Kindra Gordon writes from Whitewood, S.D.

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Similarly, Ken Maruskie, of Battleview, says cross-fencing, water developments and rotational grazing with helping him maintain his operation’s cow-calf herd carrying capacity year after year.

And both producers, credit their local Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Bowbells Field Office, and specifically District Conservationist Mark Crosby, for inspiring their conservation commitment.

“Mark’s been good to work with,” Chrest says. “He keeps you aware and explains programs in depth.”

Maruskies: Grazing, soil testing initiatives

Maruskie operates his ranch with his wife, Nicolle, and their three grown children. They run a commercial herd of Red Angus-Salers cows. They have worked with Crosby to develop a grazing plan for their grasslands. They installed eight miles of water pipelines and eight tanks and several miles of cross fencing. They also planting trees for wildlife habitat.

Additional conservation efforts have included soil testing on hayland to determine fertilizer needs, which was conducted through a Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) contract. Maruskie says he learned that nitrogen levels on most of their hayland is depleted. On some fields, even phosphorus levels are reduced.

Of soil testing, he says, “I’m sold on that practice.”

More recently, Maruskie has used Nutritional Balance Analyzer (NUTBAL) to test manure samples to determine the cattle’s protein levels and from that determine protein supplement needs. Maruskie says he has learned more about the forage quality in his pastures and when nutrition levels are highest to benefit cattle performance.

Chrests: More cattle & grain

Marshall Chrest and his wife, Denise, operate a ranch with their three children ages 15, 12 and 10. They have worked with NRCS and Crosby over the past decade.

For their cattle operation, they’ve cross-fenced pasture, developed water and established a rotational grazing system. The projects, funded in part by Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), made it possible to increase their cowherd from 120 cows to 200 cows on the same amount of land. They are also seeing more native grasses return to their grazing lands.

Marshall recalls he was initially hesitant of the extra fence work, but it was worth it, he says.

“In the dry years, we wouldn’t have been able to do it without water and cross-fencing in place,” he says.

The fresh water has made a difference, too.

“We see our cattle walk past stock dams to go to fresh water. They utilize it and with fresh water our calves are weaning off heavier in the fall.”

On their cropland, the Chrests’ have a CSP contract. It helped them diversify the traditional wheat and durum rotation that Marshall’s father and grandfather grew. They now also plant sunflowers, flax, soybeans, canola, forage oats and barley.

“We’ve been able to grow our crop with less manpower through no-till and one pass farming,” Marshall says.

The Chrests have started using cover crops. It was another practice Marshall was initially skeptical about. But today “cover crops are something we enjoy,” he says. “We graze cattle on them to spread more manure which also benefits soil health. After our second year of cover crops, we had a phenomenal cash crop. It has shown us how cover crops improve future yield of crops.”

The Chrests’ soil conservation efforts have led to 15-20 bushel per acre yield increases, according to Crosby.

“They’ve learned to build soil health instead of mine it,” he says.

The Chrests have also planted grass for wildlife, composted manure before using it to fertilize cropland and planted tree windbreaks.

“I have liked seeing the multiple benefits for the betterment of everyone,” Denise says. “The conservation practices have been a plus for the environment and for the betterment of our cattle.”

She encourages farmers and ranchers to check into what programs their local NRCS offers and see if they will work for their operations.

It will be worth it, according to Crosby.

Burke County has a lot of marginal soils, he says. “We’ve had many producers strive to do the right thing for the resource, and it’s also rewarded many of them on the profit side as well.”