Flexibility. For farmers today, that one little word can mean added opportunity to a crop management plan.
That’s certainly true for Iowa farmer Randy Riediger. By incorporating small grains into his rotation, Riediger has opened the door to other options between regular cash crops, improved the health of his soil, and created more grazing opportunities for his livestock.
“A small grain gives you one more chance to market your crop in between your regular cash crops,” Riediger explains. “We can graze it. That means your flexibility increases so much, and you’re not tied to a standard corn-bean rotation.”
Riediger grows corn, soybeans, alfalfa and small grains in addition to managing a cow–calf herd and hog enterprise in northeast Nebraska.
Conservation-Minded
Riediger says the conservation tillage technique first helped him navigate challenging times in the early 1980s. He’s been using the practice ever since. He’s also added cover crops, water ways and other stewardship practices to his operation.
According to Riediger, holding topsoil in place is the bottom line in farming. With livestock on hand, incorporating small grains as a cover crop in his rotation helps him accomplish that while extending the grazing season and adding valuable nutrients back to the soil.
“My main goal is to try and carry three cows per acre on 150 days of grazing, from the first of November all the way to about the first of May,” Riediger says. “That’s such a cost savings.”
While there’s no “magic” mix in terms of the best variety to use in a crop rotation, Riediger has had success sowing rye, oats, peas and buckwheat. He says peas return nitrogen to the soil; phosphorus is added by growing buckwheat.
Plus, the small grain cover crops help loosen the soil, which encourages water infiltration rates.
“If you can add more biomass to the ground, that increases the organic matter,” Riediger explains. “And it helps to keep the microbes busy during the winter.”
Valuable Asset
While some farmers might be reluctant to try new farming practices, Riediger says integrating small grains and cover crops into a rotation is worth the effort, especially when realizing how valuable the species can be in helping to hold the soil in place.
According to Sarah Carlson, senior programs and member engagement director, Practical Farmers of Iowa, groups like PFI provide consultation and “recipes” that can assist farmers with changing the course of their management plan, making it easier to adopt new practices.
“One of our biggest issues with farming is our inability to control what we make in the market,” Carlson says. “Cover crops and small grains help farmers control their input costs. In the long term, they’re the better bet.”
For Riediger, adding small grains to his crop rotation has proved to be worth the effort. Reduced insect and weed pressure have only added to the benefits through cost savings in the need for fungicides.
“Even with 40 years of no-till, I have to say that once we introduced cover crops, [our operation] took a different turn.”
