Livestock Integration Update

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As many people know, Dakota Lakes was established to research irrigation and no-till farming techniques. So, since we started integrating livestock on the landscape several yers ago, we’ve frequently been asked the big question — WHY do we have livestock at Dakota Lakes? It all comes down to taking a systems approach to the land.

Livestock play a vital role in harvesting cover crops and perennial forages used in crop rotations. Livestock grazing generates short-term economic returns while forages provide long-term soil benefits. Grazing crops in the field, rather than removing grain and hay, ensures that organic matter and mineral nutrients remain in place and are returned to the soil.

Perennials offer additional advantages. Their deep root systems stay active deeper in the soil and for a longer portion of the growing season compared to annuals. These roots transport nutrients from deeper layers back to the surface, making them accessible to subsequent crops. In areas with high water tables, perennials also help reduce salinity by drawing down excess water and mitigating saline seeps. When cattle graze cropland and consume supplemental feed such as soybean meal and grain, most of the nutrients and organic matter from those inputs remain on the land, contributing to soil fertility.

Consulting Agroecologist Dr. Cody Zilverberg and former Dakota Lakes manager, Sam Ireland, have shared some interesting observations from the past two years of livestock integration in these reports, including insights about the challenge of getting warm-season grasses established in existing pastures, the impacts of targeted grazing on cool-season exotic grasses, the importance of finishing (timing, feed type, etc.) on caracass quality, and more.

Ample Wildlife

Just like people, wildlife needs food, shelter, and water not just to survive but to thrive. The farming practices we follow at Dakota Lakes nurture a robust ecosystem that provide for the needs not only of the deer and pheasants that are popular with local hunters and nature enthusiasts but also a diverse range of species that ideally keeps pests at bay naturally without the need for intensive pesticide intervention.

Healthy Food

Much of the nutrient acquisition in plants is mediated by microbes, so soils that are home to a rich diversity of microbial life are better equipped to provide plants with their required nutrition effectively and efficiently. Recent studies have shown foods, including meat, grown under regenerative farming practices contain higher levels of certain vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals than those grown under conventional farming practices. While the science behind these studies is complex and sample sizes are small and highly variable, preliminary results suggest that regenerative practices can enhance the nutritional profile of many of the foods we eat.

Clean Water

Carbon is one of the best water filters known to man, and regenerative farming practices like no-till, cover crops, and livestock integration help to maintain or even increase soil carbon levels. Plants serve as natural “carbon pumps,” bringing carbon in from the atmosphere by way of photosynthesis and feeding it to soil microbes in the form of exudates. In addition, plants take up and hold onto nutrients that are mineralized in the soil, so keeping living roots in the ground for as much of the year as possible goes a long way to preventing nutrient runoff into local waterways.

Living Soils

By following diverse cropping rotations, keeping a living root in the ground as much as possible, integrating livestock, maintaining good soil armor, and keeping soil disturbance to a minimum, we are nurturing the soil microbiome and providing favorable conditions for the bacteria, fungi, nematodes, protozoa, insects, earthworms, and other living creatures that call the soil their home. Just a teaspoon of healthy soil can contain billions of microbes and our goal is to promote a natural, balanced environment that allows them to thrive.