the economic toll from the recent floods is far greater than most of us had anticipated.  You can watch Purdue make this quote on Fox Business right here, and it is important to remember that this number is just for one state.  It is hard to imagine what the final numbers will look like when the livestock losses for all of the states affected by the flooding are tallied up.  This is already the worst agricultural disaster in modern American history, and the National Weather Service is telling us that there will be more catastrophic flooding throughout the middle portion of the nation for the next two months.

Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts says that this is the worst flooding that his state has ever experienced.  Ricketts originally told us that 65 out of the 93 counties in his state have declared a state of emergency, but that number has now risen to 74.  Hundreds of millions of dollars of damage has been done in his state alone, and that is just an initial estimate.

It deeply offends me that the big mainstream news channels have spent so little time covering this disaster.  This is the biggest news story of 2019 so far by a very wide margin, but because it happened in the middle of the country they are not giving it the attention that it deserves.

In the short-term, food prices will not rise too dramatically because the stores are selling the food that has already been produced.  But as the months roll along, you will start to notice food prices steadily increase.  Millions of bushels of wheat, corn and soybeans have been destroyed by the flooding so far, and thousands of farmers will not be able to plant crops at all this year.  And the livestock losses that we have already experienced will be felt for many years to come.

Beef will never be lower in price than it is right now.  So if you are a beef lover, you may want to stock up.

When the flooding initially came, it happened so fast that many farmers were powerless to do anything about it.  In Sherman County, farmer Richard Panowicz says that ice and debris were “exploding from the river”…

“Within 15 minutes it was devastation,” Panowicz said, with water, ice and debris exploding from the river with nothing to stop it.

He described some ice chunks as 3 feet thick and the size of an extended-cab pickup.

Panowicz said a lot of the dead calves he’s picked up have had broken legs. Many of the carcasses were found by neighbors.

In other cases, farmers were faced with a heartbreaking choice between saving their animals or saving their neighbors.  One farmer that rushed to help his neighbors ended up losing 30 calves to the floodwaters…

Before Mahon could think about his animals, he needed to help his neighbors. As the water rose, he rescued one with his tractor, the floodwater lifting it up and spinning him 180 degrees. He helped save three more people — including an 85-year-old woman and a 9-month-old baby — with a boat, he said.

Then he could start counting his losses. He estimated the flood carried away 30 calves and almost as many cows, nearly $50,000 out of his pocket. It might be more.

Can you imagine the grief that these farming families are enduring right now?

Many of them are financially ruined and will never be able to go back to farming again.

Dave Eaton’s family has been farming the same plot of land for 152 years.  But now the Missouri River has swallowed his farm, and with much more flooding still to come, he anticipates that his farm with be underwater “all year”…

The farm has been in his family 152 years. He was born there. He’s been thinking about what he’s learned about the Missouri’s upstream reservoirs and the mountain snowpack, and what it means for his land.

“It’s not like I’m new to the area,” he said. “My gut feeling is we’re going to be under water all year.”

And he is definitely not the only one that has had his year ruined.

Panowicz says that the hay and silage that were meant to feed his cattle this season were soaked “in 3 to 4 feet of water”…

The hay and silage to feed his cattle are soaked after sitting in 3 to 4 feet of water.

Sand now covers much of the pastureland he uses to graze his herd of commercial Angus cows and purebred Charolais bulls.

And 40 of his recently born calves died in the flood.

So what is he supposed to do?

Some Nebraska ranchers will bravely try to rebuild, but for Panowicz it appears that the end has come…

“I’ll probably sell the (remaining) cows and calves and get out of the cattle business,” said Panowicz, 65. “I’ve been around cows since the early 1970s.”

I could go on and on, but I think that you get the point.

America’s farmers have been utterly devastated.  America’s cattle producers have been utterly devastated.  Food production is going to be way, way below expectations, and food prices are going to escalate dramatically in the coming months.  This is the kind of scenario that I have been warning about, and this crisis is going to continue to get worse as all the snow from one of the snowiest winters on record melts.  In Minnesota, there are still more than 20 inches of snow on the ground in some places, and all of that water has to go somewhere.

This is the biggest national crisis that has hit the United States in many years, but the mainstream media and millions of Americans that do not live in the affected areas still do not seem to get it.

