Cover Crops Extend Grazing Period for Cattle
Reservations for 120
In northwest Minnesota near Red Lake Falls, the Tabert and Miller families are trying to introduce as much fertility as possible into their sandy soils while coaxing more profitability from their Trinity Creek Ranch. A diverse menu of cover crops are key to allow cattle to graze at such a northern clime for as long as possible.
"We've started seeding rye after soybean harvest in October," says Mikayla Tabert, who returned to her family's farm in 2016 with husband, Benjamin. "There's not much season left after that, but the rye just needs enough time to germinate. You hope for the right conditions."
It is the rye, fescue or even peaola (peas and canola planted together) that, in most years, help their 120- to 150-head cow/calf operation continue to graze into January and beyond on cover crops and row-crop residue.
COVER CROP CHALLENGES
This system is not without hiccups. The families rely on continued experimentation with types of cover crops and the timing employed for planting, grazing and terminating them.
For instance, some cover crops planted in 2021 overwintered really well, "too well in some cases," Benjamin Tabert says. "We weren't able to terminate them at the right time [in 2022] due to wet conditions. But, it was nice to have cereal rye for calving in the spring." The availability of that field for calving allowed time for their annual grass pastures to recover from the dry previous year.
Mikayla and Benjamin work with her parents, David and Peggy Miller, on a 1,400-acre operation. The young couple, who met while in school at North Dakota State University (NDSU), decided to return to the Miller farm in large part because of the cattle.
Mikayla liked cattle generally, but she also wanted them for the benefits they provide in an operation following regenerative agriculture principles. The diversified income is also necessary to support two families on Trinity Creek Ranch. They have taken small steps toward marketing their cattle direct to consumers to further capture more income.
Benjamin, who grew up farming in northeastern North Dakota, didn't have experience with cattle on his family's crop operation. Mikayla was adamant when they dated about where she wanted to be after graduation.
"Part of my decision to even ask Mikayla out meant I had come to the conclusion I might not be going back to my home farm," Benjamin says with a laugh. "I did feel OK about the decision knowing that my brother was going to farm there."
The two families grow corn, soybeans, wheat, alfalfa, tall fescue, sunflower and peaola, in addition to running the cattle herd and small feedlot. The idea is to use crop rotations and cover crops as much as possible while moving cattle to the food.
A FLEXIBLE SYSTEM
In practice, the system calls for flexibility. A hot, dry May/June last year dampened their spring wheat and fescue performance. By contrast, their no-till soybeans and no-till sunflowers did well. "I think soil moisture was maintained better than in conventional systems," Mikayla says.
Through summer, fall and even into mid-January this year, they were able to graze cattle on pasture, cover crops and crop residue. A mild December helped in that regard. They didn't have to start feeding hay bales until the latter half of January.
Mikayla had been persistent in asking researchers at NDSU about information into the use of intercropping -- so much so that Marisol Berti, a noted cover crop expert there, suggested Mikayla do the research as part of a graduate program.
"She offered me a graduate position on the spot," Mikayla says. "I'd always wanted to do a master's [degree] but couldn't justify staying in school."
Now, she didn't have to. As part of the research, she planted sunflowers in 30-inch rows in mid- to late May. At the same time, using different implements and passes, they planted alfalfa (7.5-inch spacing) between the sunflower rows. Sunflowers were harvested in the fall.
There was a slight yield drag on sunflowers (up to 15%), Mikayla explains, even though the statistics showed no significant difference. The alfalfa was left in the field and, by spring, "functions more as a previously established alfalfa where we can get more cuttings and biomass yield than a newly seeded alfalfa," she says.
Even so, the field of alfalfa wasn't grazed since technically it was in its first year of production. "Sunflower-alfalfa intercropping allows a farmer to skip the low-yielding first year of alfalfa by raising a sunflower crop in the establishment year, with little impact to the alfalfa for the next full production year," Mikayla says.
It isn't like she and Benjamin came back to the farm and changed everything. Her parents were no strangers to conservation tillage and no-till. They switched to no-till nearly 30 years ago on wheat, peas, alfalfa and rye and, in 2021, began using 100% no-till. The children are merely helping take the practices to a new level.
"We're working for the highest profitability, not necessarily the highest yield," says David as he takes a break between passes cutting tall fescue, for which they produced seed on contract. "This has been a good crop in our rotation. The biggest surprise is how much grazing we get off it once we've harvested the seed."
The family can usually run 120 pairs of cattle or more on about 3 acres of fescue regrowth per day beginning in September. They've grazed fescue in December with around the same forage utilization as long as snow doesn't become too deep.
COST CONSCIOUS
The families operate frugally, with well-used equipment and a keen sense of their cost of operation. One of the first pieces of advice David Miller gave to his farming daughter was to use the University of Minnesota's farm business management programs, which allow producers to compare costs and incomes anonymously across the state.
In making those comparisons, the Taberts opted to try and graze cattle as long as possible rather than bale and put up more forage hay.
The idea is to expend less labor rotating cattle between pastures than they would cutting and baling forages. With up to 200 animals (counting calves) grazing, that's $300 per day in feed they are getting in the field.
"Every day we can graze in the winter is a plus," Mikayla says. "Those young cows come off winter pasture looking a little tough in the spring. But, we want cows that can deal with that -- we're trying to make an efficient cow herd."
ROTATIONAL GRAZING
Generally, the cow herd is in one or two groups -- cow/calf and heifers. Grazing paddocks are blocked off using a single, hot, Polywire at about the animals' chest height. Paddocks range from 4 to 20 acres but average about 8 acres, with wooded paddocks being larger.
More paddocks allow them to have a higher grazing intensity while extending rest and recovery time. Summer pastures are mostly native mix -- whatever grows there -- which can include orchardgrass, tall fescues, timothy, clovers and others.
"The cattle usually move very easily," Benjamin explains. "The cattle know they are getting more food." The family uses ATVs to move the herd, but quite often, the cattle will move on their own once the hot wire/gate is shifted.
In a nod to their life today, Mikayla says they'll try to use larger paddocks during busy planting and harvesting seasons so the cattle can be moved every two to three days rather than every day.
"I wouldn't say we want paddocks larger; we actually try to subdivide them if time allows," she continues. But, the reality is that the couple also feels the time crunch with two small children, Liam, 4, and Thea, 2 1/2, with a third on the way.
In the past year, they've added 100 acres of rented ground to the operation. "The landlord actually sought us out because they like no-till and cover crops," Mikayla says. "They also like to hunt and have noticed more wildlife on our land."
The Taberts don't have any illusions about how they may be perceived by others. In their fields, there are cover crop trials of Camelina, Kernza or even winter wheat, the cows are grazing in January or even February, and they do their work with well-maintained yet sufficiently aged equipment.
"I'm sure there are neighbors who think we're crazy," Mikayla says. "But, there is also curiosity." The healthy attendance at a handful of field days they hosted on their farm is evidence of that.
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