Soil Health

Spring Success: How Strategic Pasture Planning Boosts Annual Productivity

Mon, 04 May 2026 15:31:03 GMT

Springtime on-ranch can be a make-or-break time for the entire growing season, especially when pastures come out of dormancy and animals emerge from their low winter energy levels. This is especially true for regenerative ranches.

Putting your herd out on dormant pastures or pastures with depleted resources can negatively impact both herd health — leading to decreased body condition and overall health — and pasture health. Both of these eventualities can cause stress that lingers throughout the entire growing season.

We tapped the expertise of Travis Jones, regenerative ranching adviser for Noble Research Institute , for the top tactics his team recommends to start your high-impact grazing season off in a way that helps you finish with strong productivity, animal health and profitability.

Master the Art of Spring Monitoring

For Jones, this is the time for graziers to open their eyes.

“Spring is usually the time when grazing land producers start to monitor perennial forage growth and forage vitality coming out of dormancy,” he says.

That means it is the perfect time to evaluate past management decisions and determine what has benefited a ranch’s overall goals and objectives and what has caused challenges.

A good monitoring plan is a safe place to start, Jones says. Each spring, he encourages ranchers to get out in pastures to get eyes on the following:

Grazing enclosures
Watering systems
Photo points
Soil health systems
Grazing patterns and rotational grazing systems

In the spring, graziers should spend time diligently monitoring and tracking their grazing infrastructure and forage. Accurate data can help ranchers make better operational decisions in the following year.

(Noble Research Institute)

But monitoring shouldn’t be limited to infrastructure; observing and tracking forage is also critical.

Jones recommends keeping diligent data around the following forage observations:

Plant health and vigor
Winter precipitation
Plant species
Plant growth phase

“These are all factors that help producers stay adaptive in their management,” he says. “Current data is a must for making good grazing decisions.”

From Data Points to Pasture Profits

If the data collected during spring monitoring doesn’t give you hope for the growing season, Jones says that forage additions can be a way to course-correct for the future.

“Overall, ranch productivity can increase with a bump in forage production and quality,” he says. “Often, producers can sustain livestock production with forage additions rather than feeding hay.”

While every ranch’s unique ecosystem drives which forage additions are needed, Jones says that vibrant native systems should have multiple species of plants representing all forage groups, including:

Woody
Legume
Warm-season annual grasses
Cool-season perennial grasses

Depending on a ranch’s goals and context, interseeding a primary warm-season perennial pasture with a legume or cool-season grass can not only boost forage quality for an introduced system but also extend grazing from fall into early spring, giving a marketable advantage over others.

“For animal health, having high-quality forage after the winter months when animal energy consumption may be higher can help increase body condition and overall health,” Jones says. “Often, this early spring growth is good for building condition in bred livestock expected to give birth during the spring months.

“The more options you have regarding forage quality and availability, the more you can take advantage of opportunities in market and seasonal weather dynamics,” he adds.

High plant biodiversity contributes to overall soil health, which can enhance the resilience of pastures, giving them the power to withstand drought conditions.

Step-by-Step Tactics for Forage Enhancement

For forage additions to work in the spring, Jones says that fall planning is critical. Following these steps can help you choose the correct spring forage addition for your ecosystem, environment and ranch goals.

Test the soil — Using a traditional soil test can ensure that you have the correct soil chemistry to make your forage additions work. “Seed germination can be highly dependent on soil pH; if your pH isn’t right, you might not get the forage intended,” Jones says.
Choose a trusted seed mix — Knowing the makeup of your soil can help you choose a seed mix that works for your soil type and management style.
Start small — Investing in forage additions on your most at-risk pastures is a good way to start a forage enhancement program in a way that is cost-effective and will have maximum impact on your overall grazing plan. Additionally, at-risk pastures can often benefit from investments in soil health that forage enhancements provide.

Whatever spring changes you make to your pastures must be part of your holistic management strategy, Jones says.

“New ideas and plans should be documented and discussed for how they will impact overall ranch goals and mission,” he explains. “The beauty in capturing this data is that it establishes a baseline for future decisions.

“In our education courses, we advise ranchers to prioritize capturing data that will help make future management decisions,” he adds.

Noble Research Institute provides education resources and courses that can help regenerative ranchers capture productivity, profitability and stewardship on ranches throughout the U.S.

Your Next Read: 4 Ways to Boost Profitability Through Soil Health

From Forage to Fertilizer: Iowa Farmers Turn Cover Crops Into A Profit Engine

Fri, 13 Mar 2026 17:37:00 GMT

Where the borders of Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois converge above the Mississippi River, Jack and Maria Smith, alongside their sons Nick and Ted, have turned cover crops into the strategic backbone of their diversified farming operation.

Based in eastern Dubuque County, Iowa, the family combines no-till corn and soybeans with a 420-head beef operation. They utilize a spring and fall calving schedule to produce registered seedstock and yearling bulls, while also finishing select calves.

One of the things that makes their farm unique, Nick Smith says, is how completely they’ve integrated cover crops in all aspects of their operation.

“We cover crop every single acre now. We’ve been able to do that for the last five, six, seven years, somewhere in there,” he told Andrew McCrea, during their recent discussion on Farming The Countryside.

Smith Family Farms got its start in 1853. In addition to their conservation efforts, the family is dedicated to preserving the state’s history through the Iowa Barn Foundation, which has saved more than 300 barns.

(Environmental Stewardship Award Video)

Matching Cover Crops To Cattle And Terrain

Because their land is prone to erosion, the Smiths first used cover crops to protect the soil from heavy rains. However, the practice quickly became a “no-brainer” feed source for their beef herd.

On their steepest slopes, the family often uses a two-year rotation centered on covers. They plant a spring cover crop to graze or harvest, then follow it with a diverse “summer cocktail” that is harvested once and grazed in the fall. This rotation prepares the fields for no-till corn the following year.

“With some of our steepest slopes, that’s what we typically do,” Smith says. “On ground that’s not as steep, we grow more continuous corn.”

Cattle graze the rolling hills that make up a significant percentage of the land the Smiths own in Dubuque County, Iowa.

(Environmental Stewardship Award Video)

Most of the family’s cover crop acres are grazed by cattle at some point.

“In the fall, I would say we’re grazing all of them,” Smith says. He notes that distance and accessibility sometimes limit spring grazing. “Probably 50-plus percent of the acres do get grazed in the spring. It just depends on the weather. You can’t really have the cattle out there if it’s wet.”

Custom “Cocktails” For Summer And Fall

Smith chooses different cover crop mixes based on the season and the next crop in the rotation. For summer covers, he prefers diverse blends based on sorghum-sudangrass.

“We love that stuff,” he says. “It’s really hard to screw it up. It’ll grow pretty much anywhere, and it grows quickly. It’s great feed; cows love it.”

He typically adds legumes like clover and buckwheat to those summer mixes. For fall and winter grazing, the farm relies on small grains and brassicas, including triticale, cereal rye, turnips, and oats. These fall covers are usually seeded in August and September.

The Smiths use a corn-soybean rotation along with some continuous corn. Cover crops help fuel the family’s row crops and feed their cattle herd.

(Environmental Stewardship Award Video)

Smith adjusts his seeding rates based on the upcoming row crop. If a field is headed to soybeans, he seeds cereal rye at a heavier rate.

“Beans like cereal rye,” he said. “If we’ve got a thicker stand out there, that’s not going to bother me.”

If he is planting corn the next year, he uses a lighter rate of cereal rye, especially on fields that won’t be grazed in the spring. The family has also experimented with camelina ahead of corn to add more diversity.

From Planes To Drones — And The Combine

Smith’s father, Jack, began aerial seeding cover crops more than 15 years ago, but the rolling terrain made it difficult to get consistent results.

“In our topography, we haven’t had great success with that,” Smith says. “It’s hard to get good coverage over every acre.”

In recent years, the Smiths have used drones for more precise seeding, especially to drop oats, radishes, or turnips into standing corn to create high-quality fall forage.

“We’ve had years where we’ve had knee-high oats while we’re harvesting corn,” Smith says, though he notes success depends on timely rain.

One of the most significant changes the family made was five years ago when they decided to mount a Gandy air seeder on their combine to plant cereal rye during the corn harvest.

“It’s hydraulically powered and blows the seed so it drops right at or through the header, just before the residue goes through the snapping rolls on the corn head,” Smith says. “As that material goes down through the corn head, it basically covers the seed up and helps trap a little bit more moisture there for it to get going.”

Smith can seed about 15 acres per fill. He dismisses concerns that the practice slows down the harvest.

“Everybody’s excuse is, ‘I don’t want to stop harvest,’” he says. “You can refill in 5 minutes with the right kind of tender. We’re saving a whole other trip, saving a lot of fuel, and we’re getting more growth because it’s done earlier.”

Soil Health And Nitrogen Efficiency

Smith credits no-till and consistent cover cropping with improving his soil function. He has observed faster residue breakdown, more earthworm activity, and higher microbial activity.

Earthworms are the only tillage tool on Smith Family Farms operation in northeast Iowa.

(Environmental Stewardship Award)

“The pace of the increases in organic matter have gone up a lot since we started using the combine, because we’re getting seed in every square foot of every acre, and we’re doing it on a consistent basis,” he reports.

Grazing cover crops has also allowed the family to reduce commercial nitrogen rates over the last six or seven years, even as corn yields have increased.

“From an efficiency standpoint, we’re way more efficient as far as pounds of commercial nitrogen applied per bushel of corn,” Smith says. He attributes this to cattle returning nutrients to the soil via manure, though the exact fertilizer value is hard to quantify.

Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI) has played a central role in helping the Smiths refine these systems. Nick says he uses the organization’s website, events, and on-farm trials to guide experimentation with new cover mixes.

Labor And The “Cheat Code” Of Cows

Smith says labor is the biggest barrier for most farmers considering cover crops. However, he argues that seeding during harvest removes that hurdle.

“That’s where the combine’s a no-brainer, because that’s not labor — you’re saving time,” he notes.

He also acknowledges that having cattle makes the financial risk much lower.

“Compared to other farmers, we’ve got a mulligan, if something doesn’t work,” Smith says. “If you’re a cash-grain farmer only and you’re spending money on some cover crops and it doesn’t really work, it’s hard to stomach that cost. For us, if we have something that’s a failure, we can still recover some of that cost — and in a lot of years, way more than recover the cost. The cows are a little bit of a ‘cheat code’ for us in that aspect.”

The Smith Family Farms received the 2025 Regional Environmental Stewardship Award for their efforts in sustainability, which were highlighted during the CattleCon 2026 conference.

Listen to the complete discussion between Nick Smith and Andrew McCrae on Farming The Countryside here .

Old Ranching Heritage Meets New Tech

Thu, 04 Dec 2025 16:30:46 GMT

In Kingsville, Texas, near the Mexico border, the only thing thicker than the accents is the ranching culture.

Natives call it the birthplace of American ranching.

“This is where European immigrants from Scotland, England and Ireland combined with a lot of the native peoples and the Spanish-descended settlers,” says James Clement.

Kingsville is his home, and he knows that heritage well.

“This is where the Catholic mission system and the Western European farming systems collided to create what is known as ranching,” he says.

Much of today’s ranching terminology and practices originated in this South Texas region, and Clement is quick to note that the tradition endures.

