Wilson Land and Cattle Company

It is important to note that when Russ was farming conventionally, he was focused primarily on cattle and not other complementary enterprises.  These additional enterprises have not only accelerated and enhanced his regenerative progress, but also his revenue streams.

BACKGROUND

Russ has been on farms his whole life. He grew up on a small, 25-cow conventional dairy farm.  Both of his parents worked off-farm to support the dairy and make ends meet.  When Russ was a junior or senior in high school, his family sold the dairy because they couldn’t make it work.  After the farm was sold, Russ worked on five different dairies and was with each until the owners retired or went out of business.  Following that, Russ took a job at a factory away from the farm, but all the while he kept his own livestock and chicken enterprises.  He discovered that factory work just wasn’t a good fit, confirming his need to be outdoors.

At about age 25, he went into business for himself, starting a logging business, then a steel fabrication business—and through those years, Russ also worked as a part-time farrier.

Russ and Lennie ventured into farming together in 2008 when they leased their first farm.  His philosophy is, whenever he produces something for sale, he tries to sell the highest quality possible.  About 25 years ago, for example, he purchased a flock of 25 chickens for $25 each.  These were rare birds imported to the USA, Barnvelders, Marans, and Wellsummers.  While it seemed, as Russ put it, “A crazy, ridiculous amount of money to pay for the flock back then,” he collected the eggs and sold them as hatching eggs on the internet for $140 a dozen.  Those 25 birds generated significant net returns, about $750 per month.  Any eggs that didn’t sell were hatched out and sold as baby chicks for $30-$40 each.  Russ says these birds are now available as chicks at most any hatchery for $4-$5 each.

As Y2K approached, Russ saw opportunities to capitalize on the doom-and-gloom predictions that projected a shutdown of the economy due to programming glitches.  With the strong interest in homesteading and people producing their own food as Y2K approached, Russ bought a herd of Dexter cattle so he could market seedstock to those wanting to homestead.  Dexter cattle are compact, very easy to keep and are considered to be the perfect breed for homesteading due to their size and their status as a triple-service breed (milk, meat, and oxen).  During this time period, many people wanted a cow or two for meat and milk.  While this was only a short-lived enterprise (five years), the Wilson’s couldn’t keep up with the demand during that period.

In 2008, Russ and Lennie bought seven Angus cows of the highest quality they thought available, at least on paper.  He tried to manage the cattle like he did on the conventional dairy, but things did not work well.  Beef cattle were so different from dairy animals and Russ used conventional selection tools and breeding values.  As Russ put it, “It was a huge slap in the face,” as he purchased over-priced registered stock and selected his bulls based on EPDs, focusing specifically on high-carcass qualities.  This produced cattle that fit the conventional feedlot model but did not work well for someone wanting to rely on grass-feed only production and who wanted to avoid high inputs.

They eventually gave up the lease on the farm they initially rented as they learned more about regenerative agriculture.  Russ felt as though he would not be able to incorporate the changes necessary to make things work on rented land.

He and Lennie purchased their current operation in 2009.  The new place was 42 miles from the leased farm and their herd was up to 12 cows when they made the move.  Upon relocating, Russ purchased another group of Angus and a group of Hereford cattle.  However, they continued with more conventional breeding and selection practices by using artificial insemination, selecting bulls specifically for each cow, with the goal of high-carcass quality.  In retrospect, Russ sees that he was selecting for the “big hippos,” the ones that couldn’t make a living unless you prop them up with loads of inputs.

THE TRANSITION TO REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE

Farm survival was a key motivating factor in Russ’ decision to transition to regenerative agriculture.  In 2010-2011, Russ realized he was in serious financial trouble.  With his current beef herd management, he realized he could not generate adequate net returns to survive.  Farming the way all his neighbors farmed, which included putting up hay, growing corn, grinding feed, feeding the cattle almost six months of the year, etc., just wasn’t working.  He knew he had to make some drastic changes.  In search of a better way, he called his local NRCS office and invited them out.  Thankfully, Tim Elder, the grazing specialist who visited the farm, was an out-of-the-box thinker.  As Russ explained his goals and what he wanted to do, Tim challenged him to consider moving his cows once a day to new paddocks to graze.  At the time, Russ thought he was rotational grazing since he was moving his cattle every week or two.  Though Russ didn’t tell Tim upfront, Russ admits he thought the guy was crazy.  Tim has since retired from the NRCS.  They remain good friends.

Russ started researching the concept of moving cattle more frequently.  He learned that moving the cattle daily can indeed boost grass production, just as the grazing specialist had said.  He didn’t think of it as “regenerative,” he was just searching for strategies to boost farm profitability.  Russ and Lennie started moving their cows once a day and they saw immediate results.