Of course once food prices start getting painfully high at our supermarkets everyone will start complaining, but there will not be any easy solutions.

About the author: Michael Snyder is a nationally-syndicated writer, media personality and political activist. He is the author of four books including Get Prepared Now, The Beginning Of The End and Living A Life That Really Matters. His articles are originally published on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News. From there, his articles are republished on dozens of other prominent websites. If you would like to republish his articles, please feel free to do so. The more people that see this information the better, and we need to wake more people up while there is still time.

No preparedness plan is complete without some sort of emergency supply of food and water. But not all storable and emergency food products are created equally. A shocking number of storable food manufacturers rely on cheap fillers, like GMO corn and soy additives, to drive up calorie counts while providing no additional nutrition. In fact, the nutritional profile of some emergency rations is so poor that you would literally starve to death if you tried to survive on them for an extended period of time.

Some products may not even sustain you for the advertised length of time — which is a source of major controversy in the prepper sphere. The preparedness market is saturated with food products that fail to provide adequate calories and nutrition. It is no wonder that so many preppers are now turning to alternatives, such as storable dry goods and home gardens.

Storable foods aren’t always as advertised

It’s true that you don’t always get what you pay for. But when it comes to preparedness products, that can mean the difference between life and death one day. Wise Company, a purveyor of storable and emergency food kits, just settled a massive class action lawsuit for “unlawful, unfair, and deceptive advertising and business practices.”

The lawsuit, first filed in 2017, alleged that Wise misrepresented and omitted valuable information about how long their Long-Term Food Kits would last and how many people they would feed.

Court documents contend further that “Wise Company’s long-term and emergency food kits provide less than half the daily calories necessary for an average adult to survive.”

According to the complaint, consumers would “starve or suffer adverse health effects,” should they try to survive on these products alone. Former customers who brought the lawsuit say “customers were induced to pay more for those products than they otherwise would have.”

According to The Daily Sheeple, some of these food kits may provide just 453 calories per day — a fraction of what the average adult needs to sustain themselves. No one expects to starve to death after they’ve spent large sums of money on preparedness goods, yet according to the lawsuit, that’s exactly what might just happen.

Sadly, the storable foods industry is rife with nutritional discrepancies.

Is your storable food going to make you sick?

While longevity may not be of utmost concern in the short term, subsisting on corn syrup solids and GMO soy isn’t going to feel good very long. Yet, many (if not most) storable and emergency food brands rely on substandard ingredients such as these to increase the calorie content of their foods and to make them more palatable.

If you think corn syrup is bad for your health now, just wait until you’re under the duress of a survival situation and it’s in everything you eat.

Despite the clever marketing, most prepackaged storable foods are loaded with preservatives, artificial ingredients and other junk. Corn syrup solids, for example, are basically just dehydrated corn syrup — and they are just as terrible for your blood sugar. More, most corn products come from GMO corn, which has its own set of issues.

Canola oil, GMO soy, and other types of refined sugars like maltodextrin are other problematic food ingredients — and that’s not even including the preservatives, artificial colors and other chemical additives like MSG that sneak their way into most prepackaged foods.

Mike Adams, founder of Natural News and creator of Brighteon.com, contends, “Eating survival food in an emergency shouldn’t mean poisoning yourself with toxic chemicals, and it’s long past time that the survival food industry stopped using chemical ingredients that promote disease and death.”

Learn more about the ins and outs of prepping at Preparedness.news.

Sources for this article include:

TheDailySheeple.com

WiseFoodSettlement.com ^[PDF]

Disasters can happen at any moment. You might not be able to avoid them, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t prepare for them. Having a proper survival plan in place can definitely help you get through even the most difficult situations. Improve your chances of survival by following these essential disaster preparedness tips when SHTF. (h/t to Survivopedia.com)

Learn what potential disasters your area could face

Different geographical locations face different kinds of natural disasters. Read up on your local area’s history to find out what kind of disasters your area is prone to. Does your area frequently experience hurricanes, earthquakes, or other natural calamities? Once you know the past, you can be better prepared for the future. Finding out what you are likely to face can go a long way in helping you formulate your survival plan. (Related: You need to know these 8 essential survival tips to prepare you for the next catastrophe.)