“You still see a lot of commitment by the people that own land in this part of the world to maintain large-scale ranches,” he says. “We call this region the last great habitat.”

With his well-worn and scuffed cowboy hat, Clement not only has ranching culture in his heart, it flows through his veins.

At the King Ranch Museum in downtown Kingsville, Clement traces his family’s lineage on a massive, framed portrait that hangs above a stone fireplace. Capt. Richard King and his wife, Henrietta, were Clement’s triple-great-grandparents. His family has all matriculated from the famed King Ranch, a major corporation of modern ranching that has expanded to include farming, luxury retail, recreational hunting and more.

Land of His Own

Though Clement maintains ties to King Ranch, he also now manages his own operation, Bloody Buckets Cattle Co., a ranch deeply steeped in family tradition.

“Our Clement family has been in American military service since the War of 1812, beginning with Sgt. Maj. Kay Clement and his son, Gen. John Clement,” he says. “Four of those generations (from 1812 to 1945), served in the 28^th Division of Pennsylvania.”

During World War II, Clement’s grandfather, Capt. James “Jim” Clement, fought with the division dubbed the Bloody Buckets Division by German forces due to its red keystone insignia

“My grandfather wore the bloody buckets patch on his left shoulder, and we still brand our cattle on the left hip with a brand that is modeled after that patch,” he says.

Bloody Buckets Cattle Co. uses King Ranch American Red genetics. All wear the Bloody Buckets brand on their left hip to pay homage to the ranch’s founder and the family’s military service record.

(Angie Stump Denton)

His grandfather, wounded in France, returned to South Texas as the recipient of a Purple Heart Medal and began a long career with King Ranch, ultimately serving as CEO from 1974 to 1988.

While living in South Texas, he founded Los Hermanos Ranch in 1967, which Clement now operates under the Bloody Buckets Cattle Co. brand. In the 1970s, his father, James “Jamey” Clement Jr., and his uncle, Martin “Martín” Clement II, assumed ownership and day-to-day responsibilities for Los Hermanos. Together, all three men shaped the ranch’s history while each spent his full-time career working for King Ranch.

Clement and his family have been exposed to 400 years of ranching in three operations. Clement’s mother came from the historic Beggs Cattle Company, established in 1876. They, along with their partners, have put that knowledge together and found a way to manage their land and cattle.

“We used the lessons learned from Beggs, King, the experience of our partners and the King Ranch Institute of paying attention to the land, natural resources and wildlife,” he says.

“As we were continuing to grow our operation, we were seeing that we were surviving droughts better, our wildlife quality and quantity was increasing, our water retention was improving and our business lines were growing,” he adds.

A New Approach

Now supporting those heritage practices on-ranch is a host of ag tech advancements. Certainly, they were not seen on his grandfather’s ranch, but Clement knows they are the way of the future, making practices more efficient and easier to accomplish with less labor and fewer man-hours.

He uses Ranchbot Monitoring Systems to keep an eye on his watering systems. Frontiers Market Artificial Intelligence gathers animal health data. On-vehicle cameras are helping to map his land and resources through Enriched Ag.

But his greatest passion lies below the surface in soil carbon capture, so much so that he works as senior vice president and general manager of grass and rangeland for EarthOptics , a company that uses the study of soil biology to predict agronomic outcomes and measure soil carbon. In the role, he helps landowners measure and monetize soil carbon through data-driven insights.

For Clement, it’s a business model that he likens to one he knows well.

“Using an oil and gas analogy, EarthOptics is the drilling company; other people sell the crude (soil carbon in this sense), but we find it.” he says. “What we’re trying to do is help people make more efficient decisions on their land, reduce cost and then potentially also look at additional cash flow streams through the sale of carbon credits.”

Clement calls himself “bullish on carbon” for one particular reason.

“This is really the first opportunity in ranching — first of the growing ecosystem markets — where large companies are paying people to make good stewardship decisions,” he says. “Historically, how did you judge other ranches against each other? Who was selling the most cattle for the most money, selling the most expensive hunts or had the most pump jacks? Now we can pay for taking care of the land and making long-term decisions.”

EarthOptics not only finds a way to quantify and qualify good land and soil stewardship, they validate the data in such a way that farmers and ranchers can capitalize on them.

“We’re at the crossroads of the industry,” Clement says. “EarthOptics is not selling the credits. We’re just advising the ranchers on how to partake in these markets and then also making the introductions and building the industry.”

In November, Bloody Buckets Cattle Company hosted the final 2025 stop in the Trust In Beef Sustainable Ranchers Tour. Owner James Clement III used the event to share the importance his operation places on heritage land stewardship and ag tech advancements for profitability.

(Trust In Beef)

New Land Equals an Accelerated Approach

Clement is broadening the scope of Bloody Buckets Cattle Co., buying additional land and leasing land with his partners, “Poncho” Ortega Sr. and “Poncho” Ortega Jr. They are currently ranching on six ranches in four different South Texas counties. Acquiring new ranches and leases means the work on some of the new land is just beginning.

“On the west side, we acquired some ranches in the last 20 years that had previously been farmed,” he says. “We spend most of our time and resources in the pastures with the worst conditions to build back soil health.”

By applying the same technology he’s helped develop and test elsewhere, Clement is accelerating the restoration process. Their ranching operation has become a testing ground for many of the new ag tech companies in the industry, seeing if these concepts can work in rough country and be beneficial to the operation.

“We’re on a mission to get each of these newer owned or leased properties back in better shape,” he says. “As we expand, we want to make sure that acre is productive.”

Trust In Beef™ works to secure the future of American ranching by providing the information ranchers need to make the decisions that impact the resiliency, profitability and resource management of their working lands. Learn more about Trust In Beef and their Sustainable Ranchers Tour by visiting www.trustinbeef.com

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4 Ways to Boost Profitability Through Soil Health

Wed, 03 Dec 2025 13:25:46 GMT

In ranching, there are no easy buttons — certainly none exist to achieve overall profitability — but there may be one factor that can come close.

Adaptive grazing practices on ranch, which means using forage observations to determine the best time to move cattle, can be a key that unlocks higher productivity.

“Adaptive grazing to accomplish better grazing distribution across the ranch will almost always result in higher plant productivity, higher carrying capacity and higher profits,” says Josh Gaskamp, associate director of outreach and partnerships for Noble Research Institute.

Gaskamp has seen the practice in action on Noble’s ranches.

“On Noble’s ranches, bare ground averaged 13% in 2019 and is close to zero now,” he says. “We got 13% of a ranch for free, and now it is productive for our livestock.”

He adds: “It’s not always about finding the best forage, the best livestock or the best market; management for soil health does pay.”

Gaskamp says healthy soils can boost bottom-line productivity and profitability. He encourages producers to consider these tips and how some simple moves can translate to cost benefits on the ranch:

1. More Grass = More Cows + Less Feed Cost

Overgrazing, either through continuous grazing or not achieving full pasture recovery between grazing events, can limit a plant’s ability to grow.

“The ultimate result is less grass,” Gaskamp says. “When a rancher more closely follows the full potential of their forages’ growth across the growing season by implementing timely, intentional grazing, they not only put more of that grass in the cow, but they also grow more grass.”

It’s not hard to follow the direct line between more grass and more cows.

“Growing more grass means improving the carrying capacity of the ranch, and that means more money,” he says.

The significant savings, according to Gaskamp, comes in avoiding substitution feeding costs — feeding hay in times of the year when forage would normally be available. Improving your pastures’ ability to grow grass limits the amount of feed you purchase out of pocket.

2. More Ground = More Cows + Less Maintenance

Better-performing forage can be the key to gaining more “ground” on a ranch, but making the most of marginalized areas can boost productivity as well.

Certainly there are areas where cattle simply don’t want to be. Gaskamp says that adaptive grazing can be the investment those areas need to flip them to optimization.

“Underperforming areas of the ranch can often be improved by bringing livestock, nutrients, organic matter and proper recovery times to them,” he says.

Two ways to attract cattle to marginalized areas on ranch are:

Planting cover crops to graze
Bale grazing

“When followed by appropriate rest and recovery, these hotspots of organic matter and animal density are revitalized,” Gaskamp says.

“When energy is flowing through our soils through photosynthetic solar capture rather than coming out of them through overgrazing, soil is building and biological communities are thriving. It’s great that these impacts also come with greater forage production,” says Josh Gaskamp of the Noble Research Institute.

(Noble Research Institute)

3. More Diversity = More Cows + More Biodiversity

There are a variety of benefits to having diversity in forage.

“Diversity provides resilience to weather and climate extremes (with more days having living roots in the soil), and when cover crops are developed to complement available forages on the ranch, they drastically extend the number of grazing days,” Gaskamp says.

Many ranchers capitalize on diversity by implementing cover crops, especially in marginalized lands or in diversified operations. Pragmatically, cover crops can cover a lot of ground, including:

Keep supplementation costs down by extending grazing.
Break up compacted soil.
Finish livestock on high quality forages for human consumption.
Provide a supplemental forage that has good quality when other plans are dormant.
Provide habitat for wildlife.

4. More Investment = More Opportunity

While the goal is to use soil health as a profit-generating strategy in and of itself on-ranch, there are opportunities to cash in on healthy soils that can present additional opportunity to enhance the bottom line.

“There are a number of established ecosystem services and carbon markets that can help ranchers capture value from the improvements they make to the land under their management for soil health,” Gaskamp says. “These provide an opportunity for ranchers within the right context.”

These opportunities may not work for all, and Gaskamp recommends that you do your homework to find the right partner, but he considers them “icing on the cake” for the proper soil health investments.

Farm Journal’s Trust In Beef™ and Noble Research Institute partner to share information about how investing in your soil health can build profitability and legacy on your ranch. Visit www.TrustInBeef.com or www.Noble.org for additional resources or to tap into Noble’s education opportunities on this topic and others.

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Unexpected Blessings: How Regenerative Cattle Production Shaped One Family's Faith Journey

Thu, 27 Nov 2025 04:32:31 GMT

Dawn and Grant Breitkreutz’s journey into regenerative agriculture started nearly 25 years ago on their cattle and farming operation, Stoney Creek Farm, located near Redwood Falls, Minnesota. Their use of regenerative practices has lowered their costs and improved their profitability, but its also shaped their faith journey.

Regenerative Journey at Stoney Creek Started With Cattle
Grant Breitkreutz says their first leap of faith into regenerative farming started with their cow herd. “We were going for more grass, more grazing days, and we really didn’t even think about it being regenerative at that time.”

They transitioned to rotational grazing, plus utilization of crop residue and cover crops. So, their herd is grazing at least nine, but weather dependent, up to 11 months a year, which Grant says has lowered their feed costs. “If the cows can be out here doing it on their own and we can provide them cover crops and stalks and crop residues and let them feed themselves. It’s money in the bank.”

Thankful for Record Cattle Prices in 2025
While 2025 has offered cattle prices they never thought they’d see in their lifetime, Grant says these practices allowed them to be profitable when cattle prices were low. “The cattle operation on our farm has pulled us through the lows. To be honest the cattle operation is subsidizing the crop production right now,” he remarks.

So, they have a lot to be thankful for, especially as they can now use some of their profits to build for the future including some long overdue infrastructure upgrades, including new fences and additional water facilities. “Yeah, they pulled us through the bad times, but there was never enough profit there to spend money on machinery. I mean, you did what you had to do. You bought feed wagons, you bought loaders, you did that kind of thing. Now we can actually take the profits from these cattle and really do some stuff that we should have been doing all along.”

