Contract Grazing Cover Crops for Winter Feed

Contract Grazing Cover Crops for Winter Feed - Farminar

Рет қаралды 2,335

Күн бұрын

Father and son team, Jon and Jared Luhman, operate Dry Creek Red Angus in Goodhue, Minnesota. Each winter they contract graze their cattle on cover crops and crop residue - whether it’s on their neighbors’ fields or hauling cattle to Nebraska to overwinter. In this farminar, the Luhmans discuss their winter grazing arrangements and how they work out the finances to benefit both the landowner and themselves.
Jon and Jared Luhman operate Dry Creek Red Angus, a family-owned and operated beef and cash-crop farm in Goodhue, Minnesota, growing organic crops and raising 100% grass-fed Red Angus and Hereford cattle. They direct-market grass-fed beef through a cooperative of local farmers called The Grass Fed Cattle Company, serving Minneapolis and St. Paul.
This farminar was recorded on February 16, 2021.
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Пікірлер: 5

@wesleycallison2079 3 жыл бұрын

When do you subtract added fertility from your costs, or are you?

@jonluhman4062 3 жыл бұрын

I did not subtract fertility added into the cost comparison given because it depends on how well you distribute the nutrients across the landscape in a usable way. Using the value of fertility on each bale ($33/ton or $.016/# consumed) it would yield almost $.59/cow day of nutrients to the land. That is substantial , if you get good distribution and all nutrients return to the soil and not washed away or leached out because of nutrient overload. The likely scenario is somewhere in between $.59/cow day and 0. I think rolling out hay would be best for distribution, but we don't like starting our tractor everyday. Instead we move our feeders every feeding to new ground and strategically put it where soil fertility is lacking. I should have shown that value in the presentation. I also should have noted that the calculation of feed usage is a combination of feed eaten and feed not eaten (wasted?) which still adds nutrients to the ground. Thanks for the question. Jon

@wesleycallison2079 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks, makes sense.

@duncancampbell8791 3 жыл бұрын

Does your relationship in NE feeD your cows protein?

@jonluhman4062 3 жыл бұрын

They do not feed protein to the cows. We did discuss possibly feeding modified distillers to the bred yearling heifers for the same cost if we sent them, but we ended up keeping them local. There would likely be an additional charge for the cows being fed protein, but I think for a cost he would do it. Other breeders for Pharo cattle company in the that region are not feeding supplement so we decided not to do it either.