Sign up for emergency alerts

It is important to stay informed and up-to-date on your local news and weather reports. Nowadays, you can easily sign up to receive emergency alerts on your cell phone. That way, you can always know ahead of time when severe weather is on its way.  There are also plenty of emergency apps you can download on your phone that can serve as useful tools when SHTF.

Prepare your family’s emergency kits and bug-out bags

You and your family members should each have a 72-hour emergency kit containing all the essential items that you need to survive for at least that amount of time. If you need to make a sudden evacuation, you should also have bug-out bags ready in easily accessible areas in your home. Some preppers may combine both their emergency kit and bug-out bag in one convenient pack. Depending on your needs and priorities, you can choose to do the same. Some of the important items you should pack include water, food, first aid supplies, flashlights, blankets, a cell phone charger, a multipurpose tool, spare cash, and personal hygiene items. Make sure that you and your family members know how to properly use the items in your emergency kits and bug-out bags.

Learn your local area’s evacuation routes and shelter locations

In dire emergency situations, you might need to bug out somewhere else until it is safe for you and your loved ones to return home. In this case, knowing your local area’s evacuation routes and shelter locations can certainly come in handy, especially if you and your family are separated when the disaster hits. Planning a designated meeting point can let you and your family know where to go, even if the cell phone towers are down and no one has any access to other forms of communication.

Do an indoor and outdoor home assessment

On the other hand, there might also be times when it is simply safer to stay put and bug in. In this case, you will need to do a thorough assessment of the interior and exterior of you home to make sure that it can provide ample protection when SHTF. Get rid of any dead trees or overhanging branches that may pose as hazards during a hurricane. You may also need to upgrade your home’s security and defense systems. Additionally, you should make an inventory of the supplies you will need to wait out a potential disaster and stock up on these items.

Learn more disaster preparedness tips by going to Preparedness.news.

Sources include:

Survivopedia.com

WorkingMother.com

Anyone who has ever grown up in a family of gun enthusiasts and writers will know the never-ending argument of which gun is best for home defense. There is the AR-15 rifle argument: The gun, at only seven pounds, is easily maneuverable and offers low-recoil, making it ideal for close-range combat. Then there’s the shotgun defense: Buckshot loads contain massive firepower that deters any aggressor. The debate still rages, and you’re bound to hear different opinions about the topic no matter where you go. Whichever side you choose, however, it’s important to understand that there are shotgun myths out there that many preppers still believe to this day. In order to make a more informed decision about your own personal defense survival cache, we’ll be dispelling some of the more common shotgun myths.

DEBUNKED: I can’t miss with a shotgun.

What’s easier than just pointing a gun in the general direction of your attacker and shooting? After all, a shotgun just can’t miss. You’re bound to hit something — especially if you’re in a home.

While it is true that home defense situations occur at very short ranges, most tactical shotguns have tight patterns. Let’s use a general example. Most bedrooms or living rooms are about 20 feet or less in length. Even with a cylinder bore choke found on many tactical shotguns, patterns are generally tight at this range. The eight 00 Buck pellets typically appear in a 4- to 6-inch pattern. Shots at these ranges can shoot in the same hole, as if you had shot a slug.

This is why it’s still important that you aim when you use a shotgun. You can improve your accuracy by using different sights.

DEBUNKED: The sound alone is enough to scare an attacker.

If you buy a shotgun, you’d better know how to use it. A lot of preppers make the mistake of thinking that the sound of a shotgun being pumped is enough to scare off an attacker. This may be true for an inexperienced attacker, but what will you do if the person trying to rob (or kill) you is experienced in a gunfight? (Related: Staying safe when SHTF: How to defend your Bug Out Location.)

Similar to the literary principle of “Chekhov’s gun,” don’t bring a gun into a fight unless you plan on using it.

DEBUNKED: Birdshots prevent over-penetration.

This one is a bit tricky. The quandary faced by a gun owner in any home defense situation is using ammo that is capable of putting down the aggressor without blasting a hole through the wall and potentially hitting a family member in another room.

Some people believe that birdshots may prevent this, but let’s compare. A 00 Buckshot load compared to a No.7 ½ target or hunting load does maintain more energy and is capable of further penetration. However, in a typical home defense situation, the birdshot can just be as devastating as the buckshot load — perhaps more.