Cattle Help Improve Soil Health
The cattle are also helping them improve the soil health on their farm says Grant. “We firmly believe that a cow can speed up the rebuilding of biology and a soil by about two years.” And the cattle are part of their regenerative cropping system.

Dawn describes the breadth of their regenerative operation, which follows the basic soil health principles. “We are a hundred percent no till operation so that we promote the biology and the soil. Adding diversity back into it in seed and in cows and livestock and all that sort of thing is bringing that health back.,” she says.

Cutting Costs
As a result they’ve been able to cut fertilizer and pesticide cost, which is a tall order as Stoney Creek farm is located in central Minnesota and the heart of row crop country. Grant says, “I’d say we’re saving about $140 to $160 an acre on, say, for example, a corn crop. We’ve figured out how to spoon feed the crop.”

Getting Back to Mother Nature
Dawn says another goal was to raise cattle and crops the way Mother Nature intended. “So, our soil health is vital to our livestock, to the crops that we grow, to the food that we grow, and to the humans that we’re growing.”

And she says that has led to their own branded products. “We’re selling chickens and eggs and beef and pork.
All of our stock that we finish or feed on our farm are raised on grains that are only produced here on our land.”

Regenerative Farming Shaped Faith Journey
However, their regenerative farming journey also provided an unexpected blessing as it made the Breitkreutz’s more aware of their spiritual connection to Mother Nature and the land.

Dawn says she never realized how much the Bible has to do with farming. “But you can’t be out here and pay attention to all the details and all the complications and chaos that’s in perfect harmony and not believe in a higher power that put this all together.”

On the office wall of Stoney Creek Farm are several bible verses and Dawn’s favorite is listed at the top. “I think I have three boards now that have Bible verses on them that, you know, they seem to appear at just the right time. And I’ll stop what I’m doing and I’ll find a place on the board to add to it.”

So on Thanksgiving and every day she says they feel blessed to be able to farm the way nature intended. “I’m just thankful for the opportunity to be able to take care of God’s creation.” And to bring their kids back into the operation to keep that legacy alive.

New Partnership Supports Ranchers in Grazing Management and Soil Health

Fri, 18 Apr 2025 12:57:20 GMT

Trust In Beef empowers a more resilient future for America’s beef supply chain by leveraging the power of Farm Journal’s Trust In Food and Drovers brands with the ingenuity and innovation of private-sector and non-profit partners.

Entering the program’s third year, Trust In Beef welcomes two new partners, National Grazing Lands Coalition and EarthOptics , to bolster the technical expertise provided by the coalition’s existing partners – which include ABS, Merck Animal Health, Ducks Unlimited, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Enogen/Syngenta, Tyson Foods, U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, PowerFlex and Country Natural Beef.

“Trust In Beef is experiencing significant momentum in supporting a resilient future for our beef supply chain at a time when ranching is facing significant challenges,” says Andrew Lyon, director of technical assistance, Farm Journal. “Bringing partners like National Grazing Lands Coalition and EarthOptics to the table expands the technical expertise that we can use to meet ranchers where they are and provide tools to build resilience, productivity and legacy on the nation’s grazing lands.”

The mission of the National Grazing Lands Coalition (NatGLC) is dedicated to providing voluntarily ecologically and economically sound management of all grazing lands for their adaptive uses and multiple benefits to the environment and society through science-based technical assistance, research and education.

“At NatGLC, we believe resilient grazing lands are the foundation of a strong beef supply chain. While we have supported the mission of Trust In Beef since its formation, we are excited to formally partner and expand opportunities to provide ranchers with science-based technical support that enhances productivity, profitability and the overall benefits to society as a whole,” says Rob Cook, chairman. “Healthy grazing lands contribute to improved soil health, water quality and biodiversity, all while ensuring long-term viability for ranching families. We are excited to collaborate with Trust In Beef to bring practical, on-the-ground solutions to producers across the country.”

Through innovations in soil health analysis, EarthOptics tackles agriculture’s most elusive challenges: accurately measuring and mapping soil nutrients, soil compaction, biology and carbon with a solution that gives ranchers and farmers precise insights while reducing unnecessary input costs and promoting carbon retention for healthier soils. EarthOptics is committed to advancing sustainable ranching with a new level of data-driven insights from cutting-edge technology – at prices that deliver high, in-season ROIs.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Trust In Beef and join this impressive coalition of organizations working to secure a more resilient future for American ranchers,” says Lars Dyrud, EarthOptics CEO. “At EarthOptics, we believe advancing soil health through innovation can transform ranching and agriculture, and this partnership represents a powerful opportunity to bring our technology and insights directly to those who steward our grazing lands.”

“Ranchers are at the heart of sustainable grazing practices, and we’re proud to support their efforts with practical tools and data they can trust,” James Clement, EarthOptics vice president of grass and rangeland. “By helping producers better understand their soil health, we can work together to improve productivity, increase resilience and ensure the long-term viability of rangeland operations — so that today’s stewards can confidently pass their land on to the next generation.”

Trust In Beef provides technical resources, insights, data analysis and support to help empower beef producers to understand, value and implement conservation practices while also connecting consumers to the industry’s accomplishments in conservation.

To learn more about Trust In Beef and its partners, visit www.trustinbeef.com .

Washington Grower Shares How To Scale Regenerative Farming

Wed, 04 Dec 2024 13:30:00 GMT

By Deborah Huso

Austin Allred’s family has been farming the Royal Slope region of Washington state between Seattle and Spokane for three generations. He and his two brothers, Derek and Tyson, farm a combined 6,000 acres. They grow potatoes, cherry and apple trees and produce honey, while also running 10,000 beef cattle and milking about 6,000 dairy cows. The family also recently added a worm farm and a beef processing facility.

Like many producers with combined operations, Royal Family Farms focuses on finding a purpose for every acre and every byproduct. In fact, the Allreds have been practicing regenerative farming before it really had its own term.

“My dad was no-tilling before it was billed as regenerative,” Allred explains. “He was doing it to reduce diesel usage. He was also very conscientious about planting woodstock in corners of fields.”

Allred and his siblings took the same approach as they expanded the farm operations.

“I accelerated and defined [what Dad was doing] and put some strategy to it,” Allred says, with the goals of building organic matter in the soil, sequestering carbon and cleaning wastewater.

Royal Family Farms

(Royal Family Farms)

Extended Crop Rotations and Grazing
Allred recognizes the kind of stress agricultural production can put on the land, hence the many inputs required in traditional farming. But Royal Family Farms has demonstrated that not only do regenerative practices work, but one can accomplish them at scale.

“Anytime you’re growing a crop that a human can digest, you’re going to put a lot of pressure on soil,” Allred says. “It’s really hard to do a total no-till strategy. You can’t plant weeds with your wheat.”

Allred says potatoes are the least regenerative crop the farm grows, but says they counteract it by working cattle into a long crop rotation for added soil fertilization.

“If 20% of the ground is in potatoes, that land doesn’t come back online for another six to seven years. And during those years, we do a lot of composting,” he says. “Other years we do cover cropping and planting multispecies crops to grow microbial activity.”

Allred grazes his beef cattle on the cover crops, which provides feed while simultaneously adding more soil amendments, such as nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P).

Upcycling Everything
Nothing goes to waste at Royal Family Farms. The Allreds work with all the processors who clean and box their apples and turn their potatoes into French fries to retrieve all of the products that don’t qualify for human consumption to be upcycled into protein, as Allred explains it, providing food for their cattle in the form of potato culls or damaged fruit or nutrient-rich compost for their fields. Meanwhile any wood chips produced when the Allreds retire a cherry or apple orchard is either turned into cattle bedding, used for the worm farm or processed into biochar, a carbon-rich byproduct.

The Allreds’ interest in biochar, a charcoal-like substance derived from organic waste, developed out of a desire to bring more carbon into agricultural systems. And for the past few months, Royal Family Farms has used four machines to burn wood chips into charcoal that, when mixed with compost, recharges carbon in the soil.

“As farmers, we are selling off carbon, whether it’s beef, milk or cherries,” Allred says. “Seventy to 80% of retired apple, cherry and pear trees in Washington were getting burned at the end of their effective life. Biochar was a way to bring in more carbon and upcycle and compost it.”

“We try to upcycle every byproduct into something of value,” Allred says. “Eventually it all becomes a soil amendment. It’s only a loss if we let that carbon into the air.”

Reusing Wastewater With Worms
Water is a critical part of any farming operation, and Royal Family Farms sought out a better way to
filter wastewater from their dairy operations and reuse it. What was their regenerative solution? Worms.

“We started investing in what is now the biggest worm farm in the world about eight years ago,” Allred says.

Working with a company called BioFiltro headquartered in Santiago, Chile, the Allreds’ worm farm includes eight acres of what looks like 5'-deep swimming pools. These pools are able to serve as the home for about 50 million worms at any one time.

“Wood chips make up the medium they live in, and that’s also the filter for the dirty water,” Allred explains. “The dairy is designed to flow to a low spot, where we have two 5,000-gallon vacuums that bring the wastewater to the worms.”

The worms digest the wastewater, removing heavy metals and other contaminants. The waste matter the worms produce is rich in microbials, and the Allreds take the worm castings and mix them with compost to produce nutrient-dense soil.

Royal Family Farms

(Royal Family Farms)

Eliminating Waste and Need for Inputs
Allred says engaging in regenerative practices large-scale required careful consideration of how everything could work together.

“We started integrating vegetable, fruit, protein and bees to get to the next generation of regeneration,” he explains. Allred points out that the digestive systems of cattle along with biochar create compost. “It’s all about upcycling ‘waste’ products.”

The result of instituting these practices is dramatically reduced reliance on inputs.

“This year we used no phosphorus and potassium and had equal to or greater yields without it,” Allred remarks. “And across the board, we have better quality.”

He adds the farm’s greatest payout is not having to input synthetics.

“The more natural systems we have in play, the more nutrients we keep in the loop, the less we have to go get inputs,” he says.

Allred acknowledges farmers can filter water through mechanical or chemical systems, but says natural systems are typically cheaper to implement.

“Natural investments are always going to have a long-term return on investment,” Allred says. “The problem is producers often don’t have the margin to always be investing in long-term ROI.”

Royal Family Farms’ regenerative farming practices offer payoffs 10 to 15 years out, Allred estimates.

“We’ve bridged that gap with carbon credits and vertically integrating to pick up those margins,” he says.

This year Royal Family Farms is starting to see its regenerative operations pay off in a big way.

“We purchased 90% less phosphorus and potassium [K] than we have in the past and significantly less nitrogen,” Allred says. “We’re working on nitrogen for the next five years because ruminants make P and K.”

“Regenerative farming starts to gobble up the biggest expenses any farm is going to pay — your fertilizer bill and your chemical bill,” he says. “On the cattle side, your feed bill is your biggest expense. Regenerative farming gives you higher-quality, local food.”

No one knows better than you that the future of your farm depends on balancing practices and profits that sustain your land, resources and family . The stakes are evolving based on weather patterns, technology, market demand and more. What actions are you taking to remain resilient?

Is Regenerative Agriculture Real?

