35 Story Idea? Email Paul.Nolan@Farms.com Better Farming | February 2024 How do you balance livestock and crops? Luckily enough, they are almost made for each other. They have made it easy to balance so far. By the time the cows come back from pasture we are done harvest. Nothing happens with the grain farm when we are calving in January, and we are typically done calving by seeding and then they go to pasture. They balance themselves pretty nicely. We keep both the cattle and grain operations separate. We want to recognize them as separate operations. Cattle also has advantages to the grain side. We do have areas of land, such as low wet spots, and now we can utilize and seed alfalfa and make those acres usable. We are able to work with neighbours and bale straw and use that for the cattle. Grain and cattle seem to be yin and yang. Right now, it’s been the easiest part of the whole thing. BF The couple raise Simmental and Angus-cross cattle. Jackie Dudgeon-MacDonald photo
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