Respect for land, cattle breeds
success on Belmont County farm
By Kyle ShaRp over the winter or when the pastures are
When Rick and Jayne Young sold wet. If the ground is frozen or dry in the
their farm near Moundsville, W.Va., and winter, round bales are rolled down
moved to Ohio in 1995, they saw first- steeper slopes where manure is not able
hand the effects of neglecting the land. to be spread mechanically.
Their new Ohio farm, which consisted of “We try to roll out a lot of hay,” Rick
283 acres of purchased land and an addi- said. “Enough for them to eat in an eight-
tional 2,500 leased acres, was reclaimed to 10-hour period, so there is not a lot of
strip mine land that was covered with waste and the hay helps seed the ground
multi-flora rose and autumn olive fol- where you roll it out.”
Rick and Jayne Young stand among a group of cows on
lowing years of soil depletion. Grass is stockpiled for winter grazing
their Belmont County commercial Angus-based cow-calf
“There wasn’t anything here when we and monitored for nutrients. The first of
and backgrounding operation. The Youngs’ efforts to
moved here,” Rick said. “We put up a August, 200 acres with five paddocks are improve the land where their cattle graze and show their
house and three barns and started fencing.” set aside for calving. Cows are turned
knowledge with others earned them the 2009
After purchasing the ground, their first into the protected area of stockpiled for-
Environmental Stewardship Award from the Ohio
step was to develop a conservation plan age to freshen the middle of March. This
Cattlemen’s Association and Ohio Livestock Coalition.
Their house and and some of the farm’s facilities are on
and implement it as quickly as possible. provides protection from the weather,
the hill in the background.
The plan largely consisted of clearing muddy areas and trampling from over-
unwanted brush, fencing off paddocks for crowded conditions.
washouts are repaired as soon as possi-
This is one of several heavy use pads that have been
grazing and supplying the soil with need- “We learned very quickly you can cut
ble, and brush and weed control is an
installed on the farm to provided a solid place to feed
ed nutrients so pastures could flourish. your foot off if you put them in a small
annual battle.
cattle during the wet, winter months.
“It took two years to finish with area to watch, because you get mud,
“You skip one year and you’ve lost
“If we weren’t on the nutrient pro-
fences and the home place, then we scours and other problems,” Jayne said.
two years, because it takes so long to get
gram we are, probably all that would be
kicked into other EQIP projects.” “So we give them plenty of room.”
caught back up,” Rick said.
there is fescue,” Rick said.
Fields were divided into 57 paddocks Cattle have been excluded from the 16
To replenish their ground’s nutrient
All the farm’s ground, owned and
of roughly 40 to 50 acres each. With the ponds and streams on the land to prevent
levels, the Youngs worked in cooperation
leased, gets the same treatment.
help of technical assistance from USDA pond and stream bank erosion and
with Synagro Central LLC to use
“We have the utmost respect for our
Natural Resources Conservation Service improve water quality. Four stream cross-
biosolids to improve the soil and its pro-
cattle as we do the land,” Jayne said.
and the Belmont Soil and Water ings consisting of stone over geotextile
ductivity. From 1999 to 2005, more than
That respect for the land earned the
Conservation District, and cost-share cloth have been installed to protect water
10,500 dry tons of biosolids were applied
farm the 2009 Environmental
funds through the USDA Environmental quality and provide a stable place for cattle
on 1,648 EPA-permitted acres, for an
Stewardship Award from the Ohio
Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), they to cross where needed. Fourteen springs
average of 14.77 dry tons of organic mat-
Cattlemen’s Association and Ohio
installed 20,000 fence posts and 628,000 have been developed using recycled tire
ter. In fertilizer equivalents, they received
Livestock Coalition.
feet of high-tensile fence. Taking advan- tanks, and 15,000 feet of pressurized water-
207 tons of urea, 172 tons of phosphorus
Today, Young’s Cattle Company con-
tage of EQIP helped with expenses, plus lines have been installed to provide clean
48 tons of potassium and 2,854 tons of
sists of a 400-head, commercial Angus-
the program had some new ideas for water in each paddock.
lime. Synagro applied the nutrients at no
based, cow-calf herd and 25 herd sires.
improving the ground and easing work- In addition, 5,000 feet of access roads
cost. The value of the nutrients would
They also background about 5,000
load, Jayne said. have been built to prevent compaction and
have been $300,000 at 2004 prices and
stocker calves on grass. The calves are
Cattle are moved between paddocks muddy areas that would otherwise likely
$538,000 at 2008 prices, without spread-
purchased between 550 and 750
weekly, and the rotation is different each runoff into the streams. Cattle also have
ing costs. Plus, it saved the material from
pounds, vaccinated, and sold after a
year to allow for periods of rest and for been fenced out of the heavily wooded
otherwise being landfilled.
minimum of 30 days at about 800
certain forage species to grow. areas on the farm to protect the forests and
With the improved nutrient levels,
pounds to feedlots in western Ohio and
“Once you start rotating them, the provide quality wildlife habitat.
the farm’s pastures have become more
Illinois. The farm is a designated sta-
gates don’t bother them and moving “We have a love of the land,” Jayne said.
lush and diverse, without reseeding.
tion for the West Virginia Cattlemen’s
them isn’t a problem,” Rick said. “But “If your ground is not at its potential, then
Forage species on the farm include fes-
Association graded sale. Annually,
the first couple weeks can be a circus.” the cattle will not reach their potential.”
cue, orchardgrass, timothy, brome,
about 600 cattle are brought to Young’s
Sixteen heavy use pads have been With that in mind, areas torn up from
birdsfoot trefoil, hops clover, and red
to be sorted, weighed on certified
installed to feed round bales in rings the winter are tilled and reseeded,
and white clover.
scales and shipped to buyers through
the farm’s handling facility. This
year, they also custom fed 163 head
for slaughter.
In addition to Rick and Jayne, the
farm has one full-time employee,
Cody Detling.
Young’s Cattle Company hosts many
grazing tours for local groups, and they
are always willing to talk to producers
and answer questions. They may have
numerous suggestions, but it all boils
down to one basic point.
“Whether it’s ground or cattle, if you
treat them good, they’ll treat you good,”
Jayne said.
The Youngs have installed four stream crossings, such
as this one, throughout the farm. The crossings, con-
sisting of stone over geotextile cloth, offer a place
Grazing cattle have been fenced out of many waterways at Young’s Cattle Company. This picture shows cattle where cattle can cross the waterways without destabi-
fenced out of a pond. Two troughs that feed off the pond, to the right of the picture, supply water to the cattle. lizing or eroding the stream banks or bottoms.
Ohio’s Country Journal • July 2009 • Environmental Stewards 21
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44