Not many American farmers can say their operation has been in the family since the 1600s. But Grier Stayton, farmer from Lincoln, Delaware, touts his family’s agricultural longevity and attributes its success to the family’s detailed attention to conservation and water management.
“We have an abundance of groundwater and no issues with having a well and being able to tap into the aquifer,” says Stayton. “But we have to be responsible. Part of the farm is in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and the other side goes to Delaware Bay. I’m right on the crown, so we have many regulations. Water is the primary yield-limiting factor in the sandy loam soils.”
Stayton today is the sole owner of 295 acres—including the family’s original 215 acres. About three-quarters of his tillable ground is irrigated with four center pivot systems. He raises corn, soybeans and alfalfa, and adds that wheat, milo and lima beans have been grown on the farm in the past. He manages about 100 acres of woodlands, including pine and mixed hardwoods.
“I am dependent on availability and quality of irrigation water, and I am willing to at least try new practices as they apply to my operation’s water management. Water conservation, efficient use of resources and generally good stewardship are considerations on 100% of the farm,” he says. “Irrigation allows me to get at least one additional cutting of hay, for example.
I don’t over irrigate. I monitor exactly what crop needs are. And of course, weather is a huge factor.”
Cover Crop Longevity
Relying on irrigation, Stayton says his corn yields an average of 220 bushels per acre. Soybeans yield an average of 60 bushels per acre. Cover crops are seeded every fall on all crop acreage by either an aerial or ground spreader, which has created better soil tilth and weed suppression. In addition, hay is used as a permanent cover on about 18% of the farm.
“My father started farming in 1949, and I never knew a year where he didn’t plant a cover crop of rye. I have always thought that was a great idea,” he says. “I’ve been using triticale as a cover crop. I think it’s beneficial as far as being able to control trapping nutrients for tillage purposes. I do practice some minimum tillage where it’s needed.”
Stayton sees fuel savings through no-till and minimum-till planting, given fewer trips across the fields and the reduction in labor. In addition to cover crops, drainage to ditches is managed through other nutrient management best practices that include annual soil testing, use of a manure storage shed, setbacks for manure storage and how the manure is spread.
“We are fortunate to have a strong poultry industry, which supports the grain market and provides poultry litter we can use as fertilizer,” he says. “I do not raise chickens, so I depend on neighbors and other sources to obtain local broiler manure and use it based on nutrient needs.”
Stayton only applies manure every two or three years. He also uses commercial fertilizer and is careful with applying only what is needed based on soil tests since overapplication affects the budget and water quality. He installed several drain tiles in areas prone to flooding, too.
Woodlands for Wildlife
While maintaining growing crops on the farm year-round is critical to Stayton’s conservation plans, so also is managing the wooded property for wildlife. He leaves grass hay strips around the edge of the woodlands so deer have forage without getting into the corn and soybeans.
“It helps to have the decoy, but it’s not a cure-all for sure. Wildlife is both a blessing and a curse,” he says. “We can have 20 or 30 deer in the fields at a time, so that does some damage.”
Stayton does offer some lease hunting for deer. In addition, he says they have a high fox population, as well as turkey, otters, game and predator birds and rabbits. He has even captured the attention of the bird-watching community for dickcissel birds, particularly.
“Wildlife appreciates the good cover, especially with the hay strips,” he says. “I also maintain stands of buckwheat, sunflower and milkweed for pollinators and have planted buffers of Leyland cypress and miscanthus grass along one border of the farm. We do no clear-cutting, we reseed the loblolly pine and maintain all of the grassed clearings for the wildlife.”
Knowledge to Practice
Farming isn’t Stayton’s only stint in agriculture. He also retired from the Delaware Department of Agriculture in 2007 as the state’s pesticide administrator. He spent 32 years with the department, first as a member of the inspection service grading potatoes during the summer and then working with pesticides. He has a bachelor’s degree in ag entomology and plant pathology.
“I was exposed to the university Extension service because we helped train the staff for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). I worked with the EPA on a number of programs, and that gave me a strong background in the environmental aspects of farming, water quality and soils,” he says. “My career afforded me the education and exposure to real-world issues relating to agriculture and the environment. Now I can put this knowledge into practice and pass it along to my son, who will be the next generation to farm this land.”
Son Nicholas Stayton views himself as an apprentice today, spending time with his dad and learning as much as he can from him. “It’s an honor to think of myself as the next steward of this property, so it’s very important to keep this a family farm. I am the thirteenth generation,” he says.
The Staytons are working with the University of Delaware Extension entomologist to maximize sustainable strategy to help monitor local insect populations. Grier has partnered with the Extension plant pathologist for a study to be conducted in 2022 on soil pathogens.
“There are a number of things that Extension has helped me with, including a lot of support from entomologists who have been on the farm and who have set up some field plots for pest control,” he says. “I have quite a problem with Dectes stem borer in soybeans, which cannot be effectively controlled with any spray, so we’re working on finding practices to try and mitigate that.”
Stayton also relies on Extension for the latest nutrient management advice. He is a certified pesticide applicator and schedules spraying based on economic thresholds for pests in corn, soybeans and hay. He generally monitors corn and soybeans himself for plant diseases and then consults with seed and Extension specialists to map out the best alternatives.
As for weeds, Stayton scouts fields to determine what control tactics are needed. “Cover crops, no-till planting, hand pulling and timely applications of postemergence herbicides effectively control weeds with a focus on the mode of action groups to manage resistance,” he says.
Ready for Generation 13
With so many aspects of sustainability ingrained in his daily decision-making, Stayton is confident he is doing all he can to ensure the farm is well-positioned to flourish in the future.
“I’m very proud of the farm and the farming history of my family. I’d like to see it keep going,” he says, adding that his 92-year-old mother still lives in the farmhouse. “The farm was gifted to me from my mother, and now I have my son to help me out.”
While Nicholas was not raised on the farm, he is willing to learn all he can and follow in his father’s footsteps to use sound agricultural practices to keep improving the soils and sustaining the woodlands as good habitat in a region that faces increasing urban development pressure.
“That’s really a big part of why I have so many deer. The farm is a haven for them. It’s a place they can come and eat and not be disturbed by development,” he says.
Stayton has enrolled his entire farm for perpetuity in the State of Delaware’s Aglands Preservation and Planning Program. As the first farm to start a preservation district in his area, he enabled other, smaller farms to also enroll in the program.
According to the state, “preservation districts are voluntary agreements where landowners agree to continue to only use their land for agriculture for at least 10 years. Agricultural easements are purchases of development rights by the Agricultural Lands Preservation Foundation, placing a permanent agricultural conservation easement on the property.”
“I am a big conservationist. I like to do whatever I can to continue to enrich the environment,” Stayton summarizes. “My approach is to leave the farm in better shape than when I inherited it.”
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