Cow-Calf Commentary for Iowa Cattleman Magazine
By Randie Culbertson, extension cow-calf specialist and Shelby Gruss, Extension Forage Specialist
May 2024
Grazing on CRP
Before moving to Iowa, I had never heard of the Conservation Reserve Program or CRP. Where I grew up, the use of state or federal land for grazing was common practice for most cow-calf operations. My first couple of months on the job at Iowa State University were spent attending ICA meetings and forums where it was not uncommon for a discussion of CRP to be on the agenda. I also spent some time at the first couple of meetings, sheepishly hiding in the back, googling what CRP was (I was also googling tiling, a concept utterly foreign to a person who grew up in a desert). It didn’t take me long to figure out this was an area of great interest for cattle producers in the state, especially given the limitations of land available for grazing. As a scientist, I like data, and this led me down the rabbit hole of trying to find more information on CRP, and especially what work had been done on cattle and CRP. And what did I find, virtually nothing. The fact is, very little work has been done to look at the effect of grazing cattle on acres enrolled in various CRP programs. There is a large body of research in rangeland management and some work on the interaction of cattle and wildlife. With approximately 1.7 million acres of CRP in Iowa, little work has examined the effect of grazing on the ecological systems unique to CRP in Iowa. So, how do we fix this need for more information? We come up with a research project.
It's one thing to have a great idea for a project; it is another to fund and execute the project. This led me to reach out to Dr. Adam Janke, wildlife extension specialist here at ISU, to start the conversation about the feasibility of studying the effects of grazing cattle on CRP. Adam was also interested in investigating the interaction of cattle grazing and bird populations on CRP. As a result of these conversations, a research team was formed comprised of specialists in soil health, water quality, forages, wildlife (Adam), and cow-calf (myself). The team successfully secured a USDA-funded grant for a 5-year project to look at grazing cattle on CRP.
This project aims to measure the ecological impacts of cattle grazing on CRP. The objectives of this project are interrelated and are as follows:
- establish partnerships with USDA-FSA, cattle producers, and CRP landowners for access to CRP for grazing,
- to characterize breeding bird populations and nesting success,
- establish the forage quality and utilization for cattle,
- measure the change in CRP soil health and quality in response to grazing,
- to characterize the impact of grazing on plant communities,
- to combine the above objectives to evaluate the net effect of grazed CRP on the environment and cattle production.
This five-year study will begin this spring where the first year of the study will be devoted to site identification and forage sampling, followed by four years of grazing cattle on CRP at set timepoints and collecting data. A significant aspect of this project is that the CRP will be grazed back-to-back years, allowing us to study the effect of grazing in sequential years. We will also graze cattle during the primary nesting season to measure the impact of grazing on bird populations. This project aims to better understand the benefits and drawbacks of grazing cattle on CRP and help provide producers and landowners with an understanding of the benefits, challenges, and best practices.
If you want to know more about this project or wish to participate, please contact me at rculber@iastate.edu or 515-264-6304.
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