Integrated Cotton, Cattle Systems

Well-Managed Rotation of Cotton, Cattle and Grass Renews Profits

In what Texas Tech researcher Vivien Allen dubs a “multi-level” alternative to intensive cotton production in an erodible, drought-prone region, a complex rotation of cotton, steers, small grains and native grasses requires fewer inputs, uses less water and taps into at least one profitable new market. Photo by C. Philip Brown.

In north Texas, where water availability limits farming and ranching enterprises, operations featuring drought-tolerant crops and perennial ground covers can survive during withering dry spells. By contrast, traditional cotton operations in the Texas panhandle, which produce one-quarter of the nation’s cotton, pump water from wells drilled ever deeper into the Ogallala aquifer.

Conventional cotton farmers who let fields lie fallow after harvest also exacerbate soil erosion propelled by Texas’ legendary high winds. Growers seeking more profitable, less environmentally damaging alternatives have turned to SARE-funded research at Texas Tech University that shows how integrated cotton and cattle systems can excel within the state’s harsh climate.

A rotation that includes stocker steers grazing on grass pastures and paddocks of small grains in rotation with cotton demonstrates some real advantages. Compared to growing continuous cotton, the integrated crop/livestock system requires 20 percent less irrigation, 40 percent less purchased nitrogen and fewer pesticides. Moreover, profits range from $32.70 to $45.59 more per acre for the integrated system, depending on how much water pumping is required.

The pastures rotate like a well-oiled machine: A perennial warm-season grass called old world bluestem provides grazing for steers from January to July, when steers go to a feedlot. The small grains, rye and wheat, grown in rotation with cotton, provide additional grazing. “The sequence works like a Swiss watch,” said Vivien Allen, the lead researcher of the crop/livestock system project, who has received a steady increase in calls from producers wanting to know more.

Much of the net revenue gain comes from harvesting seed from old world bluestem, which requires little water and provides a palatable forage. “Some acreage is not acclimated for row crop production,” said Rick Kellison, who runs a 100-head cow/calf operation in Lockney, Texas. Kellison has worked with Allen on the project and now grows bluestem for grazing and seed harvest. “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.”

[For more information, go to www.SARE.org/projects/ and search for LS97-082]

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