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![NRCS This Week mast head](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20080920143756im_/http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/news/thisweek/images/mastheaddshadow3.jpg)
Rotational Grazing Pays for Bedford Producer
![Bedford farmer Paul Ackley checks cattle watering tanks that are part of a new rotational grazing system NRCS designed for his farm. (NRCS image -- click to enlarge)](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20080920143756im_/http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/news/thisweek/images/ackleymed.jpg)
(above) Bedford farmer Paul Ackley checks cattle watering tanks that
are part of a new rotational grazing system NRCS designed for his farm. (NRCS image -- click
to enlarge)
NRCS district conservationist for Taylor County Doug Davenport (NRCS image -- click to enlarge)
![NRCS district conservationist for Taylor County Doug Davenport (NRCS image -- click to enlarge)](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20080920143756im_/http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/news/thisweek/images/davenportmed.jpg) |
Rotational grazing is paying off for Taylor County farmer Paul Ackley of Bedford
who says he can raise the same number of cattle on one-third less land thanks to
rotational grazing. NRCS helped design and fund fences, cattle watering tanks,
and lines in 2006 so Ackley can now move his 100-head of cattle among 15
paddocks so they always have fresh grass.
Ackley said he’s found a number of benefits to rotational grazing. “The big
benefit,” he said, “is needing only two acres per cow instead of three. This
means we can now devote 120-acres of former pastureland to standing winter hay.
“Another benefit we have found,” he said, “is that flies tend to stay with
manure. The manure helps us two ways. When we move cattle, the flies stay
behind. This eliminates our need to spray cattle for flies. The manure also
reduces our fertilizer bill by $8,000 per year because our pastures do not need
chemical fertilizers.”
Ackley’s use of rotational grazing is a 180-degree turn from five years ago. “I
used to think it was silly to fence cattle out of a pond,” he said, “but now I
can see that’s the way it should be.”
Cattle are like mini-bulldozers to Ackley. “When they go down to a pond to
drink, they push soil into the water, pollute it and fill it,” he said. “Soon
I’ve got a major expense to dig it out so cattle can drink from it again.”
“Thanks to rotational grazing,” said Ackley, “the ‘bulldozers’ are leaving my
stream banks and ponds alone. That saves me a lot of time I can devote to other
things.”
Doug Davenport is the NRCS district conservationist for Taylor County. He says
he sees this conservation practice as just one more the Bedford man uses to save
soil. “Paul Ackley is a Conservation Security Program (CSP) participant which
clearly demonstrates his strong belief in conservation,” said Davenport.
I didn’t happen all at once. Ackley has been farming for 40 years. Over much of
that time, Ackley and the team of conservationists at the Taylor County Soil and
Water Conservation District have worked together planning, finding financial
assistance, and designing and installing many conservation practices on his
1,100 acres. “NRCS, Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Iowa
Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) have all worked with him
on many soil saving practices,” said Davenport. “On his farm you can find filter
strips, no-till, terraces, grassed waterways, wetland construction, and riparian
buffers. It was a logical next step to suggest Paul apply for Environmental
Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) financial assistance to help set up a
prescribed grazing system for his cattle.”
Davenport’s team designed a paddock system for Ackley that allows him to use
rotational grazing and keeps his cattle away from pond and stream banks. Water
for the cattle is gravity fed from an erosion control structure and can be piped
in from a high pressure water source on Ackley’s farm.
Ackley says this is the way to go. “I am very happy,” he said. “The cows are no
longer ruining my ponds and stream banks. Cattle are getting better quality
water because they are not loafing in the ponds and streams fouling the water
they drink. Rotational grazing forces them to loaf elsewhere and scatter their
manure evenly. Cattle end up getting better water and better grass. I like this
system. It is a better way to raise cattle on fewer acres of land.”
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