Cover crops create new feed opportunities
Primarily grown for the purpose of improving or protecting the soil, cover crops also broaden options for livestock producers by creating new feeding opportunities and providing rest for perennial pastures. Four international livestock farmers talk about cover crops and share their goals and successes.
BY MELANIE EPP, FREELANCE CORRESPONDENT E
very farmer has a different reason for planting cover crops. Planting a non-cash crop between periods of regular production offers better protection for other- wise bare soil, protecting it from nutrient losses due
to leaching or run-off.
Name: Adam Lasch Occupation: Farmer Location: Southeast Wisconsin, USA Farm size: 250 acres Livestock: 50 dairy cows; 20 beef cows; layer hens Twitter: @AdamLasch1
Adam Lasch runs a small mixed farm in southeast Wisconsin where he raises beef and dairy cattle, and layer hens. While Lasch also wants to improve soil conditions, ultimately, he’s growing cover crops for feed. Lasch is on degraded and overworked rental land with heavy clay soil. Since the ground is often too wet, it’s not possible to put his dairy herd out to graze. Instead, he brings feed he grows to the cattle. In adverse weather years, the fact that he doesn’t have storage facilities adds to the challenges. “I needed to be able to get more feed from our limited land,” says Lasch.
But while his first goal is feed, his second is improving soil health and stopping erosion. Cover crops protect soil erosion on hilly land that sees many heavy rain events. Adding cover crops to his management system has been a ‘no brainer’, Lasch says. Being close to the Great Lakes means weather is highly vari- able, which means planting, fertilising and spraying windows are shorter and tighter. Cover crops, though, have improved versatility, tak- ing the pressure off in terms of timing. “I get more opportunities for optimum conditions,” he says. In a time when Wisconsin dairy farmers are struggling to stay afloat and where the common ideology has been ‘get big or get out’, Lasch
6 ▶ SUSTAINABILITY AND WELFARE | OCTOBER 2020
Cover crops benefit the soil’s physical and biological charac- teristics, improving everything from its tilth to its structure to its water-holding capacity. They also help to improve agro- nomic aspects, include insect, weed and disease control. Fi- nally, they can be used as ‘green manure’ to add organic ma- terial back to the soil. Doing so improves biological activity and improves overall soil health.
has used cover crops as a way to offset risk. “I don’t want to get big, and I don’t have the money to get big,” he states. “So I have to try and find some advantages in other places and the cover crops are really what allow us to do that.” “The versatility and diversity has offset risk – and cheaply,” he concludes.
Adam’s tips for success: • Look for ways to offset risk by improving versatility • Watch YouTube videos, network online, or connect with cover crop growers by phone
• Start small
PHOTO: ADAM LASCH
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