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WCIN | +1
Cattle are a way to add more value to row crop acres.
I was fortunate to have some old pasture that can’t be farmed close by to make hay from, plus had my own pasture and crop ground, be it small. I make it to keep it mowed so it’s “free” but nothing is really free, old pastures are a bit*h to mow and eat up equipment.
Wanting to expand I was constantly in search of more ditch bank/old pastures to make hay from, getting farther and farther from home, its nearly as cutthroat as renting row crop acres.
Took a step back and looked at what I was doing, driving half way across the county to make 15-20 bales of marginal hay if I was lucky, much of the time I was mowing, raking and baling for a couple of bales just to appease land owners who wanted nice mowed areas for fall-winter. Decided to concentrate on what was close and give up the rest.
That’s when I discovered the wonderful world of cover crops, in particular cereal rye. Bale or pasture cornstalks, plant rye, bale or pasture rye, plant beans, apply manure and plant corn. That’s my current rotation on my row crop acres. Cows are in the field nearly as often as crops.
Last time I checked rent and land payments where for a whole year not just April to October | |
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Cattle Operation in Row Crop Country - Ideas