Mon, 02 Dec 2024 14:54:00 GMT

Recently, I spoke to an investor looking for a fund to help farmers transition to regenerative agriculture. The investor thought there was a clear set of procedures to give farmers a measurable reward in a predictable amount of time. This line of thinking is common, but there currently is not a generally recognized standard that is “regenerative.” There are practices that might work in one location but not another, and there have been attempts to measure and monetize components, such as carbon credits.

Building soil health and cutting inputs will have huge long-term benefits, but there isn’t a standardized premium to index potential near-term ROI, especially for third-party investors.

Farming Is Changing

At a recent regenerative agriculture conference (of which the primary attendance was not farmers), a farmer recalled a conversation he overheard between two relatives weighing the pros and cons of adopting no-till farming practices. The audience was amazed this conversation took place 45 years ago, and the family had been using these practices for over four decades.

This disconnect is typical. In the current hype around regenerative ag, we should not miss the long view that farming is changing and will be more diverse in terms of species grown and potentially carbon negative in terms of how we grow. Fewer inputs will be used through advancements in technology.

Every field has different soil and different needs, and a regenerative plan needs to account for that. At the farm gate, the work needs to be monetized based on standards that have value in the marketplace, which currently don’t exist, and impact the production economics by lowering costs, building soil health and managing water.

3 Actions You Can Take Now

Expand use of regenerative practices. There is currently a lot of grant funding for conservation practices . Now is a good time to get started, but don’t get bound into long-term contracts that are going to lock up your data or rights to sell ecosystem credits in the future.
Don’t be afraid to measure. The future will be in selling products from your farm based on how the crop was produced, as well as selling water, carbon and other credits. The key is to get yourself in a position to reap this value without being committed to companies and organizations still trying to figure it out.
Band together and invest in the tools. Groups of farmers working together can coordinate ways to invest in the enabling tools that will lower barriers to entry, collect data, talk to potential downstream customers who might want to pay premiums and share best practices on what it takes to adopt new practices.

Research by University of Illinois Shows How Weather Mitigates Nitrogen Runoff

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 21:40:23 GMT

Livestock production is an important component of U.S. agriculture, with global demand for meat and dairy expected to double in the coming decades. This increase will lead to intensified grazing on U.S. grasslands, potentially exacerbating water quality degradation from livestock waste runoff into waterways.

A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign examines the combined influence of grazing and climate on the outflow of nitrogen from pastures into water resources under different grazing schemes. The researchers conclude that climate conditions could mitigate the effects of grazing on water quality, and that producers should consider weather when making decisions about stocking rates and grazing continuity.

“The main goal of this research is to identify factors affecting the transport of nitrogen into our water bodies and determine the right combination of stocking rate, grazing duration, and precipitation to maximize production while minimizing nitrogen transport,” says corresponding author Maria Chu, an associate professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering (ABE), part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences and The Grainger College of Engineering at the U. of I.

The researchers developed a modeling framework that simulated nitrogen transport from livestock grazing under different climate conditions. They evaluated the model using data from the USDA-ARS Oklahoma and Central Plains Agricultural Research Center in El Reno, Oklahoma. They collected data on land use, soil moisture, precipitation, temperature, and evapotranspiration, as well as water quality in the area.

The framework featured seven different grazing schemes, including continuous and intermittent grazing implemented at low, recommended, and high stocking rates. The scenarios also included varying precipitation conditions at the time of grazing, from low to heavy rainfall events. The researchers estimated total nitrogen concentration in the overland flow for each scenario.

“Our results suggest the impact of grazing on nitrogen loss cannot be generalized. It is not always true that more cattle in the field leads to greater nutrient loss. That depends on the prevailing weather conditions in the pasture during grazing,” says Jeric Sadsad, a doctoral student in ABE and lead author of the paper.

While factors like stocking rate, grazing duration, and grazing frequency are critical, their influence on nutrient flows can be minimized if management decisions are aligned with the prevailing climatic and hydrologic conditions in the pasture, Sadsad notes.

“In the future, there will be an increasing demand for livestock production due to increasing population. Expected increases in heavy rainfall and other extreme climate events will also affect the transport of nitrogen into water bodies,” he says. “One application of our research is to implement flexible or adaptive grazing schemes that incorporate weather forecasting into the decision-making process. For example, if there is substantial rainfall, we should reduce the number of animal units that are allowed to graze in the area during that time to reduce nutrient runoff.”

The researchers recommend a strategy that matches grazing activities with prevailing weather patterns to increase livestock production while promoting environmental sustainability in pasture management.

“Management tools — such as the model that we developed — can help livestock producers achieve a sustainable balance, finding the optimal window where they can implement practices that maximize productivity while minimizing the environmental footprint,” Chu concludes.

The study is published online for more information.

The paper, “Transport of nitrogen in grassed watersheds accounting for the combined influence of grazing and climate,” is published in Ecological Modelling [DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2024.110827]. Authors are Jeric Sadsad, Maria Chu, Jorge Guzman, Daniel Moriasi, and Ann-Marie Fortuna. This project was funded under USDA-ARS, Cooperative Agreement No. 58-3070-2-229.

Eight Recommendations to Consider When Looking at Cover Crops

Fri, 06 Sep 2024 20:05:51 GMT

The systematic and strategic use of cover cropping systems is vital for sustainable agricultural production as this practice can help alleviate soil stress as a result of intensively managed agricultural land. Cover crops offer multiple ecosystem benefits including: reducing soil erosion, conserving and enhancing soil quality by increasing soil organic matter, reducing fertilizer use, disrupting crop pests and disease cycles, increasing biodiversity, and weed suppression. Several studies have reported positive effects of cover cropping on soil microbial biomass and diversity, and total soil carbon and nitrogen. In addition, cover crops have been reported to enhance soil structure and water retention, reduce nitrogen leaching, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Most cover crop species make excellent cattle forage (for stocker and cow-calf operations alike) and thereby can reduce the expense of feeding hay. Cool season legumes can be used to improve wildlife habitat during winter and early spring when warm season feed resources are scarce. That being said, cover crop success depends on the selection of the best adapted cover crop varieties depending on the goal you plan to achieve. For example, winter wheat may yield the most pounds beef produced per acre whereas a mixture of clover, winter cow peas and radishes will do more to break through a hardpan soil and reduce the need for nitrogen fertilizer.

Accordingly, when choosing a cover crop, producers should consider a variety of factors, including the cost of the seed, the intended use (cover only, grazed, or harvested for forage), how the cover crop fits into the cash crop rotation in relation to anticipated planting and harvest dates, and long-term management goals such as preventing soil erosion or to improve soil organic matter. Soil and climate, as well as the availability of financial assistance, are also important factors. In 2017, approximately one-third of U.S. acres that planted cover crops received a financial incentive payment from either a USDA working lands conservation program or a similar State program.

Consider the following to determine what, when and if to utilize cover crops:

- Determine your purpose - start by setting goals.

- Diversity of the cover crop mix has advantages and reduces risk over monocultures.

- A well-maintained and properly calibrated planter or drill is key when planting – especially for a diverse crop mix. A diverse cover crop mix consist of both large and small seeds, making calibration a challenge. This can be helped by making it a standard practice to physically stir the seed in the seed box every hour or so and keep planting speeds below 5 MPH.

- Planting depth is important. Successful cover-croppers have found that planting at 1 - 1.5 inches depth provides a more uniform stand.

- Monitor the weather and soil moisture which will impact planting depth and potentially time of planting. Typically in Oklahoma, we plan to seed wheat and rye for grazing by early September, this is not a fixed rule for all cover crops. Weather forecasts should be considered when determining the best time to get seed in the ground.

- Establish cover crops by no-till (when possible) to help retain soil moisture.

- Establish a budget and stay within it. Determining what cover crop mix works best for your operation may take some trial and error. Start small, keep records and monitor success. Think long-term.

- Discuss your goals with seed dealers and extension specialists to arrive at the best cover crop mixes to meet the goals of your operation.

Your Next Read:
Regenerating Soils, Profits and Relationships by Implementing Cover Crops

Speer: EIDs – Signal Versus Noise

Tue, 09 May 2023 19:57:07 GMT

“Use of Electronic Identification Eartags (EIDs) as Official Identification in Cattle and Bison”. USDA’s proposed rule change to the Animal Disease Traceability (ADT) framework has given rise to several recurring arguments which muddy the water. Some of those are addressed below related to EIDs and the proposed rule (in no particular order, albeit the last being the most important).

ADT vs PVP: There’s always confusion (some of it intentional) regarding ADT requirements versus Process Verified Programs (PVPs) . Simply stated, they don’t overlap.

One, ADT is mandatory and regulated by USDA:APHIS ; PVPs are voluntary, market-driven and overseen by USDA:AMS . Two, PVPs cover feeder cattle through slaughter; ADT regulations apply only to interstate movement of sexually intact animals over 18 months of age (and animals sourced from a dairy). Three, 840 tags, as proposed in the new ADT rule, are NOT required for PVP programs; manufacturer-coded, tamper-proof tags are sufficient.

While we’re on the topic, let’s also address affidavits and verification. Most notably, there’s no such thing as “verified through affidavits.” That statement is inherently self-contradictory.

Affidavit-based programs do NOT require verification – nor individual animal identification (they’re not PVPs). Equally, PVP programs do NOT allow for affidavits; they require third-party verification of all program criteria and precise documentation of chain of custody of animals through slaughter (e.g. see Where Food Comes From ).

Packers and Exports: Some critics suggest the new rule serves only to create value for packers. That is, EIDs will somehow establish new export opportunities with packers being the sole beneficiaries.

First, packers are NOT the beneficiaries of exports – the benefit goes to producers . Second, the proposed rule change is NOT intended to open up export markets. Those markets are already open for business and growing year-over-year.

Rather, the EID requirement, in the event of an outbreak, helps speed the investigation process. USDA explains this way : “This requirement would enhance our traceback investigation capabilities because…EID eartags and electronic recordkeeping allow for greater efficiency and accuracy [versus] non-EID eartags and paper records.”

That capability, in the event of a stop movement order, potentially helps facilitate regionalizing an outbreak and consequently speed up reestablishment of commerce continuity. In turn, that should help shorten time required to restore international trade.

EIDs: EIDs carry no information other than a 15-digit number. Once it’s been encoded (e.g. 840 XXX XXX XXX XXX) there’s no capability to write additional information to the tag (despite some claims to the contrary). An EID, by itself, provides no knowledge; it’s simply a tool for expediting accurate searches. Per USDA : “EID tags enable producers or officials to capture accurately animal identification numbers almost instantly, without the need for animal restraint, and to transmit those numbers to a connected electronic database.”

China: Some critics of the proposed rule suggest EIDs provide an opening for foreign countries (China) to gather meaningful intelligence. The argument being chips manufactured in China might surreptitiously possess capability to send AND receive information, thereby leaving the nation’s food infrastructure vulnerable to attack. What about that claim?