Remember our earlier warning that at close ranges, a shotgun may have tight patterns. A potential criminal shot with a No. 7 ½ lead at close range will really have a bad day. The shot may not open up at all and may be delivered in one payload, resulting in a wound resembling that of a slug. Both birdshots and buckshots can shoot through walls.

There is no easy answer here, but we generally recommend using birdshot rounds if you are a more experienced shooter.

DEBUNKED: 20 Gauge is not a good enough gun.

Many preppers want the biggest and baddest gun in their arsenal. There’s nothing wrong with this. Nevertheless, opting for a 12 gauge instead of a 20 gauge just because it looks “cool” means that you should be ready to handle the recoil that comes with the former. Dealing with recoil is a fact of life when it comes to shooting guns. A 20 gauge offers less recoil which means better control and faster follow-up shots.

Remember that there is no prize for having a “cool” gun when it comes to survival. The only real trophy is your life, and those of your loved ones, as you survive the fight.

Sources include:

PersonalDefenseWorld.com

GunDigest.com

LearnAboutGuns.com

Wise Company, producer of emergency and storable foods, is facing a class action lawsuit for “unlawful, unfair, and deceptive advertising and business practices.” As it turns out, one cannot actually survive on Wise’s products for the advertised length of time. Now, a new report from The Daily Sheeple alleges that in addition to faulty products, Wise Company appears to have handed over its complete, confidential list of customers to the U.S. government.

According to the report, nearly 100,000 confidential sales records have already been handed over to officials.

Wise Company has recently announced that they will be settling the lawsuit, though they still claim to have done nothing wrong. Customers who purchased Long-Term Food Kits from Wise during the specified time frame (February 15, 2013 through December 31, 2017) can learn more about the case and what action they can take here.

Did Wise give confidential customer info to the government?

As The Daily Sheeple reports, Wise Company’s private customer sales data has been handed over to the government. While these records were labeled confidential, that doesn’t really mean very much. The Sheeple explains further:

While documents submitted during the Discovery phase of the proceedings designated their customer list as confidential, this only prevents members of the general public from accessing it under Freedom of Information – the government still has it.

It is fair to say that the average customer of Wise would not be happy to learn that their personal information has been shared with the government. While there are many things authorities might do with a list of people who purchase preparedness products, this is confidential information that government should not be privy to. What people spend their money on is their business — and theirs alone.

A government-maintained list of preppers could easily be abused, especially in the event of an actual catastrophe. As the Sheeple contends, this purported breach of privacy may actually be worse than Wise Company’s alleged fraud.

Storable foods company under fire

Wise Company is facing a lawsuit for allegedly misrepresenting and omitting key information about how long its Long-Term Food Kits would actually last and how many people they actually feed, on both their website and their products’ packaging.

The class action lawsuit, Miller v. Wise Company Inc.,  is taking place at the U.S. District Court, Central District of California. The plaintiffs reportedly claim that because of the misinformation shared by Wise “customers were induced to pay more for those products than they otherwise would have.

From the court documents via The Daily Sheeple:

Wise Company fails to disclose that if the consumer in fact eats the number of prescribed servings each day necessary to make the food kits last for the advertised period of time, the consumer will effectively starve or suffer adverse health effects given that the food kits provide drastically fewer calories and nutrients than are needed to adequately sustain adults for the advertised periods of time.

The documents allege further that the food kits “provide less than half the daily calories necessary for an average adult to survive,” and that any person who tried to survive on these products for the specified period of time “faces serious physical and mental health risks, including dehydration, hypothermia, hypotension, impaired renal and liver function, depression, and impaired cognition.”

The Sheeple reports further that some food kits contained just 453 calories total — a fraction of the calories most adults need to consume, especially in a survival scenario. In an official response, Wise Company reportedly claims that because none of their customers have had to actually depend on their food kits, no damages have actually been experienced (yet). As reported by Sheeple, an official response states:

“Wise expects discovery will show that Plaintiffs have not actually consumed any of the products they purchased and, therefore, have suffered no injury in fact whatsoever, but instead merely exchanged one form of property (money) for another (food).”

