Integrating Livestock into the Farm Enterprise

Gabe Brown, Private Grazing Lands Coalition and Jay Fuhrer, Bismarck Field Office, NRCS

I. History.

Feed the soil, harvest the sunlight. Tie the Grazing and Cropping Systems together.

II. Ranch Goal: Sustainability and Soil Health.

III.  Tame Grass/Legume Grazing System.

Why Add Legumes.

1.  Enhance diversity:
Original legume plantings added one legume per pasture.  Subsequent seeding have added 3-4 different legumes per pasture.

All legumes were seeded with a no-till drill. Chemical suppression and minimum disturbance.

Interseeding legumes into tame grass. Each legume requires a specific inoculant.

Legume selection on the Brown Ranch

• Sainfoin 1999                    

• Cicer milkvetch 1999

• Birdsfoot Trefoil 1999

• Alfalfa 1999 Ameristand &  Spredor 3

• Alfalfa 2003, Falcata

• Hairy Vetch 2001

• Red Clover 2001

• Crown Vetch 2001

• White Clover 1999

Birdsfoot Trefoil, Falcata Alfalfa, Sainfoin and Cicer Milkvetch.

2. Enhance Nutrient Cycle:
Supply the grass plants with nitrogen.  Soil samples taken in 1999 indicated 4 lbs of nitrogen.

The grass plant on the right was located adjacent to a legume plant, the plant on the left was 3 feet away from a legume plant.

Fence line contrast illustrates the legume impact. Note how the fence line grass did not head out.

Cicer Milkvetch rooting depth.

Strong tap root at 3 feet.

Cicer has strong rhizomes.

3. Enhance Forage Quality and Quantity:
Benefiting herd health and rate of gain.

4. Enhance Water Cycle:
Adding legumes increases rooting depth and litter, lowers soil temperatures, and reduces runoff.

Soil Temperatures taken on July 17, 2001

• Alfalfa/ Smooth Brome           Milkvetch/Smooth Brome

• Grazed  80.4 degrees F          Grazed   79.9 degrees F

• Ungrazed 70.8 degrees F       Ungrazed  72.0 degrees F

When Soil Temperature reaches:

• 140 degrees, soil bacteria die.

• 130 degrees, 100% moisture lost through evaporation and transpiration.

• 100 degrees, 15% moisture used for growth, 85% moisture lost through evaporation and transpiration.

• 70 degrees, 100% moisture used for growth.

Litter:  Soil temperatures with minimal litter.  Actual example; July 13, 1999 air temp. was 86 degrees.  No litter recorded 115 degrees and nearby litter recorded 76 degrees.

Turnip 4 lbs, alfalfa 4 lbs, and Cicer Milkvetch 2.5 lbs.

Deeper rooting depth to cycle nutrients.

Green Manure Crops:

Red Clover, Lupine, Radish, Turnip.

Depth 5 to 7 feet

Densities can reach 20 head per acre, resulting in uniform grazing.

2004 lbs of beef per acre.

• 156 yearling heifers.

• 83 days.

• 2.19 lbs per day.

• 152 acres.

• 186.6 lbs of beef per acre.

Integrating Livestock in a          No-Till Cropping System

By

Gabe Brown and Jay Fuhrer

February 9, 2006

I. Cropping System.        Tillage is Catastrophic!

Fields have been no-tilled from 8 to 22 years.

Livestock allow for a higher level of soil health.

Crop Diversity.

• Alfalfa.

• Corn for grain and earlage.

• Pea/Vetch.

• Oat/Millet.

• Winter Triticale.

• Barley and Red Clover.

Alfalfa.

Preparing Fields for No-Till:
2002 Hayland – 2003 Cropland

Nutrient Management.  Triple beater trucks custom  spread manure evenly.

Additional food for the micro and macro fauna.  20 ton per acre is spread every third to fifth year.

Corn planted into alfalfa stubble.  The manure is consumed by August.

Combining is an option.

2005 Corn Expense (per acre).

• Rent.                                                    $25.00

• Alfalfa burn down & application.         $16.97

• Rolling-Land leveler.                            $10.00

• Manure – 15-20 tons/acre.                    $7.50

• Seed – 23,500 population.                    $43.85                    

• Fertilizer, 175 lbs of 20.5-32-5              $24.33

• Planting.                                               $14.00

• Crop Insurance – 65% Level.                 $8.47

2005 Corn Expense (cont).

• Chemical and Application.                     $13.66

• Combine and Hauling.                           $22.00

• Total Expense/Acre.                            $185.78

• Notes: Alfalfa burn down $16.97/ac and Rolling $10.00/ac are one time expense.                             

2005 Corn Income (per acre).

• 173 Bushels @  $1.65/bushel.                 $285.45

• LDP @ $0.44 x 173 bushels.                     $76.12

• Total Income.                                         $361.57

• Less Total Expense.                                $185.78

• Net Income.                                           $175.79

• Notes:  Fall grazing would have increased income.  No value figured for residue.

Earlage is another option, allowing good ground litter and early fall grazing.

Corn silage is a limited option.

Value of Corn Aftermath Grazing.

• Corn was harvested as earlage.

• Aftermath was grazed.    