The proposed regulation surrounds low-frequency EIDs - the maximum read range is ~2-to-3 feet (depending on whether they’re FDX or HDX tags). Meanwhile, the major point of resistance towards full traceability (i.e. including feeder cattle) has always revolved around limitations of LF EIDs and subsequent speed of commerce. But now the same tags might be read by high-altitude surveillance objects? None of that meshes.
On one hand, some argue this is a perfunctory mandate because ADT only covers ~11% of the cattle population anyway. On the other hand, the same people argue the EID requirement will provide valuable information to China. That, too, doesn’t mesh.
The chips may be manufactured in another country, but the tags are ultimately encoded (15-digit number) by the manufacturer in the U.S. – and subsequently managed only by USDA approved allocators.
There’s no need for sophisticated surveillance schemes to know / understand the U.S. cattle industry. It’s well-documented (e.g. USDA’s cattle inventory, cattle-on-feed, and daily auction market reports). Moreover, USDA has documented and published key livestock movement channels across the U.S.

National Security: Of course, national security is THE most important consideration. Nearly twenty years ago, I had the privilege to collaborate in a multi-disciplinary agroterrorism project sponsored by the National Institute of Justice. The study noted, the “single greatest threat to the agricultural economy is foot-and-mouth disease, which has the potential to produce economic chaos.”

Complacency is a devastating option. As a result, one of the key recommendations from the study addressing that concern being development of “a mandatory national animal identification system.” To that end, USDA’s newest proposed rule-making is a small step in the right direction. And maybe, just maybe, it’ll lead to something even more meaningful in the future.

Nevil Speer is an independent consultant based in Bowling Green, KY. The views and opinions expressed herein do not reflect, nor are associated with in any manner, any client or business relationship. He can be reached at nevil.speer@turkeytrack.biz .

Challenge? Bring It On, Say National FFA Agriscience Fair Competitors

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 12:00:00 GMT

Sometimes the greatest lesson we can learn in life is how to not see a setback as a failure. Jennifer Waters, program advisor for the Facilitating Coordination in Agricultural Education, says this is one of the most valuable lessons students learn by participating in the National FFA Agriscience Fair .

Waters has been helping with the Agriscience Fair in Illinois for the past nine years at the state level – not to mention she has personal experience with her own freshman agriscience project years ago putting fertilizer on plants to see if they grew better.

“The students involved in the National FFA Agriscience Fair have the unique opportunity to showcase their knowledge and skills through problem-solving and investigation,” Waters says. “Their projects never cease to amaze me with their desire to learn and advance the agriculture industry.”

FFA members in the Agriscience Fair program are working to better understand the people agriculture serves, as well as technical issues ranging from how to develop the best constructed structures to how to deal with pests plaguing our trees, she explains.

Even more importantly, these students are preparing themselves for a successful future in the workforce.

“I believe these students are ready to face both successes and failures because of their participation in the Agriscience Fair,” Waters says. “Going through critiques along the way from teachers, peers and industry professionals, has prepared these students to make changes as needed and not see setbacks as failures. A challenge isn’t the end of the road for these students; just another critique.”

Waters explains that each state submits written applications for their state winners in each division and category to the National FFA in July. A committee narrows down the applications to the top 10 in each division and category. The score assigned by this group counts for 25% of their overall score. The remaining 75% of the score comes from the virtual interview that was conducted in September.

This year’s national competition drew in 739 entries from throughout the country. For the first time ever, the top 10 students in each division were brought onto the stage during various sessions of the National FFA Convention for recognition as compared to the top three in past years. Some students were also invited to participate in the Student Showcase to present a “TED-like talk” about their research.

The Agriscience Fair has been going strong for 24 years, says Madeline Young, program specialist in the programs and events division of the National FFA organization .

“It’s all about exploring your interest,” Young says. “Agriscience research is one type of supervised agricultural experience (SAE). Agriscience Fair is a great extension to a student’s SAE program. Research SAEs are a great way for students to get involved with FFA, who do not have the interest in or resources for production or placement-type SAEs.”

Here’s a look at some of projects on display during the social science division’s poster session.

(Farm Journal)

Public Consideration of Protein Source Terminology

By Lauren Cherne, Beckman Catholic FFA, Iowa
4th Place in Social Science Division 5

When Lauren Cherne was in the 8th grade, she started participating in the FFA Agriscience Fair. She says it allowed her to combine her love for agriculture and science along with her desire to develop public speaking skills.

This year she decided to study protein labeling in her social science project. Her findings showed that many people are not informed about protein labeling and there was great confusion on what labels actually meant.

“My biggest takeaway is that producers need to know who their demographic is so they can better target their consumer audience. Consumers need to know what different labels on their product mean so they know what they are purchasing and can better support farmers and ranchers,” Cherne says.

Participating in the National FFA Agriscience Fair poster session was a great opportunity to meet new people, she adds.

“I feel welcomed by each and every person I talk to, and it makes me feel like a part of something bigger than myself,” Cherne says.

(Farm Journal)

Investigating Farmers’ Perceptions and Behaviors Regarding Chemical and Biological Soil Health and Soil Testing Practices

Audrey Bishop, Van Alstyne, Texas
2nd Place in Social Science Division 5

Audrey Bishop is no stranger to the National FFA Agriscience Fair. She’s had a successful track record over the years which helped her obtain a freshman research scholarship at Oklahoma State University.

Back in high school, she conducted an agriscience experiment the summer after her freshman year after a class discussion.

“We discussed how farmers often use wastewater to irrigate their crops in one of my classes. At that same time, my dad was put on a large amount of antibiotics for a bacterial infection in his sinus cavity. The doctor explained to him that his body would not completely metabolize the antibiotics,” Bishop says.

Those two events made her question how the antibiotics being released into the environment by humans could affect plants and crop yields, so she decided to conduct an experiment to answer her questions.
“At the end of my research, I found that I still had more questions than answers, so I continued researching in the following years and fell in love with research,” Bishop says.

In addition to her project examining the effects of antibiotics and probiotics on crop yields and soil microbes, she decided to take on a new research project this year examining farmers’ perceptions and behaviors related to soil testing and fertilizer applications.

“My research project found that farmers are spending a lot of money to apply fertilizer to their fields. However, they are not spending a lot of money on soil testing or soil microbe testing,” Bishop says. “Unfortunately, especially with the rise in cost of fertilizer over the past year, many farmers are often pouring money down the drain because those fertilizers are not able to return into usable forms that can be taken up by the plants.”

Upon graduation from Oklahoma State, Bishop hopes to attend law school and eventually write policy related to the research she has conducted. She also hopes to develop a more standardized test farmers can use to test for soil microbes since the tests that are currently on the market are cost-prohibitive and not efficient.

(Farm Journal)

Can Agriculture Teachers Adequately Teach Students with an Orthopedic Impairment?

By Nicholas Tarver and Abigail Manuel, Florien FFA, Louisiana
8th Place in Social Science Division 4

Nicholas Tarver is orthopedically impaired, but he determined, along with the support of his friend and fellow FFA member Abigail Manuel, not to let him miss out on not only experiencing, but thriving, in FFA. Together, they set out to bring awareness to the topic of orthopedically impaired students in the ag classroom with their social science project.

“We wanted to determine if ag teachers adequately teach students with orthopedic impairment. Can these students be successful in FFA like me? We discovered through our research project that they can,” Tarver says. “They can do everything that all these FFA members can do here at National FFA.”

Manuel and Tarver discovered some important strategies to share with advisors through their project, including being aware of classroom obstacles, considering the comfort of students and storage for assistive devices, promoting movement and exercise in class, allowing additional timing and providing adequate space to work.

“One thing that stood out to me about the results of our project was that ag teachers were excited and wanted to make accommodations to help students feel involved and included in their ag programs,” Manuel says.

She adds that her favorite part of being at National FFA Convention this year was being able to meet and converse with people with a similar background from all over the country.

(Farm Journal)

The Perception of Slaughterhouse Shortages Nationwide

By Lexi Christian, Cumberland County FFA, Tennessee
2nd Place in Social Science Division 3

Lexi Christian didn’t willingly jump at the chance to complete an Agriscience Fair project. In her freshman honors agriscience class, her teacher made everyone participate as a grade.

“I placed in the bottom of my class,” Christian says. “When it came around to do the Agriscience Fair again my sophomore year, I had no interest in participating. However, my advisor encouraged me to do the same project, but make it better. She believed in me when I had no faith in myself. I never would have imagined I would have made it this far.”

Christian’s project took a deeper look at slaughterhouse shortages to determine how widespread issues were, who was being affected by them and how the problem could be solved in the future.

“When I started my project, I wanted to shine a light on the decrease in slaughterhouses across the nation. The findings of my survey have led me to understand that there is a dire need for more slaughterhouses in our area,” Christian says. “My school is currently applying for a grant that would allow us to build a small processing facility on our campus.”

She says her favorite thing about National FFA Convention is talking to all the different people.

“I love running into people that I’ve seen before from my home state and meeting new people from around the nation,” Christian says.

Check out the complete results of the 95th National FFA Convention’s Agriscience Fair.

Read More from FFA Convention:

Ohio’s Jacob Wuebker Named 2022 Star in Agricultural Placement

National FFA Convention: Farm Journal’s Inside Perspective

6 Dos and Don’ts to Make the Most of National FFA Convention

Read More about FFA:

Why You Should Prioritize People

4 Ways FFA Shaped My Life for the Better

FFA Has-Been? No, Your Role Just Changes

12 Reasons Why We Need FFA More Than Ever

Ag Teachers: When Someone Believes in You

Manure Application Following Silage

Wed, 05 Oct 2022 18:44:12 GMT

With silage harvest coming up quickly, manure application will soon follow. Because silage is often the first crop to come off the field, it allows for earlier manure application and thus an earlier cleanout of pens before winter. As that manure application plan develops, include best stewardship practices for optimum rates and preferred application methods in final decisions. But, wait, what do those things mean?

Agronomic Rates

Agronomic rates consider what future crops will need. They are generally based on one nutrient. That may mean some of the other nutrients will be applied in excess of crop needs and others will leave the crop deficient if not supplemented with other fertilizer. Your optimum rate may be an agronomic rate, but it may be somewhere in between the two most common:

Nitrogen-Based Rates

A nitrogen-based (n-based) rate considers how much nitrogen will be needed for the next season’s crop. For example, if a field is to be planted to corn in the spring, the n-based rate would utilize available manure nitrogen to meet all the needs of the corn to be grown next year. Because nitrogen is likely to be lost to leaching if over-applied, a n-based rate is the heaviest rate that can be applied to a field. In many cases, a n-based rate will far exceed nutrient needs for nutrients other than nitrogen.

Phosphorus-Based Rates

Occasionally someone may choose to use a phosphorus-based (p-based) rate. A p-based rate requires more land to utilize the same amount of manure as an n-based rate. This is especially true with beef manure and when distillers grains are fed because the ratio of phosphorus to nitrogen in the manure is much higher. Because phosphorus is not likely to be leached into the soil or groundwater, a p-based rate may account for multiple (4-5) years of phosphorus need. This is particularly common if the risk of erosion and runoff are low. For example, if you were applying to a field with a corn and soybean rotation, you might apply based on the P needs for the next 4 years of crops (2 years of corn and 2 years of soybean).

Choosing an Optimum Rate

In many cases, a person will choose a rate somewhere between n-based and p-based. That rate will often meet phosphorus needs for a couple of years, but is not sufficient to meet nitrogen needs. It allows for nitrogen to be applied later in the season, closer to when the crop needs it. This method capitalizes on the complementary benefits of manure and commercial fertilizer and minimizes loss of nitrogen from leaching. Additionally, it allows for manure to be applied on more acres, thus gaining the benefits of manure other than nutrient value on more fields.

