The farm cat, also known as a barn cat, is a domestic cat, usually of mixed breed, that lives primarily out-of-doors, in a feral or semi-feral condition on agricultural properties, usually sheltering in outbuildings. They eat assorted vermin such as rodents and other small animals that live in or around outbuildings and farm fields. The need for the farm cat may have been the original reason cats were domesticated: to keep rodents from consuming or contaminating grain crops stored for later human consumption. They are still commonly kept for the purpose of catching undesired vermin found on farms and ranches, which would otherwise eat or contaminate crops, especially grain or feed stocks.