Gabe and Shelly Brown own and operate Brown’s Gelbvieh Ranch located 5 miles east of Bismarck, North Dakota. The Browns have two children, Kelly and Paul. They purchased the ranch in 1991 and built a purebred cattle operation. The Browns have slowly increased the ranch to its present 3,300 acres. The primary emphasis is increasing the lands productivity by improving soil health, rather than increasing acres. The purebred Gelbvieh foundation cowherd is maintained at 250 head, while the number of yearling vary from 50 – 200 each year depending on available forage. Annual precipitation averages 16 inches.

The grazing system starts around May 15 and ends when the snow gets too deep, which varies from November 1 to January 1. Tame pasture, native rangeland, and crop aftermath make up the planned grazing system.

The Browns and NRCS have developed a tame pasture grazing system, which includes the interseeding of several different legumes into tame grass. Legumes used include cicer milkvetch, saifoin, birdfoot trefoil, alfalfa, crown vetch, hairy vetch and white clover. The legume purpose is to: (1) supply the grass plants with nitrogen, thereby increasing plant vigor and forage production, (2) increase the forage protein content, benefiting herd health and rate of gain, (3) add additional litter to the soil surface, increasing infiltration and maximizing efficient use of soil moisture, and (4) create a deeper root zone, resulting increased nutrient cycling. Before the legumes were interseeded, the tame pastures produced 1,594 lbs. of forage per acre, after the legumes were interseeded production improved dramatically to 4,050 lbs. of forage per acre. The tame pastures are now divided into 11 paddocks using single wire electric fence. The livestock benefit from a shallow pipeline delivering water to rubber tire tanks. Paddocks are grazed once or twice a season, depending on plant regrowth and rainfall. Recovery periods range from 30 to 45 days when paddocks are grazed twice. Careful plant, litter, soil, and livestock observations are used to assure adequate recovery periods. In addition, recently purchased Conservation Reserve Program land is being added to the tame pastureland system. The 14 native rangeland paddocks are grazed once or twice a season, again depending on plant regrowth and rainfall. Recovery periods range form 60 to 90 days when paddocks are grazed twice.

Crop aftermath, provided by the no-till cropping system, is an important part of the grazing systems’ sustainability. Fall grazing consists primarily of corn stalks, small grain stubble, annual forages, and hairy vetch, which were seeded with peas and oats for haylage. Gabe estimates the crop aftermath grazing value of hairy vetch at $26.46 per acre and corn at $37.80.

Since the Browns switched to a sustainable grazing system aimed at improving soil health, they have noticed a number of changes. Improvements include a much healthier and diverse plant community, higher organic matter, higher worm populations, more ground cover or litter, improved infiltration rates, and more wildlife. Major family benefits include a much less stressful way of farming and ranching, along with a greater economic return. Gabe believes the livestock and cropping components should work in harmony to enhance the sustainability of the ranch.