Even so, Wise Company has chosen to settle, and will pay $110,000 to the Settlement Administrator and almost $600,000 in attorney’s fees for the Plaintiff, along with their own attorney’s fees. You can learn more about what options Wise Company’s customers have and the case here.

See more coverage of the latest news in the world of prepping at Preparedness.news.

Sources for this article include:

TheDailySheeple.com

WiseFoodSettlement.com

Through the years, dogs have constantly proven why they deserve to be called “man’s best friend.” They’re affectionate, dependable, protective, and smart, making them the perfect companion to have when SHTF. (h/t to ThePreppingGuide.com)

However, there are many different dog breeds to choose from. They all have various pros and cons but if you’re not sure what kind of dog to get, check out the list below for seven of the best dog breeds that will suit the prepping lifestyle.

1. Akita

The Akita is a large breed that hails from Japan. Akitas are suitable guard dogs, and they are loyal to their friends and family. This breed can be very loving to people it spends most of its time with.

While the Akita is a very alert breed, they need to be trained well. If they’re not adequately socialized, Akitas may be hostile toward people they’re unfamiliar with.

Akitas would make great dogs for preppers because they are strong and intelligent.

2. Alaskan Malamute

Alaskan Malamutes resemble their wolf ancestors. These dogs are particularly smart and they’re great hunters. However, compared to other large dog breeds, they have a relatively long lifespan of about 12 to 15 years.

As a large, strong breed with great endurance and energy, Alaskan Malamutes are a great choice for preppers.

3. Bernese Mountain Dog

While they’re not as popular as the other breeds in this list, Bernese Mountain Dogs are strong and capable. These dogs are calmer and more good-natured than other breeds, which makes them ideal pets for when SHTF.

Originally trained to work on farms, Bernese Mountain Dogs are great at herding. These dogs are strong enough to pull carts heavier than themselves, and they’re very protective and loyal to their family.

4. Border Collie

Border Collies are one of the most intelligent and energetic breeds, making them excellent work dogs. This breed has been used as herding dogs for thousands of years.

Border Collies are incredibly smart and they’re one of the easiest breeds to train. These dogs are always eager to please their owners and they will do almost anything for you.

5. German Shepherd Dogs (GSDs)

The German Shepherd is one of the most intelligent dog breeds. These dogs can be trained to master different tasks, and they are often seen working with law enforcement officers or on active duty alongside military personnel.

Originally trained to herd sheep, GSDs are also often used as efficient guard dogs. Additionally, GSDs are known for their strength.

If you have children, consider getting a German Shepherd. With proper training and socialization, these dogs can be “very gentle companions and family protectors.” Their intelligence and protective demeanor make them a good choice for active households.

German Shepherds would make for great dogs for preppers because they have extraordinary trainability, high fear factor, and incredible stamina. Lastly, and most importantly, German Shepherds are loyal.

6. Labrador Retriever

Labrador Retrievers, sometimes called Labs, were often used as hunting dogs. Labs were originally trained to retrieve fishing nets because of their excellent swimming abilities, which is due in part to their unique webbed paws.

Labs are a great choice for preppers because of their intelligence, kind nature, and amazing hunting abilities. This breed is very smart and easily trained.

Labs have an excellent sense of hearing and smell, making them the perfect guard dogs. (Related: Pro tips: Simple ways to keep your home safe from burglars.)

7. Rottweilers

Rottweilers are another breed that is often used as guard dogs. As one of the largest breeds, Rotties have an intimidating presence that could scare away potential attackers when SHTF.

They were originally bred to pull carts and herd livestock, but in modern times Rotties are regarded as one of the best breeds for guard dogs.

If you want a protective companion, get a Rottweiler. These dogs are intelligent and they have a great sense of smell and amazing hearing. Rotties are dedicated and loyal to their family, and they will protect them at all costs.

Even if disaster doesn’t strike, you can benefit from having one of these dog breeds as your pet. Everyone needs an intelligent, loving, and loyal companion like a well-trained dog that can also protect you when SHTF.

Sources include:

ThePreppingGuide.com

TheSprucePets.com

Self-reliance means being able to take care of yourself without needing help from anyone else. This might be one of the most important skills you can learn to prepare yourself for when SHTF, but it can also help you to get through any difficult situation in your everyday life. It can give you the chance to become a more independent and well-rounded individual. That way, you can live life on your own terms and better plan for your future. Here are some useful tips you can follow to become a more self-reliant person. (h/t to FoodStorageMoms.com.)

