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Profile: Rick Kellison, Lockney, Texas
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Rick Kellison: Beef, forage
& seed. Lockney, Texas.
Photo by Kathy Kellison |
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DROUGHT-TOLERANT FORAGE KEEPS PASTURE ALIVE IN TEXAS HEAT
In the intense heat of a Texas summer, Rick Kellison’s cow/calf
herd enjoys a daily diet of old world bluestem, a drought-tolerant,
warm-season forage that performs well in hot conditions and on marginal
soils. Kellison, who ranches in Lockney, about an hour north of
Lubbock, did his research before selecting his main summer forage.
He followed Texas Tech University’s lead and chose WW-B. Dahl
old world bluestem, a variety that meets his herd’s needs
and provides a valuable seed crop.
“It’s the best forage producer, given our water situation,
that we could plant,” Kellison said. “More and more
producers interested in growing improved grasses are looking at
WW-B. Dahl.”
Kellison divided his 300 acres into grazing cells separated with
polywire. Depending on the paddock, he uses flood irrigation, pivot
and drip. Under the driest conditions, the bluestem stands up well
and provides high levels of nutrition. Moreover, with the increased
interest from other farmers and ranchers, Kellison harvests old
world bluestem seeds each fall, selling them for $7.50 up to $15
a pound (in pure live seed) to a mix of retail and wholesale markets.
Kellison is committed to water conservation beyond his ranch borders.
Early in 2005, he became project director for the Texas Alliance
for Water Conservation, a unique state project that is demonstrating
irrigation delivery systems on 26 farms and ranches. The project
evolved from a long-term research project, partly funded by SARE,
at Texas Tech University that explores water-conserving alternatives
to continuous cotton.
The Texas water conservation project, funded with a $6.2 million
state grant, will further test Texas Tech’s water-conserving
cotton-cattle-forage rotation, which reduced water use by 23 percent
and yielded higher profits in university research trials. By introducing
commodities such as beef cattle and old world bluestem, a drought-resistant
forage that is so popular its seed has become valuable, researchers
saved water normally used to irrigation water-dependent cotton.
“It’s impossible for us to be sustainable with irrigated
agriculture in the High Plains, with us pumping out of the aquifer,”
Kellison said. “The object is to pump less water and make
more money.”
The variety of demonstration sites will mean a huge data-collection
effort, but those involved in the project are excited at the opportunity.
“By measuring everything that’s measurable on the
farm – total water use, tillage systems, fertility programs
– and having academics look at each site under a magnifying
glass, we can see how producers can maximize their productivity,”
Kellison said. “Maximizing yield doesn’t always maximize
profits. Through demonstration, we can transfer information to show
a producer that he can use less water and inputs and still make
more money.”
On his own farm, Kellison is pleased with his management-intensive
grazing and old world bluestem.
“My opinion is that we all have some acreage not acclimated
for row crop production. If we can take our marginal land and put
it into a drought-resistant crop that’s good for the land
and ecology, and will generate income, that’s a win-win situation,”
he said. “Of all the improved grasses, the bluestem fits us
so well because it doesn’t take as much water.”
Crop Rotation
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