About that time, Russ was hearing other producers talk about selling hay equipment and buying hay instead.  It seemed an uncomfortable prospect to Russ, wondering what he would feed his livestock.  He was grazing only about 160 days and feeding during the rest of the year, which represented a lot of purchased hay.

They continued to do their research on rotational grazing.   According to his grazing records, and before his transition to regenerative (or adaptive) grazing, Russ had 120 days of active grazing in 2011 by using a once-per-week to once-per-two week grazing rotation.  They could only support 45 animal units on the entire farm.  In 2013, simply by moving the cows once per day, they increased their grazing days to 212 days, grazing 60 animal units.  In the fall of 2013, Russ and Lennie set a goal of 300 grazing days per year.  He encourages others to set their goals just slightly out of reach.  It wasn’t until the fall of 2016 that Russ realized his goal was too low, and he upped his goal to grazing 365 days a year.  Today, they move cows 2-9 times per day.  This one shift in grazing management has effectively doubled the carrying capacity of the farm.

Russ stresses that the number one principle of regenerative agriculture is that soil health comes first.  To that end, they move their cows a minimum of twice a day now and the sheep, once a day to every other day.  They have also started planting several fields to summer annual cover crops.  A typical cover crop mix includes multiple species, including: gray stripe and oilseed sunflowers, sorghum, sorghum sudan grass, sudan grass, red and white clover, annual ryegrass, Japanese and foxtail millet, chicory, and radishes.

Russ is committed to recycling as much of the dry matter produced back into the soil as possible because he knows if he absolutely must, he can re-graze after only 30-40 days of rest.  However, such short rest periods are uncommon as most pastures are rested 100-120 days.

He still puts in long days, up every morning by 4:00 am, but now he uses those early morning hours to do research, seeking ways to increase efficiency and productivity.  When the sun comes up is when he goes out to start “working.”  This new time flexibility has been a welcomed change.

Russ recognizes that he would no longer be farming had he stayed on the conventional path and that, for them, there’s “no going back from regenerative agriculture.”  In Russ’ opinion, regenerative production methods are the way to go for small and medium size operations.  He is convinced it is scalable to large operations as well (and he is correct).  Since starting down this path, Russ has been reaching out to other producers to encourage them to make a transition.  He wants the planet to heal and thrive for generations to come and feels that if he can make the planet a better place for future generations, including his children and grandchildren, he has left a good legacy.

Russ says he’s now reaching out more to consumers because he sees the massive disconnect between consumers and where their food is sourced.  He wants to educate consumers, as well as farmers, about the environmental, ecosystem, climate and human health aspects of regenerative agriculture.  He believes providing consumers with more perspective regarding how and where their food is produced is important, especially when it’s compared to commodity production.  Russ recognizes that regenerative production is “earth friendly” and he enjoys building connections to tell the story of regenerative production practices.

KEY ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

Russ has been farming regeneratively with intense focus since 2012.  Adapting his cow herd management, and more recently the sheep flock, to the regenerative process has been part of his steep learning curve.  Whenever he started adaptively grazing, he had to shift his  thinking, focusing on cutting input use due to cost.  He expected to lose a lot of the cows out of the herd due to an increase in the number of open (unimpregnated) cows.  He anticipated a drop in cow body condition and fertility rates due to reduced consumption of supplemental feed.  Russ estimates that in that first year he culled 20% of the cows out of the cow herd, reflecting his philosophy that you don’t keep cows in the herd “just because.”  “If a cow is open, she goes,” he says.

His animals now have completely different characteristics than prior to the transition to regenerative agriculture.  Previous cows would starve to death if they were on the farm under current practices.  The culling practices implemented were strict but Russ feels he really didn't have any other choice because he wanted to get things switched over as quickly as possible.  He was simply losing too much money at the time.  Russ took his cow herd from a BIF frame score of 6-7 down 2.5-3 with heightened selection.

They accomplished the shift in cow size by connecting with a producer who was breeding with  “old time” Angus blood.  He traveled extensively, gathering up all the semen that he could find, including frozen semen from back in the 1960s.  That semen was still in the old glass ampules, not in straws.  Russ bought semen from the smallest frame, best looking bull that he had and incorporated that bloodline into his herd.  And that bull, Russ reports, really did a wonderful job at taking the frame score down in the resultant offspring and in increasing efficiency.  They did some line breeding with that same bull to continue modifying the herd genetics.

Today, none of the livestock are dewormed or receive any sort of supplemental feed, like alfalfa pellets or protein tubs, even when they are out grazing through 30 inches of snow.  They select for resilience and toughness.  Russ hears of other regenerative producers who must provide supplemental feed to their herds with alfalfa cubes or cake, in addition to their stockpiled forages.  He chooses to stick to his strict cull guidelines: if a cow can’t handle it, she goes.  Russ feels his cow herd is now amongst the toughest and most resilient in the country.  They cull for many things—failure to rebreed, cows whose mineral consumption is too high, lameness, health issues, excess heat stress, etc.