Learn how to cook from scratch

No matter how much money you have, there may come a time when you will be unable to simply buy pre-cooked meals at a store or restaurant. You might find yourself all alone during a survival situation. In this scenario, you will have to make do with whatever you have stocked in your pantry or refrigerator. This is also an excellent reason to always keep your pantry well-stocked. Either way, you will need to make a meal from scratch or end up going to bed hungry. Fortunately, learning how to cook basic meals shouldn’t be too hard if you have access to the internet. There are plenty of tutorial videos you can watch to pick up a few easy recipes that make use of common ingredients. If you want a more hands-on approach, you can enroll in a cooking class and learn directly from experts. You can even exchange tips with like-minded people.

Grow an edible garden

Another step you can take towards total self-reliance is to grow your own food supply. What could possibly be more satisfying by cooking a meal from scratch using the vegetables you grew yourself? Even if you don’t reach the level of complete, self-reliant food production, growing an edible garden can certainly supplement your existing food supply. An edible garden can even help you save on expenses. Why make a trip to your local grocery store when you can easily get your fresh pick of produce right in your backyard? The best part is that you aren’t limited by the availability of your favorite fruits and vegetables on the market. As long as you can grow it, you get to eat it. (Related: Self-reliance in the city: One family proves it’s possible.)

Learn more practical skills

You can gain a sense of accomplishment by learning a variety of new and useful skills. With a wider and more diverse skill set, you will become less likely to feel helpless when faced with a challenging situation. Self-reliance can push you out of your comfort zone and force you to adapt to any scenario. It can move you along the right path to self-improvement and progress. Why stop at cooking and gardening? There are so many practical skills out there just waiting for you to learn them. You can apply these skills during a survival situation or even in your everyday life. What is important is that you never stop learning. With an arsenal of practical skills at your disposal, you can overcome anything.

Make a reasonable budget and commit to it

If you really want to save money, it will require discipline. You will have to let go of the occasional luxuries to focus on what you actually need to get by. Live on less money than you make, so that you can set aside money for the future. Try to save a minimum of at least a dollar a week. This can be a feasible goal and you can use the money as an emergency fund if ever SHTF. Another practical skill you can learn is how to make basic repairs. This can also help you to save money, since you will be able to avoid buying items to replace broken ones.

Sources include:

FoodStorageMoms.com

TheLawOfAttraction.com

It can sometimes be difficult for preppers to resist the urge to hoard large quantities of survival gear and other useful items on the off chance that these might come in handy later on. After all, having the right materials at the right time can allow you to be more prepared for a greater variety of challenges. But what is the point of a home so filled to the brim with prepping equipment that it is impossible to find anything when you actually need it?

There is nothing wrong with stocking up on plenty of survival gear as long as everything is properly organized and easily accessible at a moment’s notice. Here are five useful tips on getting organized the prepper way. (h/t to LivingLifeInRuralIowa.com.)

Declutter your home

This is an endeavor that you should commit to entirely. Do a thorough sweep of your home and get rid of all unnecessary junk. Take the time to declutter your home to create more free space. This endeavor shouldn’t be rushed, so you should ideally devote around one to three months to sort out what should stay and what should go. There are many ways to give new life to items that have outlived their usefulness. You can sell them at a yard sale to make a small profit or you can simply donate them to people whom you think would still be able to make use of them. If you can think outside the box, you can even find other uses for items other than what they were originally intended for. (Related: Survival scavenging: 10 Items you can re-purpose when SHTF.)

Identify and prioritize your belongings

Go through all of your personal belongings and categorize them based on their practical use or what they personally mean to you. Your main priority should be survival gear and items that are beneficial to your health and well-being. Decorative and sentimental items can still have a place in your home, as long as they can justify the amount of space they take up. This means that if they really do have sentimental value for you, they shouldn’t just be tucked away in a corner gathering dust. Keepsakes can inspire you and keep memories alive, but you shouldn’t accumulate them to the point of hoarding. Follow the “Power of Three” by keeping only three of each type of item. For example, you can keep up to three motivational posters and get rid of any duplicates.

