Missouri cattle farmers embrace sustainability, balancing economics and stewardship. Rotational grazing, diverse forages and direct marketing boost profitability and environmental care.

Cow-calf producer Lee Eikermann of Delhi Sustainable Farms in Bourbon, Mo., grew up on a farm, then became a union commercial carpenter amid the challenging 1980s.

But in the 1990s, his passion for farming reemerged with the birth of his son, Wyatt. They’ve since become partners in envisioning an increasingly sustainable future on this direct-to-market grass-fed beef operation.

“He was like, ‘Dad, we need to do something different. I’ve been looking at all this stuff,’” Eikermann says, recalling of one of those early conversations. “We started dabbling in rotational grazing.”

He kick-started the process with pasture management systems training through USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Ever since, he’s been self-taught, and he’s loving it.

“It was a lot of long days,” Eikermann says. “We work from daylight to dark and all weekends. Though not everyone would see that as enjoyable, my son and I love to spend that time together. We have things set up pretty well to hopefully reduce some of the workload in the future.”

Challenging convention and operating outside of the box will become increasingly important for Missouri cattle producers looking to balance economics and environmental stewardship, says Eric Bailey, an associate professor in the University of Missouri Division of Animal Sciences and the state beef nutrition specialist with MU Extension.

“The Missouri beef production system is far too reliant on iron and oil,” Bailey explains. “In other words, we require a lot of equipment and inputs to raise a calf crop. Missouri needs to take a look at how states west of the hundredth meridian produce beef cattle.

“Stocking rates on pasture are more conservative [and in line with carrying capacity], hay feeding is not a normal production practice and ranches out West have multiple enterprises using forages grown on pasture. This allows for greater drought resilience and maintenance of the natural resources with little to no inputs.”

Sustainability trends for beef

These days, Bailey is especially focused on finding ways for more Missouri beef producers to incorporate three key practices.

1. Adapting the mix of plants growing in pastures. “Renovating a portion of farms from tall fescue to native warm-season grasses is proving to be a benefit to the sustainability of farms when they are not just using the warm-season grasses as a hay crop,” Bailey says.

2. Integrating row-crop and cattle operations more intentionally. Bailey points to the fact MU is prioritizing research into improved ways to use cover crops for soil health and livestock production benefits, such as grazing cover crops.

3. Taking advantage of the state’s grain sorghum crop. “Using standing grain sorghum as a winter feed for beef cows instead of hay is a sustainable way to reduce beef cow winter feed costs,” Bailey explains.

Other approaches to sustainable beef production are yielding compelling and supportive data, too.

In spring 2023, researchers at MU’s Southwest Research, Extension and Education Center in Mount Vernon evaluated double stocking, grazing stocker cattle at twice the historical stocking rate for half the time. They wanted to avoid the summer slump in tall fescue forage production and reduce the risk of fescue toxicosis in cattle.

The study revealed that heifers gained 349 pounds per acre over 84 days stocked at 2.4 head per acre compared to the average beef cow, which gains 183 pounds per acre over twice as long a period.

Shift in operation, investment required

In east-central Missouri, Delhi Sustainable Farms made changes to its operation to focus on sustainability and consumer demands.

Eikermann has plowed in 15,000 feet of water lines across 320 acres, spanning two noncontiguous tracts so they can rotate mamas and calves daily while maintaining access to fresh water.

This year, they’ll focus on soil health by building a Yeoman’s plow, equipment that originated in Australia. to retain moisture and develop topsoil by encouraging water infiltration.

Genetics has been another priority. After extensive research, Eikermann and his son landed on a Beefmaster-English cross. They’re on their second set of Beefmaster bulls, and the calves are performing well, grazing in the heat of the summer sun when other cattle breeds rest in the shade, Eikermann says.

During 2018, the father-son duo started evaluating their cow-calf operation and realized it wasn’t making ends meet.

Wyatt, being more analytical, thought pivoting to direct-to-consumer marketing and trying to integrate more animal enterprises would be the crucial thing the farm needed to keep going. Every member of the family held an important role in making the switch, with Wyatt at the lead.

They sell about 25 cattle this way annually, plus 250 broilers. Now, Wyatt and his wife are finishing their residencies at MU to become medical doctors — and planning to additionally incorporate pasture-raised chickens behind the cows and even add goats or sheep at a later date.

Key takeaways

For Missouri beef producers exploring new opportunities in sustainability, Lee Eikermann feels strongly that the place to invest is water access, flexible fencing (ideally supported by four-by-fours equipped at all times with basic fencing gear) and a few good herd dogs. These days, he can move cows in about 15 minutes.

Overall, it’s been “a real joyful learning experience,” Eikermann says. “You just get to watch the cattle and the way they move.”

MU’s Bailey encourages beef producers interested in sustainability investments to explore resources available through the school’s Center for Regenerative Agriculture and projects such as the USDA-funded Missouri Conservation Crop and Livestock Project. Yet it’s also important to keep an eye on economic sustainability — especially the bottom line — since cattle prices and input costs have risen in tandem.

“We have to be cautious about investments and avoid overpaying for cattle,” Bailey says.

Source - https://www.farmprogress.com