Russ says his culling pressure has eased in the last five years as they’ve removed cattle that simply did not perform on minimal inputs.  For example, consider a cow who has trouble calving and they have to pull a calf (dystocia issues).  If that cow remains in the herd, chances are her offspring will also likely have dystocia problems, so Russ says why not just eliminate the source of the issue quickly?

Underlying his strict culling protocols, Russ stresses that the soil comes first, hence his focus on soil health and the importance of nutrient cycling.  He sees the importance of cycling nutrients back into the soil as quickly as possible to feed the microbes and to encourage plant growth.  When the cow herd is off in the shade much of the day, that job is not being done efficiently.  Heat tolerance in the cow herd is another trait characteristic that supports Russ’ goal.  He deliberately keeps his herd in full sun as much as possible, limiting its access to shade.  His objective is to have the nutrients (from manure and urine) evenly dispersed across each pasture or paddock by keeping the cows out in the paddocks all day.  If they are seeking shade frequently, then the majority of the nutrients will be deposited in the shade and by the water source.  This is exactly where the nutrients do not need to be and where they would create nutrient overload.

Russ follows a similar cull strategy with his sheep flock.  Basically, if the livestock require too much work, Russ says they need to find a new home.

Russ chooses not to have standard soil tests done on his farm routinely primarily to cut operating costs and feels their observations in the field, walking fields and digging in the soil, are sufficient for making fertility assessments.  He stresses he is not going to apply fertilizer and lime.  With his philosophy that the soil comes first, Russ does what he feels is best to improve the soil.  In short, he is not sure standard soil testing would convince him to operate differently.

When he performed soil tests previously, he pulled 43 samples, which proved quite costly.  Several years ago, Russ tried to get the results of organic soil tests interpreted (as opposed to conventional soil tests which isolate on inorganic nutrient availability) but he couldn’t find anyone to interpret the results.  The last conventional soil test indicated that 37 of 43 fields sampled were phosphorus and/or potassium deficient.  Russ is convinced that had it been an organic test, the outcome would have been drastically different because the plants don’t indicate such deficiencies.  Instead, he believes that the microbes in the soil are making those nutrients available to the plants.  Based on the work of Understanding Ag, Russ is correct that very few soils are truly mineral deficient.  A Total Nutrient Digestion Test (TND) usually reveals that mineral stores in the soil are sufficient but tied up due to poor soil biology.  Correcting the soil biology usually solves the mineral availability and uptake problem.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THOSE CONSIDERING REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE

Russ recommends that producers considering starting down the regenerative path be aware that one of the biggest challenges to making the switch is mindset.  He remembers the uncomfortable feeling of sending his haymaking equipment down the driveway, wondering how well he would do without the hay he would no longer be putting up.  Russ knew he was stepping outside the box into unfamiliar territory.

“Adopt the mindset and approach that moves you beyond status quo thinking,” he says, “and don't be afraid to step outside the box and feel uncomfortable despite the peer pressure around you.”  As a result of this approach, Russ sees Wilson Land and Cattle Company as one of the leaders in his region.  Though they are doing this by themselves, Russ knows his neighbors are watching and his approach has been to consider what others suggest with a grain of salt.  If he likes something, he tests their suggestions on a small scale and monitors the outcome to see if he can make it work.

Russ acknowledges, as human beings, we resist change, we don't like to step outside the box.  We want to stick with the norm.  But his suggestion is to “do it” and to not be afraid to switch to regenerative practices.  “Learn as much as you can and then jump in,” he says.  There are so many pluses to regenerative agriculture, but adopting a new mindset, like not putting up so much hay or adopting and implementing adaptive grazing practices, is key.  Russ knows many producers who are interested in regenerative production, but they are reluctant to start moving their livestock daily or to implement the other principles of regenerative agriculture.  They hesitate because they have not yet altered their way of thinking.  They don’t initially understand how moving livestock daily can make such a significant difference compared to moving only once per week or once per month.

Russ encourages livestock producers to not be afraid to get out there and move their animals much more frequently, at least once a day, even in face of perceived barriers.  For example, many producers work off the farm, which can present challenges.  Working 8-10 hours per day with an hour commute each way can add up to a 12-hour, off-farm work day.  In those cases, the producer can set their paddocks for the coming week on the weekend and then simply let the livestock into the next paddock upon returning home at the end of their workday, which takes just a few minutes and allows the producer time to observe the livestock.  Or, with the paddocks set each weekend, a spouse or even a high school-aged child can move the livestock to the new paddock each day (which is a good source of extra income and experience for a high schooler).

