Pollard Passes Grazing Ethic to Daughter
Clarke County farmer Jeff Pollard, a local advocate for soil and water conservation, is passing along his interest in livestock grazing to his daughter, Jennifer Miler, who is following in his footsteps as a cow/calf operator.
by Jason Johnson, State Public Affairs Specialist, USDA-NRCS, Des Moines
Clarke County farmer Jeff Pollard, a local advocate for soil and water conservation, is passing along his interest in livestock grazing to his daughter, Jennifer Miler, who is following in his footsteps as a cow/calf operator.
Pollard and Miler are utilizing U.S. Department of Agriculture conservation programs through the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to help fulfill two of their main priorities for improving their grazing management systems: access to water and fencing.
In southern Iowa where grazing cattle is often more practical and profitable than growing corn on steeper slopes susceptible to erosion, Pollard says he bought his first small cattle herd at the early age of 9 years old. “My neighbor sold me some heifer calves, and from then on I’ve just kept buying cows,” he said.
More than four decades later, Pollard still farms some of the same ground – about 1,600 acres total, of which 1,100 are his. “About one-third of it is row crop and the rest is pasture,” he said. “I have several herds throughout the various pastures.”
Pollard’s daughter and her husband Tony run a cow/calf operation on her great grandparents’ old farm. “I knew I wanted to be a part of farming in some way – primarily cow/calf,” she said.
The Milers have a 150- to 175-head cow/calf operation “depending on the day,” said Jennifer. “We also have 40-head of sheep, and our daughter is the proud owner of eight goats.”
Priority 1: Access to Water
From an early age, Pollard said he learned that access to good water is vital for grazing livestock. “When I started rotating cattle, my goal was to build as many ponds as I could,” he said. “I’ve built seven ponds on my land and assisted my landlords with another two.”
Pollard said his goals for the ponds are to stop gullies from developing into large ditches and to provide water for cattle. “The ponds I built many years ago are no longer holding enough water for cattle because they’re too small and it’s been very dry in recent years,” he said.
In 2008, Pollard began working with NRCS to help achieve his grazing goals. He installed a large pond with assistance through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). NRCS also helped Pollard install watering facilities with water pumped from the new pond using underground pipelines. He sought EQIP funds again for heavy use protection areas around the watering tanks, fencing and a stream crossing to keep cattle out of the pond for better distribution across the pasture.
About 10 years later, Pollard built another pond through EQIP that included watering tanks and other supporting practices. “I try to locate the watering tanks as far from the ponds as possible to keep those areas in good shape,” he said.
The Milers followed in Pollard’s path by installing a similarly large pond with NRCS assistance through EQIP, along with several pasture-improving practices like grazing management, pasture and hay planting, and a watering facility.
“I am proud of how the project looks now,” said Jennifer Miler. “Grazing management has made us more mindful of the grass height, for sure.”
Miler said she didn’t consider rotationally grazing cattle until connecting with the NRCS office in 2019. “We only have 80 acres on the primary farm and only so much space to work with, so we wanted to be efficient with the land we have,” she said. “Working with NRCS, we came up with a strategy that allowed for rotational grazing and to better use our water. Overall, NRCS gave us ideas on how to better manage our land and soil.”
Priority 2: Fence
During the 1980s farm crisis, Pollard started a fence installation business that would last for 30 years. “I helped the Farmers Home Administration (now USDA Rural Development and Farm Service Agency) fix and rebuild fences on some of the repossessed properties,” he said.
Pollard says the more cows you have in your grazing system; the more management is important. “As an operator, having enough fence is the most important thing,” he said. “Fencing off ditches, streams and ponds are critical to good management.”
Through EQIP, the Milers installed about 3,600 feet of fence during their recent project. “Fencing off some of the trouble areas was a big priority,” said Miler.
Soil Conservationist Jordan Summers with NRCS says Pollard is a local voice for conservation, serving as an elected commissioner with the soil and water conservation district. “There are a lot of places in Clarke County that need to be in pasture. The erosion can get pretty bad,” said Summers. “I credit Jeff and Jennifer for making excellent land use decisions on all of their land and rented properties.”
For more information about conservation practices and programs to help treat natural resource concerns and improve your overall farming operation, go to www.nrcs.usda.gov or visit your local NRCS Service Center.