If you are a grain farmer, you undoubtedly have noticed the falling prices of grain over the past months. This trend, though tough to watch, opens the doors to tons of opportunities, especially for those willing to step out of their comfort zone and embrace innovation.
Cash Cow
Thankfully, cattle won’t need an exorbitant amount of nitrogen, phosphorus, or potassium to grow and the plants they eat shouldn’t either. Enter a diverse summer cover crop mix. Few plant groups can grow as quickly as warm season annuals. Designed to take advantage of the long and hot summer days, these plants rapidly take root and begin building massive above ground structures. Of course the most common warm season annual we see on agricultural landscapes is corn. This year, however, many people may be rethinking what summer annual or mix of summer annuals they will be planting. Jeff Steffen is one such farmer in northeast Nebraska, who is changing the way he thinks about soil health, cow vs. corn and ultimately, profitability.
Cattle graze a diverse warm season cover crop mix (PC: Jeff Steffen)
Steffen would tell you he stumbled into this by happenstance, though now his annual grazing tactics are anything but accidental. Most would say corn is king in northeast Nebraska, but Steffen offers that his grazing program is proven to be more profitable than the traditional corn/soybean rotation which dominates his landscape and the vast majority of the Midwest. Steffen started out custom grazing cow/calf pairs, but with little to no access to pasture land, he had to look elsewhere for grazing opportunities. That first year he simply grazed corn, which worked well. He eventually moved to heritage varieties of corn, like Bloody Butcher, and is now incorporating more diversity with legumes, brassicas, and broadleaves. Though corn is still part of the mix, cowpeas, sunflowers, oats, peas, collards, turnips, and sorghum sudans work in unison to create an optimal forage for his livestock while also feeding the diversity of life under the soil surface.
What about nitrates?
The next obvious question, after hearing about grazing corn, is “Don’t you have issues with nitrates?” Steffen acknowledges that question, but says he has never really been worried. He doesn’t fertilize with any synthetic nitrogen, and he is sure to not graze the corn down to the ground. Generally, he starts grazing when the corn is 5 feet tall and doesn’t let them graze it to the ground. Now, with a more diverse grazing crop the potential for high nitrates is even lower. Of course every situation is different, weather, drought, previous fertilizer applications, and health of the soil all contribute to what nutrients are in the plant and to what level. A simple feed analysis test should be used especially if the field had nitrogen applied, or if extreme drought conditions are in effect.
Here cattle are grazing primarily a corn forage crop (PC: Jeff Steffen)
Start small and grow
Just as Steffen did not convert the whole farm to an annual grazing system the first year, we too recommend starting small. Crunch the numbers and take a good hard look at the opportunity in front of you before you decide which cash crop it’s going to be, pounds per acre or bushels per acre. The wonderful thing about annuals, is just that, they are annuals. Next year, the field can go right back into your regular rotation, of course with the added benefit of free fertilizer and perhaps a little extra cash in your pocket. This is an opportunity to diversify your revenue streams, capitalize on the current market situation, AND build soil health!
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Kate grew up in rural southern Wisconsin and spent most of her time outdoors and working on various farming operations. During this time she developed a deep appreciation for plants, animals, food, agriculture and natural resources and the way in which they all work together. Kate went to college at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln studying Animal Science and Grazing Livestock Systems. After college, Kate started working full time for Green Cover as a Sales Representative, gaining experience in the cover crop world. After a couple sales seasons, Kate transitioned to the marketing team helping write articles and organize processes. Kate and her husband, Ben now reside in Monroe, Wisconsin. Kate enjoys spending time outdoors, with her family, and seeks every opportunity to visit a lake during the summer. She enjoys leaning about soil, plant, and animal health and how it relates to human health.