In terms of managing herd traits, and selecting for tough, resilient, smaller framed cows, Russ doesn’t recommend everyone “just jump into the process full bore without considering all the consequences.”  This is because they can expect more-than-normal open cows, and will need to be prepared to cull harder initially.  Many livestock producers may want to approach it more slowly than he did.

Russ also recommends finding strategies and tools to increase ease and efficiency.  He suggests automated latches as a way to pre-set moves of the livestock daily, or even multiple times per day.  This can be accomplished by using Batt Latches or PensAgro Fence Raisers.

Russ says producers don't need to spend thousands of dollars to try things on a small scale and provides this example: When he considered putting native, warm season grasses on the farm, he wasn't sure it was a wise move.  So, to test the strategy, he seeded four 2’x 6’ plots of native, warm season grasses in his backyard.  After successfully experimenting on that small scale, he decided to scale up and establish those native grasses on a broader scale on the farm.

A strategy Russ recommends to crop farmers is testing interseeding cover crops in corn—again, keeping it small scale, only on an acre or two initially, not the whole farm.  And if it doesn't work the first time, try it again, or even multiple times if necessary.  Russ stresses to producers to not just try something once and conclude it won’t work.  Instead, embrace the learning curve, he says, make adjustments and try it again.

Russ also advocates keeping a control or baseline, for comparison, when testing things, rather than just going full bore.  In fact, Russ still has control areas here and there on his farm.  While they are not as large as they were (just four, one-quarter acre areas where they have not applied any seed, lime, or fertilizer), these controls provide a good comparison.

KEY POINTS OF PROGRESS AND SUCCESS

When asked his biggest surprise from the transition to regenerative production, Russ listed two, increased farm productivity and improved animal health.  Their animal health is just exceptional now, in contrast to when they routinely had a veterinarian out to treat livestock for pneumonia and hoof rot.  They don't call the vet anymore unless there's been an accident, like an animal getting tangled up in wire and cut.  In fact, the last time they had the vet out to their farm was when a jack got kicked in the shoulder when he was breeding a jenny, and his shoulder needed a few stitches.

Another example of improved livestock health centers on reproduction.  In the past, they suffered too many abortions.  Deer and raccoon populations are great enough that they have had problems with neospora, for which there is no good treatment.  Previously, some cows would abort at 5-7 months.  Thankfully, they haven't faced that issue for some time now.  Grazing adaptively and improving soil microbial performance makes a significant difference in most animal health challenges, which is a consistent benefit reported by regenerative graziers.  It is also one of the hardest things for skeptical farmers to accept.  They simply cannot understand how better soil microbial life, plant species diversity, and frequent movement of the livestock make such a dramatic difference.  That is, until they do it themselves.  The evidence is strong that if you improve soil biology, you improve the mineral cycle.  Plants that are more mineral-rich provide a higher level of nutrition to the livestock in every bite.  Greater plant species diversity significantly increases phytonutrient content in the plants the livestock eat.  These phytonutrients are rich in secondary and tertiary nutrient compounds that are also medicinal and anti-parasitic in action.  Daily movement keeps the livestock moving away from internal and external parasite hatches, provides better nutrition, and prevents the livestock from having frequent contact directly with the soil.

Russ believes that adapting livestock to a given environment, location, and system is key to the improved performance and animal health they’ve experienced.  The best livestock on a farm are those born there, which is an important way to capture epigenetic benefits.  Russ’ cow herd is closed, all cows and bulls were born on the farm; they are moving in that direction with the sheep flock as well.

According to the “experts,” with good management, Russ should expect to produce only about 6,000 pounds of forage dry matter per acre for the soil types represented on his farm.  Yet his results tell a different story.  He has some fields producing 9.5 tons of forage dry matter yields per acre without added fertilizer, lime, or irrigation.  This contrasts with his prior management where he spent as much as $26,000 per year on fertilizer alone.  His ground is well managed now, but in a very different way.

Russ attributes the improved performance he has built into his operation through enhanced diversity as key to his improved financial and economic performance.  In years past, many of Russ’ pastures had about three dominant grass species, which Russ considers no better than a monoculture.  He started interseeding pastures with native warm season grasses, forbs and legumes to increase diversity.  In one field he planted, a native grass mix developed collaboratively with a conservation seed company, he applied no lime or fertilizer and no irrigation.  Russ did a total dry matter yield test on that same pasture and found it yielded  24,000 pounds of forage dry matter in one year, again, with no lime and no fertilizer.  Admittedly, that was all of the dry matter that was available.  He estimates they likely harvested about 50% of that, with the other 50% recycled back into the soil to improve soil health and to increase resilience.