Have a system in place

In an emergency situation, every second counts. If you suddenly need to get your first aid kit, do you instinctively know where it is? You can’t waste precious time looking through your belongings when someone’s life could be on the line. Having an organized system in place can go a long way. Your critical survival gear should be in the most easily accessible areas of your home. Familiarize yourself with where you place everything, so that you can quickly grab your prepping items without even thinking. You can also keep better track of your supplies by having an inventory.

Buy storage containers

In order to keep your personal belongings out of sight and organized in a logical way, you should store them in convenient baskets, buckets, bins, or other storage containers. Your storage cases don’t even have to be brand new. Second-hand containers can do the job just as well as new ones. Use post-it notes to label your containers so that you know where everything is. Everything should be neatly tucked away and properly arranged when not in use. Storage containers can also be stacked on top of each other to maximize your free space.

Put together your kits and bug-out bags

If you haven’t prepared them already, take this chance to put together your family’s 72-hour survival kits, first aid kits, and bug-out bags (BOB). You can make an inventory list for the items in these kits as well. That way, while you’re organizing your home, you can already set aside items on the list as soon as you find them. Keep your BOB just as organized as your home by packing everything in an orderly and easily accessible manner.

Sources include:

LivingLifeInRuralIowa.com

SurvivalBlog.com

The legacy and memory of homesteading live on in us. And while the era that our great-great-grandparents had to live through is long over, there are still some lessons we can learn from that time that we can use in our own homesteading plans today. (h/t to BackdoorSurvival.com)

Keep it simple, go back to the basics

Our ancestors had to cross the Great Plains with nothing but the bare essentials and understood how to rely only on themselves. If one of their equipment failed, they knew how to repair them. It was normal for them to be jacks-of-all-trades, and very skilled craftsmen.

It is wrong to think that things were “made better” then, or that “in the good old days” somehow materials were built to last eons. The truth is, technological advancements, while helpful for some things, have made us slightly impaired in terms of relying on our own skills and capabilities.

If you’re planning on building a homestead, recognize that you will need to expand your skill set. Doing so will also make you more self-reliant.

Buy the best equipment

Sure, good things don’t come cheap — but they’ll save you money in the long run. When you buy shoddy material, you can expect it to last only for a short time. You get what you pay for, after all. Whenever possible, try to buy the best goods you can, focusing on durability and reliability. (Related: Living simply and frugally is key: Homesteading on a limited income.)

Homesteaders need to have the best equipment they can get. This way, once the initial expense is given, they can focus their time and energy on other things.

Understand that good food is key

Back in the day, doctors were few and far between, and may live miles away from where you were. This meant that during emergencies, you had to wait for a long time before a trained medical professional could see you. American pioneers understood this, and just prevented themselves from getting sick in the first place. They did this by eating clean, nutritious food.

Nothing can destroy health more than a poor diet. Many of our ancestors died from food-related illnesses.

Homesteaders today can maintain their health by growing their own vegetable garden. This ensures that you know exactly what you’re putting in your mouth!

Plan ahead

To thrive as a homesteader, you have to learn how to plan ahead. Even today, we homesteaders are ruled by the seasons and weather. This encourages us to plan for every aspect of life, from planting and harvesting, to gardening and property maintenance. While it is true that modern life makes things a lot easier, it will still do you good to know how to plan for every possibility. Homesteaders need to know how to adapt to whatever eventuality.

Go with, instead of against, nature

This was a hard lesson we all learned from the Dust Bowl during the 1930s. This period of severe dust storms caused by poor land management practices during the Great Depression made many a homesteader cry out of frustration and sadness. As drought and wind swept through the Great Plains, tons of topsoil were stripped from the land and created an apocalyptic landscape never before seen in our country.

The Dust Bowl reminds us what can happen when we ignore the natural world around us. Modern homesteaders should understand that it benefits them to work in harmony with nature rather than against it. Trust the land, take care of it, and it will take care of you.

These five lessons are as relevant today as they were a century-and-a-half ago. The important thing to remember is that while homesteading requires a lot of patience, diligence, and effort, it is also one of the more richly rewarding endeavors you can do.

Sources include:

BackdoorSurvival.com

History.com