Gains on Covers

Unusual Cover Crop Mix Cuts Need for Hay Production By 75%

Jerry Doan replaces winter hay with a unique cover crop mix, saving $50,000 in annual feed costs for his North Dakota operation. (Progressive Farmer photo courtesy of North Dakota Burleigh County Natural Resources Conservation Service)

It took Jerry Doan several years and a lot of trials, but the North Dakota beef producer has learned how to replace hay with cover crops for winter feed. It was time well spent. Doan said he's reducing annual feed costs by as much as $50,000.

Those big savings are great, but the benefits don't end there. Doan said he's seen improved health in the cattle herd, which he attributes to the animals not being confined to a small area.

The greatest improvement he's seen, however, is in soil health. Doan has cut both phosphorus and nitrogen inputs by 25% for some of his row crops that follow covers. He usually grows corn, soybeans, wheat and sunflowers, as well as all his hay (about 1,000 tons per year).

The hay is a mix of alfalfa and native grasses. In this area, cool-season native grasses may include canarygrass, June grass, needlegrass, wheatgrass and wild rye. Warm-season natives include bluestem, buffalograss, cordgrass, grama, Indian grass, sandreed and switchgrass.

HAY PRODUCTION DOWN

"I'm not a cover crop expert," Doan said. "But spending all summer in a hayfield drove me crazy as a kid. It didn't make sense to bale hay, haul it in, process it, use a machine to feed it and then haul manure back to the field. That might have worked when fuel was $1 a gallon. Now, it quickly pushes cattlemen to the break-even point."

Doan put up about 4,000 tons of hay each year before he started using covers for grazing. He's now cut hay production by at least 75%.

RICH LEGACY

Part of Doan's motivation for improving Black Leg Ranch stemmed from his children wanting to return after college. They mark the fifth generation that will work the ranch. Ancestors homesteaded it in 1882. A history of the ranch notes it is now 10,000 acres of privately owned land and one of the oldest working cattle operations in the country.

"It was exciting to learn that our daughter and three sons wanted to be part of the operation, but it's challenging to make it all work," Doan said. "Between me, my wife, Renae, sons Jeremy, Jay and Jayce, we raise crops, maintain a cow/calf operation, custom-graze yearlings and operate a wildlife guiding, hunting, and agritourism operation. Our daughter Shanda and her husband, Don, live off the ranch, helping when they can."

It's been at least 12 years since Doan started exploring cover crops for grazing. Several years after completing the holistic management course created by research biologist and Zimbabwean farmer Allan Savory, Doan began modifying his grazing strategy.

"Intensive-grazing principles helped me change my winter-feeding process. I also now look at my ranch as a whole without isolating the beef production," Doan said. "In the past, I was trained to look at one problem in our operation and find a solution. I've learned that what I do in one segment of the ranch impacts everything. In solving a problem, I need to look at the operation as a whole."

The first two or three years Doan planted cover crops, he ended up with lots of weeds and not much else. Still, he knew high input costs threatened his operation's sustainability. So he continued to search for a program that would work.

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"We have a lot of marginal soil," Doan said. "We have to think about the long-term impact of our practices. High input costs make it difficult to stay competitive in the protein market."

COVER CROP GOALS

In searching for answers, Doan took pencil to paper and identified three main goals he wanted to achieve from using cover crops. Those included reducing winter feed costs, building soil health and propagating wildlife for their hunting business.

"What didn't work for me was following a crop with cover crops," Doan said. "Often we had a dry fall, and cover crops didn't have the moisture or time to grow before the first hard freeze. My solution was to use full-season cover crop varieties and plant them by mid-June."

By allowing his covers to grow all summer, Doan produced between 4 and 5 tons of grazeable winter forage.

"It took research and planning, but I've kept cover crop seed costs down to $25 or $30 per acre," Doan said. "There are 12 different plants in my mix. I wanted plants that retained nutrient content at maturity, so I include collards, Winfred kale and Graza fodder. Even after a freeze, under the canopy of taller plants, collards and kale look green. They're not growing, but they're appealing to cattle."

On average, Doan runs about 400 cow/calf pairs and will often custom-graze 2,000 yearlings. Because he wants to build soil organic matter, he typically grazes just half the cover crop. After finding that wildlife took out temporary fencing every day, he started grazing cattle in larger pastures, moving them every few weeks instead of every few days.

"That makes a much better quality of life," he added. "In 2012, a real open year as far as snow, I went to March 1 without feeding hay. That's not to say you don't need an annual backup plan. I have hay I could feed if I had to. Even in our worst weather, I haven't needed as much hay as I used to."

TRACKING CATTLE NUTRITION

To ensure that his cattle receive the best possible nutrition, Doan routinely submits manure samples to the Grazingland Animal Nutrition Lab (GAN Lab). He uses that data and GAN's Nutritional Balance Analyzer system (NUTBAL) to help with nutrition plans and to track performance.

"I calve in May and June, which makes this work for me. In poor weather, before cows were in the third trimester, NUTBAL tests showed they weren't gaining by grazing covers, but they weren't losing either," Doan said. "On average, I save $140 to $150 per head on annual feed costs. That's huge."

Soil testing verifies the increased soil biologic activity in Doan's fields. He harvested 2,200 bushels per acre of sunflowers after reducing fertilizer inputs by 25%, which he sees as another sign of soil health.

"I leave litter [plant residue] on the ground, which helps retain moisture, improves water infiltration and keeps soil cooler in summer," Doan said. "I even tried following one cover crop with another and tripled soil biologic activity. My process is unique to my ranch. But cover crop principles are the same. I'm more profitable, more flexible in marketing calves and have better quality of life. I'm very pleased with all of it."

DOAN'S MIX

Doan no tills in this cover crop seed mix. It includes:

BMR Grazing Corn @ 5 pounds/acre

Browntop Millet @ 3 pounds/acre

Collards @ 0.5 pound/acre

Cowpeas @ 5 pounds/acre

Crimson Clover @ 1 pound/acre

Forage Peas @ 5 pounds/acre

Graza Fodder @ 0.5 pound/acre

Red Proso Millet @ 3 pounds/acre

Sorghum-Sudan Cross @ 5 pounds/acre

Soy @ 5 pounds/acre

Sunflower @ 0.5 pound/acre

Winfred Kale @ 1 pound/acre

More information about Doan and his ranch is available at www.blacklegranch.com

(VM/CZ)

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