Cow/calf production is a vital component of the agricultural economies of the states in the North Central Region (NCR). The states of Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota alone have 8.2 million head of beef cows, which comprise over 25% of the nation's beef cows; adding the remaining states in the NCR brings that number to almost 11 million. This region accounts for 35% of the nation's beef cow herd (USDA, 2018). However, the number of cows in the region has steadily declined. We hypothesize that the reduction in cow numbers in the NCR is directly related to the loss of perennial forage resources due to land conversion to row crops such as corn and soybeans. Production of ethanol from corn, oil and oilseed co-products from soybeans, increased worldwide demand for wheat, and high crude oil prices caused a shift in land use in the NCR. During the time period of 1998 to 2008, the cropland acres in the states of ND, SD, NE and KS increased from 80.1 million to 82.8 million. This increase continued over the next decade as well with cropland acres rising to 85.0 million in 2018. Much of the increase in cropland (5 million acres) that occurred in the region over the past two decades resulted from the conversion of acres producing perennial forages. This has resulted in a reduction of the summer grassland acres in the NCR, while croplands with grazeable crop residues and the potential for double cropped fall and winter annual forages (cover crops) are increasing. This land conversion process does provide an opportunity for fall, winter, and early spring grazing, but reduces the amount of summer forages available. Concomitant with the decrease in acres of perennial forages is a decrease in the size of the US beef cow herd. Using the same time period of 1998-2018, the US cow herd declined from 42.8 million to 31.2 million, a loss of 11.6 million head (NASS, 2018). During the same period, beef cows in the 12 states of the NCR declined from 14.1 million to 10.8 million (NASS, 2018).  A large proportion of the decline (3 million head; 29%) of US beef cows numbers during the last two decades were lost in the NCR. The decrease in supply of perennial acres has also resulted in doubling of the rental rates for range and pastureland in the NCR.  Rental rates per animal unit month increased 35% from 1998 to 2008 and an additional 45% from 2008 to 2017 in the states of ND, SD, NE and KS (NASS, 2018).  This has resulted in significant increases in annual cow carrying costs. Thus to support or enhance the size of the region’s cattle herd, greater production and/or greater harvest efficiency of perennial grazinglands and/or alternative systems that do not rely on summer perennial forages are needed.

We propose to: investigate strategies to optimize the sustainable use of the remaining range and pastureland, expand the use of alternative forages such as crop residues, annual forages and double cropped annual forages, and develop integrated crop-cattle systems that optimize resource use and net returns. The loss of range and pastureland to cropland has increased the production pressure on the remaining land mass now producing perennial forages. These lands must be managed to efficiently capture the available forage resource, but in a sustainable manner so that long-term degradation does not occur. Harvest efficiency will increase linearly as grazing pressure is increased on pastures; however, individual animal performance will generally decrease with increased grazing pressure (Smart et al., 2010). To maintain animal production, strategies need to be explored to either increase available forage on grazinglands or to mitigate depressed animal gains as grazinglands receive greater grazing pressure. Greater forage production may potentially be attainable on the same land area by methods which shift species composition toward more productive species (Smart and Owens, 2008), or by incorporation of annual forage production such as interseeding warm season annuals into cool season pastures. Alternatively, strategies that alter the timing and density of animal stocking may enable an increase in animal production without increasing land area used (Owensby et al., 2008; Harmoney and Jaeger, 2011).

Capturing the expanding forage resources that are available with increased cropping systems is critical to the future of the US beef industry, especially in the NCR.  Integrated cow/calf systems have the potential to allow producers to capitalize on locally available feed resources to summer cattle such as harvested crop residues and other crop byproducts (for example distillers grains) and to use forages produced on cropland such as crop residues and cover crops (double cropped annual forages) to feed cattle in the fall, winter, and spring.  As crop yields increase, so does the non-grain biomass (residues). However, removal of the residue biomass, whether by grazing or harvest, must be optimized so that land productivity is not compromised long term. The use of cover crops is known to improve soil characteristics while producing high quality forage. However, data evaluating grazing of cover crops are limited, especially in Midwestern cropping systems. Additionally, as grain prices change with time, some producers may find it beneficial to integrate annual forages for livestock production into their production system to maximize profit. Within these integrated systems optimization of animal management, including timing of calving, feeding management of cows and calves when confined, and health management are also vitally important.
           

Our project addresses priority research objectives established under the guidelines for Multi-State Research Projects of the North Central Regional Association under two broad areas: 1) agriculture production, processing and distribution, and 2) natural resources and the environment. This project will specifically meet the regional objectives to 1) design economically and environmentally sound methods to convert biomass and secondary products into food and nonfood uses, 2) develop alternative agricultural production systems to enhance economic competitiveness in the rural landscape, and 3) develop guidelines for optimal economic, social and environmental management of non-cropped farm and natural ecosystems and for restoration of damaged ecosystems. This project will be conducted at research stations throughout the NCR. Participants have access to experimental pastures and cropland, livestock handling and feeding facilities, and laboratories at their respective institutions. Researchers at the participating institutions have a history of successful collaborative research through previous committees. The advantages of a multi-state effort include synergistic relationships among multi-disciplinary colleagues at the different institutions, ability to evaluate management practices over wide north-to-south and east-to-west climatic gradients, and the ability to disseminate research findings to a broad regional audience. Several project faculty members have cooperative extension appointments and will assist with the dissemination of research findings. The conversion of range and pasturelands to cropland is widespread in these states, and the potential to incorporate beef production into crop production systems is high. The opportunity to expand beef production is great in the states of the NCR because of the biomass resulting from expanding cropping systems, including crop residues, double cropped annual forages and crop co-products. Furthermore, perennial grass forages still encompass a major portion of the NCR; the land area potentially affected by effective management of rangeland and the number of producers that could benefit is extensive. Collaborative extension efforts will aid in reaching this broad audience.

The likely impacts from successfully completing this work include: 1) Increased knowledge of grazing and management strategies to shift pastures to more productive species, 2) Increase in the forage production output of perennial grasslands, 3) Development of strategies for incorporation of double cropped annual forage production into cropping systems, 4) Implementation of animal management systems that match timing of forage supplies, and 5) Increased understanding and development of systems for management of cows with limited perennial acres. The economic impact of beef production has been estimated to be from $1850 to $5200 per cow, depending on whether or not the economic impact of the feeder and finishing sector is separated from the cow/calf sector. If the cow herd were expanded from 31 million head to 35 million head as a result of the strategies proposed herein, the economic impact would be estimated at $7.4 billion for the cow-calf sector, and over $20 billion for the beef industry as a whole. Much of the potential to expand the cow herd exists in the NCR because of the potential use of traditional and non-traditional forages and co-products in the region.