Know How Much is Being Applied

The only way to know the actual application rate is to calibrate the manure spreader. Many people believe that’s a complicated process, but it doesn’t have to be. In many cases, calculations can be minimized and occasionally, with the proper tools, they can be completely eliminated. If you need help with your manure spreader calibration, contact myself or anyone on the manure team.

Incorporating Manure

When manure is applied on the surface of the soil, it remains exposed to the elements. This exposure can lead to nutrient losses from the manure. Nitrogen in the form of ammonia can be lost to the atmosphere, and phosphorus can be lost in runoff. To manage these two losses, a farmer may choose to incorporate the manure, essentially tilling it in. The sooner the farmer incorporates manure, the less the risk of loss. After 7 days though, especially if the weather is warm, ammonia nitrogen is already gone so there’s no nitrogen benefit for incorporation.

Before anyone decides whether to incorporate manure or not, they need to weigh the pros and cons of that incorporation. And the weight of these pros and cons are different for each farm or application.

Reasons why someone might choose to incorporate:

They are using manure with a large proportion of manure N in the form of ammonium N (risk of loss is high).
There’s a rainfall event predicted the next day that would likely cause runoff (higher risk of loss of P).
They’re also seeding a cover crop and are preparing the seed bed prior to planting or after broadcasting that seed.

Reasons why someone might choose to NOT incorporate:

They are using manure with already low ammonium N content (loss would be minimal).
They’re applying to relatively flat land where risk of runoff is low (loss of P would be minimal).
They’re applying when there is little to no risk of rain for several days (loss from P from runoff is minimal).
The field where they’re applying has few or no neighbors nearby to be bothered by the odor.
They have no equipment or not enough time/labor to get it done in a timely fashion.
They have steep hills and they’re not allowed to till the land without immediately following with a cover crop (high risk of erosion).

So, as you are applying manure or are watching manure applications occuring this late summer and early fall, remember that manure is not just a waste product to be disposed of. It’s packed with nutrients crops need, making it an investment for that field. The person doing the application most likely has a carefully orchestrated plan and they’ve probably thought about all of the risks and benefits of that manure application for that particular field.

Create Value and Increase Demand: How Do Livestock Producers and Crop Growers Work Together?

Wed, 05 Oct 2022 18:44:12 GMT

The U.S. agriculture industry is a web of connections between livestock producers and crop growers in areas of feed production, commodity value and exports, manure and resource management and sustainability.

Livestock producers and crop growers work simultaneously to provide high quality red meat to the U.S., and across the globe.

Value in Exports

According to the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), 15 percent of U.S. beef and 29.4 percent of U.S. pork was exported in 2021.

This global demand equated to $407.22 per head of fed cattle slaughtered and $62.86 per head of hogs.

As demand grows, livestock producers are encouraged to increase output on their operations, increasing demand for feed along with output from crop growers.

Specifically, corn and soybeans experience a jump in demand and increase in value.

For corn, USMEF estimates 2021 beef and pork exports contributed 12 percent of bushel value to corn. Considering an average price of $5.48 per corn bushel, this equates to $0.66 per bushel.

For soybeans, 2021 pork exports contributed 12.6 percent of soybean bushel value, equating to $1.65 per soybean bushel—considering an average price of $13.13 per bushel.

Feed Use by Cuts Exported

USMEF shares a breakdown of corn, dried distillers grains and soybean meal usage per cut of beef and pork carcass.

Manure and Resource Management

On a recent “AgriTalk” segment, Heather Hill, president of the National Pork Board, described soil health as a mutual benefit between livestock producers and crop growers.

What was once considered a waste byproduct, manure is now widely considered an asset in improving soil health and moving the needle of sustainability in agriculture.

As prices of commercial fertilizers continue to rise, manure provides a more natural, sustainable and cost-effective alternative for growing plants.

Efficiency in Operation

Hill also describes profitability and economics of farming as part of the sustainability story. Diversified operations like Hill’s—that grow their own feed to provide for their livestock—might have an economic advantage over those buying feed during times of high commodity prices.

“We’re really zoning in on where we can be more efficient. How can we do more with less? Just because we’ve done something for many years, it’s time to reevaluate our practices and make sure what we’re doing is the right decision,” Hill explains.

As the industry continues to face domestic and worldwide challenges and economic pressure, producers might find value in working together to mutually benefit their operations and create a more sustainable future.

Striking a Balance with Cover Crops and Grazing

Wed, 21 Sep 2022 07:44:49 GMT

On his west-central Missouri farm, Kyle Grumke and his father Ross employ cover crops on every one of their 550 owned acres. It’s a practice Ross scoffed at in the beginning but five years in he sees the pay-off in better soil health and an additional feed source for the family’s cattle.

Caught somewhere in the middle of conventional and organic farming, the family started using no-till 10 years ago. They plant an eight-species mix of cover crops after wheat and cereal rye following corn and soybeans. Kyle says the benefits he sees more than pay for the $25-or-so investment on each acre.

“Livestock is where we really net back the cost,” he says. “In addition, if we can keep nutrients out of watersheds and in our soil and prevent algal blooms that keeps the government from telling me to what to do.”

For example, last year he grazed 38 cattle on a 17 acre patch during mid-summer when quality hay is scarcer. Kyle said the average cost per day was 80 cents per head, about the same as that of hay, but the forage quality on his cover crop acres far exceeded available hay quality.

“If you’re going to graze covers, strip graze them,” Kyle adds. “Cows eat the ‘ice cream’ first and leave the ‘vegetables’ until the end, resulting in uneven feeding across the field.”

When picking cover crop blends to feed out you want to make sure you find something with high energy, adequate protein and mineral rich. In addition look for palatability and diversity, according to Audrey Stever, with the Missouri Soil and Water Conservation Department. She notes the following:

Energy values in cover crops for grazing:
- Annuals provide more than perennials
- Legumes more than grasses
- Warm and cool season grasses show no statistical difference
Protein content of cover crops for grazing:
- Annuals have more than perennials
- Legumes more than grasses
- Cool season grasses have more than warm season grasses

“Grazing is most effective when plants are 6” to 15” and you shouldn’t graze cover shorter than 4”,” she adds.

Be realistic if you try cover crops, Kyle notes. It’s a lot of trial and error and Mother Nature will try to throw curve balls—be prepared to react and adapt quickly.

“The No. 1 failure I’ve seen is when producers are interested in cover crops and just jump in without knowing what they want to accomplish,” says Paul Jasa, University of Nebraska Extension engineer. Common goals are to build soil health, prevent erosion, provide weed control or add grazing opportunities on new acres.

Note, with livestock grazing there is much to consider. Grasses are desirable because they grow faster, but legumes provide more nutrients. Also consider water and nutrient availability and what using cover crops mean for your cash crop. All in all, do your research before establishing and grazing cover crops.

“University of Missouri research says, and I’ve seen it on my farm, cows on cover crop fields when used responsibly won’t hurt yield,” Kyle says. It’s a practice he plans to continue to use, and expand on his farm.

Invasive Jumping Worm Thrashes Into 14 Midwest States

Wed, 13 Apr 2022 21:38:38 GMT

Growing up to 6” in length and able to cause an infestation with only one worm, the invasive jumping worm, originally from eastern Asia, has spread to over a dozen states in the Midwest, according to a Smithsonian Magazine article . These states include Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Louisiana, Newsweek reported .

Getting its name from their characteristic thrashing, snakelike movement, these worms can be found on the soil surface, in leaf litter, in compost piles and along roads, said an article by Cornell University . In addition, their characteristic white band, known as the clitellum, is flush with their metallic body. It can be distinguished from the nightcrawler which has a reddish-brown, saddle shaped clitellum.

The Asian jumping worm devours organic matter and seedlings more rapidly than its counterparts and can severely damage roots and disturb the soil, the Cornell article explained. An infestation of these worms will likely be seen in a “very uniform, granular soil created from worm castings. The texture of this soil is often compared to coffee grounds.”

“Jumping worms grow twice as fast, reproduce more quickly and can infest soils at high densities. In areas of heavy infestation, native plants, soil invertebrates, salamanders, birds and other animals may decline,” said the Cornell article.

As an annual species, the adult worms die after the first freeze. However, their cocoons, which are about the size of a mustard seed, will survive through winter and hatch when temperatures reach 50 degrees. Their cocoons are nearly impossible to find, and “can be spread easily in potted plants, on landscaping equipment, mulch, tire treads and even hiking boots,” said the Cornell article.

Unfortunately, there is currently no method of control for the species. Cornell experts along with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources encourages those who find the worms to not use them as bait or in gardening. Live worms can be destroyed by bagging them, leaving them in the sun for at least 10 minutes and then throwing them away.

Research continues on how these jumping worm populations can be controlled.

Cover Crops And Cattle Are Cash

Wed, 27 Jan 2021 20:10:43 GMT

Mikey Taylor felt like a slave to soil testing.

In a battle against hardened ground and poor soil quality on some of his east Arkansas farmland, Taylor turned to soil testing and NPK. But instead of answers, he found contradiction. Representative soil samples sent to multiple labs across the United States produced different results – separate and entirely unequal. Salvation in a soil sample? Not for Taylor.

He was chasing a remedy that put him on the trail of a cover crop solution. Initially planting cover crops solely for erosion protection, Taylor transitioned to soil health covers, and recently to grazing covers in tandem with cattle rotation. On Taylor’s ground in Phillips County, Ark., livestock are the vehicle to building high-potential soils.

Taylor, 38, farms with his father Mike at Long Lake Plantation -- a family operation dating to 1938. Taylor’s standard crop roster includes corn, cotton, grain sorghum, peanuts and soybeans. In 2010, he got an unexpected soil surprise after planting corn and soybeans on 250 acres of cleared, high-ground hardwood in three blocks. The dryland corn yielded 200-plus bu. per acre and the dryland soybeans tallied 80-plus bu. per acre. Directly across the road on old farming ground, the yields weren’t hitting such high rates.

For more on soil health, see Heart of Delta Hides Visionary Farmer

The first producers to clear ground at Long Lake followed the contours of soil types. The high ground never flooded and carried a presumption of inferiority. When Taylor first cleared the 250 acres, he decided to replant in hardwood and let his children reap the benefits. But safe from flooding, the high ground drove his decision to plant corn and soybeans. When the yields jumped, he strongly suspected the formerly wooded acreage was reaping the benefits of nature’s cover crop.

Producer Mikey Taylor, with son, Wells, and daughter, Merrie Leigh, is using cover crops in tandem with cattle rotation.

© Chris Benentt

Taylor had already put ground in cover crops for several years, initially planting cereal rye to keep soil down during winter rains and spring winds. His cover crop usage progressed toward building organic matter and maintaining soil health. In 2014, Taylor’s growing interest in cover benefits pushed him to seek out Doug Peterson , a soil health specialist for Iowa and Missouri, with the National Resources Conservation Service. “I came home from the meeting with Doug and sat down with a plan to implement a cattle and cover crop to soybean system,” Taylor says.

Grazing cover crops with cattle is an old practice. Cows faded out of the row crop picture, but with the integration of cover crops, cattle are returning. “You’re essentially turning the cover crops into a cash crop,” Peterson explains. “In this system, cover crops offer soil health benefits and manure that add a financial incentive to row crops, and they also turn into cash as livestock fodder.”

