Before you stop reading because I used farming instead of ranching, this is still an article where the cow is the star of the show. Synergy describes two separate systems that, when combined, yield more than the sum of the individual systems when they are alone. In my experience, farms and ranches that use both crops and livestock to add value to a land investment have synergy.
Living in the Midwest, I see plenty of acres seemingly forever subscribed to tillage-heavy row-crop production. While there is a time and place for just about anything in agriculture, it is so rejuvenating to see farms create opportunities to harness synergy by including cattle. I’m not talking about just “walking the corn to town.” It’s more than that. It is utilizing cattle manure for fertilizer, growing corn silage followed by cover crops for high-tonnage forage systems, grazing crop residues and waterways, and feeding coproducts, such as corn gluten feed, distillers grains, soybean hulls and others. It brings valuable nutrients onto the farm by running them through the cattle first. It is also about building a local food option for the community as well. I have witnessed many young people return to the farm and utilize direct marketing to add value to farm products.
Emerging use of cover crops has an enormous application on livestock operations. I have always struggled with why farmers only utilize high-priced farm ground for six months out of the year. Allowing cover crops to feed the soil biology and provide some source of feedstock for cattle is one of the fastest-growing practices in agriculture. Opportunities for stacking row crops, cover crops and livestock are proving to be a profitable venture for many farmers regardless of soil type.
Technology, while still costly in some cases, is progressing rapidly in cattle production. Virtual fencing, water monitoring, animal monitoring and so many other technologies are going to help remove hurdles for getting livestock on the land. I hope we see more adoption of these technologies to return livestock to the land.
Other benefits include sharing equipment and overhead costs between row-crop and livestock operations. Incorporating livestock requires much less capital investment to bring a son or daughter back to the farm than purchasing or renting enough tillable ground to support another family.
The mutual benefits, cost sharing and increases in land utilization are extremely attractive. As the beef industry is looking for ways to expand amid drought, farmers should be looking at how cattle and crops can work together to allow farm expansion. Taking advantage of the mutual benefits that cattle and crop production have can lead to more profits and a sustainable farming operation.