• 83 bred yearling heifers for 47 days

• 83 X 47 days = 3901 grazing days

• 3901 X $.70/day = $2731.00

• 62 acres grazed

• Value of aftermath grazing.

• $44.04/acre

Managing residue removal --this field was already grazed

Field Pea with Hairy Vetch as a companion crop, seeded together.

Field Pea and Hairy Vetch require the same inoculant.

Removing the canopy in July.

Vetch ready for harvest in August.

Cattle readily grazed vetch.

Baled vetch, another option.

Pea/Vetch Expenses.

• Land Rent                                         = $25.00/ac

• Seed Inoculant                                  = $2.25/ac

• Pea seed 90 lbs/ac                           = $13.50/ac

• Vetch seed 12 lbs/ac                        = $12.00/ac

• Seeding                                            = $12.00/ac

• Windrowing                                      = $10.00/ac

• Chop and Haul                                 = $42.00/ac

• Packing @ 50 cents/ton                   = $8.00/ac

• Silage inoculant                               = $12.48/ac

• Total per acre expense                    = $137.23

Pea/Vetch Income.

• 16 ton/ac – 5% spoilage        = 15.2 ton/ac

• 15.2 ton/ac x $25.00/ton        = $380/ac

• LDP                                        = $52.00/ac

• Fall grazing 71 pair x 24 days

   x 80 cents divided by 75 ac    = $18.17/ac

Total per acre income               = $450.17

Pea/Vetch Economics.

• Total Expense = $137.23 per acre

• Total Income = $450.17 per acre

• Net Income = $312.94 per acre

Everleaf Oat.

Chemical control in spring. Yield 18 ton per acre.

 Preparing for the next crop.

Millet is an option?

Winter Triticale seeded on Oat stubble.

Winter Triticale providing good ground cover following silage crops.

Harvest options.

 Forage Barley and Red Clover.

Red Clover seeded at 6 pounds per acre, $1.00 per pound.

No chemical weed control during the growing season.

Yielded 17 ton per acre.

Red Clover survived the heavy canopy.

The companion crop allows a live cover to continue after harvest.

Red Clover options: fall graze, spring graze, hay or plant corn.

Fecal Sample Analysis.

Native Range, Corn Aftermath, and Red Clover.

Barley/Red Clover Expense.

• Land Rent                                                       = $25.00/ac

• Spring Burndown                                              = $7.50/ac

• Barley seed, 2 bu/ac                                        = $12.00/ac

• Red Clover, 6 lbs/ac                                         = $6.00/ac

• Seeding                                                           = $12.00/ac

• Urea 100 lbs                                                    = $13.00/ac

• Windrowing                                                    = $10.00/ac

• Chop and Haul                                                = $31.74/ac

• Packing @ 50 cents/ton                                    = $8.50/ac

• Silage inoculant @ .78/ton                              = $13.00/ac

• Total per acre expense                                   = $138.74

Barley/Red Clover Income.

• 17 ton/ac -5% spoilage                 = 16.15 ton/ac   16.15 ton/ac X $22/ton                  = $355.30/ac     

• LDP                                                = $18.20/ac

• Fall Grazing 185 head x 21 day

   X 80 cents divided by 140 ac         = $22.20/ac

• Total per acre income                    = $395.70

Barley/Red Clover Economics.

• Total Income = $395.70 per acre.

• Total Expense =

   $138.74 per acre.

    Net Income = $256.96 per acre.

The importance of Sustainability and Soil Health, allowing the system to work.

II. What’s driving the System?

1. Diversity.

2. Litter.

3. Cover and Companion Crops.

4. Utilize the full growing season.

5. Soil Health.

Organic Matter

• 1994 Organic Matter 2.6%

• 2004 Organic Matter 4.2%

Gabe’s Transport System. Corn root with highly colonized mycorrhizal hyphae and arbuscules.

Protecting Gabe’s Transport System.

Gabe’s Revolving Nutrient Bank Account.

• 1.0% OM = 10,000 lbs Carbon, 1,000 lbs Nitrogen, 100 lbs Phosphorous, and 100 lbs  of Sulfur.

• Mineralization Rate = 2-3% from Organic N to Inorganic N, which does not stop at harvest time.

• Transport system has highly colonized levels of mycorrhizal hyphae and arbuscules.

• Glomalin concentrations are similar to some native grassland soils.

• “Plants can take-up & use the nutrients made available through biological processes more easily and efficiently compared with chemical fertilizers.”  Clapperton

• Additional nutrient sources are earthworms, manure, & starter fertilizer.

Soil Foodweb Analysis.

• 2003 Pea/Vetch (manure),

    no commercial fertilizer applied.

• 2004 Barley/Clover, 100 lbs urea. November soil test indicated 16 lbs available N.

• 2005 Spring applied 225 lbs 28.5-13.5-11.

• July 14^th 200+ lbs of available N, released over the remaining growing season.

• 2005 Corn yield = 143 bushels.

6. Allowing the system to work.

III. Pushing the Cropping System to fail.

How far can the System go?

• “If you get up each morning and apply the accepted best management practices, you will be successful by yesterdays standards.  Only when you try something new do you have a chance to move ahead.”  Steve Suther

• Risk is innovations partner.