On June 16, 2015, the day after he began cutting wheat, Taylor planted a 13-way blend cover of legumes and grasses into the stubble. The cover combination grew phenomenally fast, and 45 days later it was head-high and ready for cattle rotation. Taylor runs 100-head of cattle on a single acre for 24 hours and moves the herd each day to a new acre. Once grazed, an acre is typically ready for rotation again in 40 days. “Keeping the cows on a single acre is key and spreads the manure evenly,” Taylor explains. “Turn 100 head loose on 150 acres and they’ll graze in patches. The ground will get uneven manure distribution.”

Surrounded by 200 head of cattle, Wells Taylor, holds up a tillage radish.

© Chris Benentt

On a solitary acre, cattle eat in a concentrated pattern. The result is a 150-acre checkerboard field. Taylor moves cattle acre by acre until October, and then moves them to the opposite side of Long Lake on acreage with winter cover crops planted behind grain sorghum. On the land the herd has exited, Taylor plants cereal rye as a winter cover. He kills the cereal rye in spring and plants soybeans into the mat in April. The system constantly shifts ground over multiple years.

On fresh ground, the cattle transition from a warm season summer cover to a cool season winter cover. Because the cycle is bigger and the grass doesn’t last as long, Taylor breaks the system into 15-acre paddies over three days. “Some of it may be my laziness, but you don’t have to move them each day,” he says.

On its face, the continuous effort to move fence to accommodate cattle rotation is a logistical nightmare. Not so, explains Taylor. The cows anticipate fresh grass and move themselves to the gate, waiting for the next pasture. He runs a high-tensile electric fence around the block perimeter. The acreage cutoffs are done with temporary, highly visible polytape fencing on 660’ spools. “The white polytape basically spins off a big fishing reel and connects to posts 50’ apart. Total labor takes two men a couple of hours each day,” Taylor says.

Merrie Leigh Taylor follows her father, Mikey, and brother, Wells, to check on the herd at Long Lake Plantation, Phillips County, Ark.

© Chris Benentt

Once infrastructure and water are in place, labor is time consistent regardless of herd size, explains Peterson, who maintains a grazing operation in northern Missouri. “Most of this ground hasn’t had a livestock presence in decades, so water and fence systems have to be put in. But fencing technology has jumped dramatically and polywire’s braided conductivity and easy visibility makes it a great, simple product to contain livestock.”

In the off-season, the cover crop and cattle system increases organic matter and the potential for stronger row crops. The soil builds nutrients instead of lying idle and dormant. In Taylor’s case, crop fields have been exposed to years of tillage, resulting in reduced biological activity. But packed with biological organisms, cattle manure serves as an antidote, particularly with the consistent and even spread provided by the fencing system. In tandem with manure, cattle saliva releases biological activity into the ground as cows feed, according to Peterson. “This system is beneficial to the soil, but also to the animals. Giving them a fresh plate of grass every day ensures they’re at the highest level of health. Some farmers move them twice daily, enhancing health even more. Taken over the course of a season, the herd is drastically improved.”

For more on Taylor, see Field of Greens: Cover Crops Turn Into Picker Blessing

Prior to cattle rotation, Taylor was planting cool season covers at roughly $20 per acre. “We added to the quality and it’s now costing about $35-$40 for a winter-graze mix,” he says. For his warm season covers, Taylor’s seed company devised a mix specifically for Long Lake’s rotation. During summer, Taylor waters the warm season covers with pivots and polypipe. In fall 2015, he watered his winter cover with pivots during an eight-week drought.

Wells Taylor, and sister, Merrie Leigh, check on 200 head of cattle fenced in a 15-acre paddy planted with cereal rye and tillage radish.

© Chris Benentt

Livestock is a new facet of the Long Lake operation, and Taylor has learned on his feet. He buys cattle from Clayton Zeerschke, Batesville, Miss., who purchases the cows at auction and conditions them, before delivery to Taylor 38 to 45 days later. “I couldn’t manage my cattle without Clayton. I’m blessed with tremendous help. I’m also blessed to farm and involve my children in farming on a daily basis.”

Taylor’s cover journey has moved from erosion control and soil health to cash crop. “Livestock are the ultimate means to building high-potential soils,” he adds. “I treat my covers like row crops because my cows depend on them and so does my ground.”

Meet Del Ficke, the Apostle of Regenerative Agriculture

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 02:24:03 GMT

Camera in hand and a thousand miles from home, a Nebraska farm boy stepped off a tour bus and already knew the drill, whether in an expanse of wheat in Montana or a row of cotton in Mississippi. The 10-year-old clicked his Polaroid, flapped the photo in the wind, and added it to an ever-growing collection of agriculture pictures. Under the watchful eye of a patient father, the boy was a sponge and soaked in facets of farming from virtually every state in the lower 48. Ever the visionary, the father taught the boy an invaluable lesson: how the other half farms. Forty years later, the father is gone and the son remains, thriving by surrendering his soil to the past.

Who slashes farmland acreage by three-quarters, jettisons a machinery fleet, and upends field practices, yet watches profits rise by 70 percent? Meet Del Ficke and a less-is-more farming approach. When Ficke shrunk a traditional row crop and livestock operation to 700 acres and implemented regenerative agriculture across his ground, the southeast Nebraska producer flipped convention on its head and used the past to unlock the future. Adios to inputs.

Fourteen miles west of Lincoln, outside of Pleasant Dale, Ficke dryland farms in rolling, heavy clay hills. He grows a mix of corn, covers, grain sorghum, soybeans, and small grains, relying on roughly 30” of rainfall each year. Just four miles west of Ficke’s property sits some of the most picturesque farmland in Nebraska—manicured fields, center pivots, massive shining bins, and huge tracts of land. Only half in jest, Ficke describes his own ground as “hills and rocks in the sticks.” Yet, there is nowhere else the Seward County producer would rather farm. “I’ve been across this entire country and my land is the best damned place I could be. Love it.”

A fifth-generation producer, Ficke, 51, works 700 acres and maintains an elite nucleus herd ranging from 70 to 100 cows. Net profit per acre and net profit per head are dual kings at Ficke Cattle Company , their rule undergirded by absolute devotion to soil health. A quick glance over Ficke’s shoulder and a short walk through time reveal the radical transformation from convention to conservation.

No Heart, No Plan

Thirty years back, working alongside his father, Kenneth, and cousin, Greg Eggerling, Ficke’s operation was large-scale and reached across three counties. “We were hustling our asses off, thinking we were making great strides for agriculture. I had no idea all we were doing was wearing out soil and equipment.”

Constantly pressed for time, Ficke placed 100 percent of his acreage in no till in 1986, just prior to a major drought. “I tried no till for one reason—saving hours. Maybe save on passes and fuel too, but I was just trying to cut time.”

Ficke’s no till investment paid major dividends. In the grip of extremely dry conditions, surrounding farms produced 12 bu. corn , while his ground averaged 77 bu. per acre. In 1987, all of his neighbors followed suit and went no till. Despite initial no till and cover crop success, Ficke missed the big picture and says his “heart” was a major roadblock. “I didn’t factor in soil benefits. We were still farming several thousand acres, but I didn’t have change in my heart and I didn’t have a plan.”

Unsure of direction, he didn’t stray further from the conventional path. But just a few years over the farming horizon, seismic change was on a collision course with Ficke and his world was about to flip. The Nebraska grower was on the cusp of losing everything he loved.

Bare Bones

In 1999, a series of back injuries (two crushed vertebrate) resulted in debilitating pain for Ficke—made all the worse by tractors and combines. “I’d always assumed I’d run cows and farm my whole life. I was depressed because I didn’t know how to do anything else.”

Spurred by necessity, Ficke went to college, earning degrees in radiology and hospital administration before managing a medical clinic in Lincoln for five years. Kenneth and Greg continued to farm several thousand acres and Ficke worked on the operation when possible. “Mentally, these were rough years trying to figure out where my place was going to be. God had it under control and it all worked for the best.”

Despite multiple back surgeries and an incessant chain of pain, Ficke was gaining invaluable daily exposure to the public’s view of agriculture. As his back condition slowly improved, Ficke consistently fielded questions from clinic patients about the cloistered nature of agriculture. “The whole direction of my life began to change regarding the farming culture around me. People were curious about why things seemed so secret on farms.”

Ficke expressed his concerns to Kenneth. “I said, ‘Dad, there’s a lot of people that don’t think much of agriculture and in some ways I don’t necessarily disagree.’ Dad didn’t hesitate and said, ‘Yes, those are the same people we’ve got to get in touch with.”

“My dad was forward-thinking. Change resonated with him. We decided to be totally open to questions or tours to the public; no more protectionism.”

Ficke slowly transitioned to full-time farm work, left behind the security of the well-paying clinic job and geared up for the change of his life. His plan was layered with a host of moving pieces, but centered on radical reduction of inputs and long-term soil health. Ficke cut the cord on rented ground and made a strategic retreat to 700 family acres and 100 cows, set on a carousel of row crops, cover crops, pasture and livestock. In the view of many outsiders, he had taken a figurative hammer to the operation’s ankles, but the farm ledger told a counterintuitive story, according to Ficke: Profits jumped over 70 percent higher despite diminished acreage and a smaller herd.

Where did the 70% jump originate? It hinged entirely on savings.

“You name the input and we made serious cuts. We cut out the middleman as much as possible. Bankers, chemical dealers, equipment lots and seed dealers, I just felt everyone was making money but us. I think farmers suffer from Stockholm syndrome and sometimes they are friends with their captors. You have to get costs per acre down to bare bones.”

Cow be a Cow

Grazing, grazing and more grazing; no more jams in a feedlot. Basically, Ficke put his cows on a diet of grass, bale grazing and cover crops, with a miniscule amount of extra protein ($250) for the entire herd. With closed pens eliminated, annual veterinarian bills dropped from $10,000 to $1,200. Ficke’s average cow deposits 75 lb. of manure and urine across the operation. Extrapolated by 100 head across 365 days a year, the math isn’t difficult to tally, Ficke explains. “No more contaminated pens. We just let the cow be a cow. Savings and soil health are building up and this is the same thing our grandfathers did until someone came along and unfortunately said, ‘You’re not efficient. Buy an upright silo and a confinement building.’”

Money-sucking Machinery

Ficke rolled away his machinery and whittled roughly $250 per acre in equipment payments down to $26-$30 per acre. He kept a tractor for hay and bales, dumped the rest of the fleet, and contracted with custom operators.

“We already weren’t doing tillage. Then we got rid of about $1 million in equipment payments. I see a lot of farms with six tractors and too many tills to count, and guys wonder why they’re not making money.”

Ficke admits custom work does not provide equity on the balance sheet, but he emphasizes the elimination of depreciation and breakdowns. “You write a custom guy a check and it’s way less time than all you fool with on equipment payments. People in agriculture never apply actual costs because they don’t think their time is worth anything. It blows people away to tally time, equipment and foolishness. In fact, foolishness is probably the biggest money-sucking machine of all.”

With reliance on custom operators, Ficke’s most important piece of equipment is a utility vehicle. He does not run pickups except to haul cattle. The difference in overall fuel consumption is remarkable and requires a single annual purchase of 250 gallons of diesel per year. Basically, the fuel truck only visits once a year. Previously, Ficke chopped silage throughout the fall, fed silage all winter and spread manure the rest of the year. No more. Manure hauling has been virtually eliminated, as has the need for multiple tractors to feed silage or grind hay. “It shocks your mind to see all the time and money savings.”

