Beef: Cover crops and off-season grazing pays off for Van Mar Farms

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Mike Buis' use of year-round field cover and grazing is lowering his feed costs and earning him recognition for his extensive conservation practices

by PATRICIA GROTENHUIS

Grazing animals on a field planted with winter cover crops can have numerous benefits, as Mike Buis, the owner of Van Mar Farms of Kent County, has discovered.

The farm, located on fertile cash-cropping land, is a leader in off-season grazing in Ontario. According to Jack Kyle, grazing specialist at the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), there is no one else he knows in Ontario grazing to the same extent.

"The longer the growing season, the more opportunity you have to do it, but there's an interest across all of southern Ontario in using cover crops," says Kyle.

Buis, a third generation owner, watched his grandfather and father practising conservation his entire life, which led to a passion for protecting the land while farming.
"If we look after the land," says Buis, "it will look after us."

Van Mar Farms consists of a cash crop, feedlot and cow-calf operation. The 700-acre farm grows cucumbers, green beans, tomatoes, seed corn, field corn and soybeans. The cow-calf operation has 325 cows, with most calves being kept for the feedlot.

For the past five years, Buis has been working with Jack Kyle and Anne Verhallen, soil management specialist at the ministry, to establish year-round field cover and grazing on virtually all of his land. 

Once corn is harvested, rye and oats are broadcast into the undisturbed stubble. Cucumbers and green beansare followed by oats, tomatoes are followed by rye and winter wheat is planted after soybeans. Buis has tried just about everything for cover crops, including peas and turnips, and is continuing to try new crops.

Land covered by oats and other fast-establishing crops is grazed in the fall, while land covered by rye or slow-establishing crops is grazed in the winter and early spring. One of the reasons Buis can graze so extensively is the long growing season and use of early season annual crops, such as vegetables.

Originally, Buis was concerned about soil compaction from the cattle. However, he has not seen any evidence of compaction when following crops emerge. Verhallen suggests the soil health has improved greatly since cover crops were first planted. The wide range of crops being grown has benefitted soil structure through different root systems, and a variety of root exudates has increased soil bacteria and insects.

Having less snowfall than other areas of Ontario also contributes to the success of winter grazing. Kyle notes that many farmers are using cover crops for extended fall grazing, rather than in the winter like Buis does. "I think there's certainly an opportunity to use this practice on a number of farms," he says.

As interest in cover crops and off-season grazing grows, Ray Robertson, manager of the Ontario Forage Council, feels there will be increased demand for research in this area. 
To date, research has been restricted by lack of funding.

Buis is happy with the results of growing cover crops for conservation and grazing purposes. Wind erosion is limited, leaving a white snow cover on Van Mar's fields. He feels there is less machinery wear since winter crops are not harvested or plowed in the spring. The herd is better exercised from being on pasture year-round, and Buis has noticed a significant decrease in feed costs.

He was initially concerned about grazing in the event of a large snowfall, uncommon in Kent. Several years ago the snow reached one foot deep, when a thaw followed by a freeze formed an ice crust. But the cattle broke the ice with their hooves and continued grazing.

In one of the early years for cover crop grazing on Van Mar Farms, Buis researched his cost savings and found that the cattle did not require any supplementary feeding between Jan. 8 and March 30. Buis calculated how much feed cattle would have been required if the cattle had been kept in the barn and what the cost of growing and harvesting the cover crop would have been, and he found a savings of $60 per acre.

Depending on the weather, there are years when supplementary feed is required by the cattle on pasture. Whenever possible, Buis feeds vegetables discarded from nearby retail outlets and processors.

Other conservation methods include windbreaks, which Buis began planting over 25 years ago and no-till practices in use for over 20 years. All creeks are fenced off, and buffer zones exist between fields and water. A five-acre wildlife habitat of trees was planted where the buffer zone was not possible.

In 2009, Van Mar Farms' extensive conservation practices, Van Mar Farms earned it the title of Conservation Farm of the Year by the Kent Soil and Crop Improvement Association and Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority. BF