Chemical Cuts

With cattle contributing to soil health and cover crops boosting soil and weed suppression, Ficke estimates a 50% reduction in row crop fertilizer and a 25% reduction in herbicide, with incremental improvements each year. On pastures, he has eliminated 95% of chemical use, relying on a hand pump unit to spot-spray thistles. “We’ve also gotten rid of 95% of fertilizer use on pastures due to condensed manure and urine. The savings just keep piling up from so many areas like this.”

Banker Blues?

Ficke’s transition from one agricultural system to another would have jolted many bankers, but despite the lack of a baseline, Joe Carey, vice president and senior ag loan officer at Arbor Bank in Nebraska City, listened and learned. “Certainly there was risk because we didn’t have trend analysis or industry data to fall back on. But we clicked immediately because Del didn’t shoot from the hip. He was a calculated risk-taker and he’d already done the math.”

“Starting off, it’s a tough deal for a bank to understand. How does he produce such quality grain with such minimal input expense? But you don’t have to understand Del’s practices as long as you understand his numbers. Today, he’s got traction and a baseline, and we can show you the results.”

Till Kill

In addition to his ag operation, the plainspoken Ficke also runs a consulting service , maintains an open farm, and invites curious, eager or skeptical producers to educational seminars.

Tillage is the biggest error Ficke encounters, he contends. “I’ll drive up to a farm and see four new tractors, each with its own tillage equipment. I’ll tell the farmer all he needs is two tractors, two grain carts, a planter, and a drill. The rest? Send’em back and don’t look back.”

“Nothing kills soil like tillage. You’re just making everyone in the business chain happy but yourself.”

Graham Christensen , 38, grows conventional corn and soybeans an hour north of Omaha in Oakland. He also has non-GMO corn in the crop roster, and is starting to mix in small grains. Influenced by Ficke’s success, Christensen is preparing to plant covers, and hopes to bring in livestock, as well as tree-range poultry—a system similar to free range with the addition of a perennial canopy that provides extra income from nut and fruit trees. Christensen is already heavily reliant on solar power and he’s trialing a permaculture project.

“Del has inspired me and I was blown away the first time I was on his farm. He’s done simple things with grass, crops and pasture, and let the cattle out of the cage. It’s all done with no new equipment purchases.”

Most impressive, according to Christensen, is Ficke’s no-cost transition. “This is a massive change with virtually no transition costs. I want to do the same without putting my farm at risk. Simple and low-cost—that’s the model I want to copy.”

Ficke’s system has parallels with other growers across the Midwest, Christensen insists. “I see more young people farming like Del and it leads me to believe I’ve been misled by some agribusiness companies. My family has always been told we need all this stuff and more. I don’t believe that now because I see young people like Del cutting inputs by using livestock and soil health. This really, really makes sense for an independent operation.”

Christensen is adamant: Young farmers are taking an interest in regenerative agriculture. “Young people have to keep the business open and they want to have these conversations. The interest is percolating and that’s why we started Regenerate Nebraska , to help try to move the needle more aggressively.”

Maximizing Acres

Ficke should never have to rent or buy more ground, he contends, because only 4.5 of his acres are maximized. He defines maximized acreage as ground requiring no inputs. “Last spring, our soil tests showed a piece of ground that had gone from 2.6 organic matter to 6.9 in a decade. Nitrogen and phosphorus were maximized and it was nearly back to a prairie state. Production goes through the roof and inputs drop to nothing.”

Ficke has two goals. One, create the finest soil in the world. Two, craft the most accountable cowherd in the world. He estimates his operation is 50 percent regenerative. “I admit regenerative is not a cool-sounding name. It just means using things on the farm that have already been done. The small regenerative practice as a first step will blow a person’s mind.”

“We have to study the past, even in agriculture. Ten years ago I had to go to another state to see regenerative agriculture, but now I can go every five miles and see some of these practices.”

What is Ficke’s hope for overall agricultural change in the U.S.? “Just change 10 percent of your operation. I can walk in a bank with anyone and get their banker on board to change an operation just 10 percent. I can’t show cash in hand, but I can show the savings very quickly.”

As a rule, he refuses to discount any new farming practice. (Ficke has an upright silo and is considering converting it to aquaponics production.) “Somebody throw an idea out and I’m the guy that won’t laugh. I’ll at least give it genuine consideration.”

A Father’s Hand

Ficke’s willingness to step far beyond convention stems from a father’s guiding hand. Kenneth either accompanied his young son or sent him on farm tours across the United States, insisting Ficke keep records of every farming practice encountered. “My dad believed we couldn’t do the best job on our farm unless we knew what others were doing far away. He was the greatest mentor. He knew where agriculture was headed and he prepared me.”

“All farmers are in this together and what I do now is a calling. I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel, but instead balance it out. I have every confidence in the world we’re making real changes in agriculture. We just have to start not only using our heads, but also using our hearts.”

For more, see:

Killing Hogzilla: Hunting a Monster Wild Pig

Agriculture’s Darkest Fraud Hidden Under Dirt and Lies

Blood And Dirt: A Farmer’s 30-Year Fight With The Feds

Seeds of Discord: Crossing the Great Cover Crop Divide

Bald Eagles a Farmer’s Nightmare

Living the Dream: Honoring A Fallen Farmer

Cover Crop Bandwagon Frustrates Farmers

Frog or Foul: SCOTUS Weighs Historic ESA Case

Corn’s Carbon Cowboy Busts Outstanding Yields

Pigs Don’t Fly: Feral Hog Spread Is A Man-Made Mess

Jimmy Frederick Booms 163 Bu. Soybeans

Who Killed the Finest Soybean Soil in the World?

Meet The Father of Six-Row Corn

Life-Saving Find: How This Missouri Soil Unearthed A Golden Medical Discovery 75 Years Ago

Take a step onto Sanborn Field at the University of Missouri–Columbia, and it’s a step into history.

“I’m walking in some big footsteps here,” says Tim Reinbott, the director of Sanborn Field at the University of Missouri.

Sanborn Field is the third-oldest continuous research farm in the world, but the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Nestled on the eastern edge of campus, buildings and housing have sprouted all around the field, but it’s still the root of significant scientific discoveries that are benefiting farmers and ranchers.

“We probably got more treatments than anybody else,” Reinbott explains. We have had continuous treatments for 135 years, and we’ve learned so much. And this is where so many of our common agricultural practices all started from the dollars that we gained here.”

One of the biggest breakthroughs happened 75 years ago, as the soil became the foundation of medicine still used today in humans and livestock.

“One of the interesting facts that is often overlooked is that in any soil you will find antibiotics, because it’s just the nature of how these bacteria survive in nature,” says Bob Kremer, adjunct professor of soil microbiology at the University of Missouri (Mizzou).

An Important Plot

Seventy-five years ago, Plot 23, which is still located within Sanborn Field at the university, became home to a groundbreaking discovery.

“We have to keep in mind that that was the age of the antibiotic discovery in the United States and worldwide,” Kremer says.

“Seventy-five years ago, we had known about penicillin. We had known other types of antibiotics, but they were only about 40% effective,” Reinbott explains.

“And they were looking for that golden antibiotic, that one that would really be very effective and be taken orally, not by injection.”

With so much effort to find microorganisms that could produce an antibiotic that wasn’t just effective but not toxic to humans or animals, researchers at Sanborn Field were on a mission.

“Benjamin Duggar, a gentleman that was a former faculty member here was working for Lederle Laboratories at the time, and he knew the director of Sanborn Field, who was William J. Albrecht, who was the soil microbiologist. Mr. Duggar asked him for some soil samples from Sanborn Field, that he could begin to culture for these microorganisms for some sort of an antibiotic that would serve those purposes.”

A Solution in Soil

The soil contained a golden mold that suppressed the growth of many microorganisms, including streptococci, a bacteria that causes various types of infections. From the sample, researchers eventually created aureomycin, which proved to be an antibiotic effective against 90% of bacteria-caused infections in humans.

“Dr. Albrecht then directed and assisted in collecting soil samples from Sanborn Field, which included plot 23 here, which is in continuous Timothy (grass) that had no fertilizer or manure amendments since it was established in 1888,” Kremer says.

“He knew that this plot right behind us (plot 23), that had been for 60 years managed the same way, was a perennial crop, but had no inputs. He knew we should have a lot of biology but a pretty hostile environment for them. If any place could have an antibiotic, it’s going to be here,” says Reinbott, as he stands in front of the birthing ground of aureomycin.

It was later that year, in 1945, they made the big discovery — one that proved to be a breakthrough in the medical world, for both humans and animals.

“They called it aureomycin, and ‘aureolus’ is the Latin word that means a golden color,” Reinbott adds. “It’s an antibiotic that’s been used for decades, and it’s still being used in animals. It’s also the best treatment there is today for Rocky Mountain spotted fever.”

Reinbott says for the first 30 to 40 years after the discovery of aureomycin, it was the go-to antibiotic for human medicine, but it also grew in popularity within animal medicine.

“The aureomycin antibiotic and the tetracycline cyclin class are still very useful today, because of their mechanism of action. They attack protein synthesis in the cell of these bacteria, and (are) effective on these rickettsia diseases, like the Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Because those particular bacteria are able to infect and inhabit deep within the tissue of a human being, they also do not become resistant,” Kremer says.

Life-Saving Treatment

First discovered at the end of 1945, aureomycin underwent clinical trials and was then approved by FDA to address human ailments, starting in 1948. One of the first recipients was a young boy, Tobey Hockett, who at the time, lived just outside of Washington, D.C.

“I was born Sept. 11, 1943,” says Hockett, who is now retired and lives in Florida. “Sometime around early 1949, I got a real bad stomachache. My parents did not pay attention, and it got worse and worse before they finally rushed me to the hospital. It turns out that I had peritonitis. I had a ruptured appendix.”

Hockett says the doctors didn’t give his parents much hope for his recovery, but the doctors wanted to treat Hockett with an antibiotic that had recently been developed, which was aureomycin. He remained in the hospital for one month.

Hockett says Mizzou’s discovery 75 years ago not only saved his life, but he went on to become a defense attorney and worked to save other lives. He took on death penalty cases and helped clients through drug court.

“You can’t express thanks in words,” Hockett says. “The only thing I think about is what I’ve been able to do with my life as a result of surviving that.”

Soil Sample Goes To Smithsonian

To celebrate the discovery of aureomycin, a soil sample from Plot 23 was sent to the Smithsonian Institution where it still resides today.

The discovery at Sanborn Field wasn’t just a breakthrough for human medical science, it was also a breakthrough for livestock.

“It’s very interesting, because they discovered that it was very useful not only to prevent some of these infections, but it also is a growth promoter,” Kremer says. “In the early 1950s, they discovered that chickens, for example, grew two and a half times quicker than the traditional feed that was being used at the time.”

Aureomycin is still widely used in cattle today. Such an antibiotic discovery is estimated to cost $1.5 billion in 2023 dollars.

“We’ve more aureomycin discoveries out here, we’ve just got to look for them,” says Reinbott, standing at Sanborn Field. “It may or may not be an antibiotic, but it can be something just as groundbreaking, and that’s what gets me excited.”