‘Pasture Cropping’

Profitable Regenerative Agriculture

Colin Seis

WinonaMyself and son, Nick

2000 acres (840 Ha)

Gulgong Central Tablelands NSW Australia

• Granite soil, Ph 5.5-6.0

• 26 inch annual Rainfall

Winona Enterprises 2014

4000 Merino Sheep (wool & meat.)

Working Kelpie Dogs

Native Grass Seed

500 acres of CropsWheat, oats, cereal rye.

Cattle trading

Merino ram sales

• My Great Grandparents, Nicholas and Catherine Seis were some of the original pioneer/settlers in the district in 1860.

• Produced merino sheep and wool• Started growing wheat in 1868

Due to poor sheep and wool prices, wheat production expanded on Winona

in the 1930s.

Growing wheat was very profitable in the 1930s

Within 20 years major damage to soil and grasslands had occurred

Ploughing and sowing wheat destroyed

Winona’s grassland and contributed to soil health decline, erosion and salinity

Same paddock5 years later

Traditional cropping methods.Ploughing or Herbicides

• While this paddock is being prepared for sowing.

• How much stock feed is produced• How much pasture is destroyed.• How much structure is destroyed.• How many nutrients are lost.• How much carbon is lost• How much soil is lost to erosion.

Industrialized, high input, farming methods From 1950 to 1978 on ‘Winona’

• All sown to introduced pasture (clover ryegrass, etc and regularly re-sown)

• Annually fertilized with 112 lbs/acre

• Ploughing and cultivating soil to sow crops

(high rates of fertilizer & pesticides)

• Set stock grazing

This high input system was very

productive during this era

• Winona became weedy and unproductive.

Over time, industrialized agriculture was doing

serious ecological damage to Winona These high

input methodswere costing usover $80,000

annually(2014 values)

High input, Industrialized Agriculture started to crash on “Winona” during the

1970s• Fertilizer costs became too high• Cost of sowing pasture became too high.• Rainfall no longer infiltrated• Soil lost structure• Soil became acid• Salinity problems• Trees dying• We were going broke

Modern Industrial Agriculture simplifies and destroys farms and the

planet’s ecosystems.

• Monoculture crops.

• Poor animal management.

• Agriculture should mimic natural systems

How and why did I change??

During the 1970s the cost of production was becoming too high and it was more difficult to be profitable

BUT !

Major bushfire destroyed Winona 1979

• 3000 sheep killed• All buildings destroyed• 30 miles of fencing burned• No money

How did I change• Looked for low input agriculture methods.(1980s)

• Stopped using pasture fertilizer and pesticides (1980)

• Focused on 100% ground cover. (crops and pasture)

• Started ‘time control grazing’ in 1990

• Developed ‘Pasture Cropping’ in 1993

• Combined ‘Pasture Cropping’ and ‘time control grazing’ (Holistic planned grazing) in 1995

• Focused on restoring Winona to grassland.

Mixed farming ///

How do we combine livestock and

grow crops???

“Pasture Cropping” was invented and developed in 1993 by Colin Seis & Daryl Cluff

‘Pasture Cropping’ is ‘Perennial Cover Cropping’

“Pasture Cropping” is a land management technique where annual crops are zero - tilled into dormant perennial grass or grassland.

Without killing the perennial grass.

Pasture CroppingAnimals and Crops are combined and managed in a way where each

one benefits the other.

Why haven't crops been planted into grass before?

• It was known that annual plants will compete with each other. (wheat & annual grass)

• It was assumed that perennial plants would also be incompatible with cereal crops.

• Crop disease

• No one had looked at how nature worked in a grassland (Warm season and cool season plants are compatible)

‘Pasture Cropping’• Zero till sowing of crops into

perennial pasture.

• Never Plough.

• Never kill perennial species.

• Weeds are managed by creating large quantities of thick litter from the grassland and using good grazing management of livestock.

• ‘Pasture Cropping’ is Perennial Cover Cropping

February 2010

Pasture Cropping

Perennial grassland

Pasture Pasture CroppingCropping

Harvesting native grass seed March 2010

Pasture Cropping

Sowing Oats May 2010

After mulching with sheep and/or Cattle, zero-till plant the crop into litter and mulch of dormant warm season perennial grass.

Pasture Cropping

Sow crop into litter

Pasture Cropping

No weeds grow with this much litter

Emerging Crop

Pasture Cropping

10th September 2010

Pasture Cropping The crop can be grazed by animals

14th October 2010

Pasture Cropping

Pasture Cropping Harvest the crop with emerging perennial grass beneath

Graze grassland after the crop is harvested

Native grass seed can be harvested after the cereal crop is harvested

Seed is sold for re-vegetation, and in the future, sold for human consumption

Over a 12 month period the paddock has produced

1. Native grass seed2. Grazing of grassland pre sowing the crop3. Grazing of the crop (sheep & cattle)4. Grain from the crop5. Grazing of grassland after harvest (sheep & cattle)6. Native grass seed• Reduced fertilizer (reduced by 70%)• No insecticide • No fungicide• No plowing

What’s next??

Multi Species Pasture Cropping

Perennial grassland

Pasture Pasture CroppingCropping

Harvesting native grass seed

Multi Species Pasture Cropping

After mulching with sheep and/or Cattle, zero-till a multi species crop into litter and mulch of dormant warm season perennial grass.

Multi Species Pasture Cropping

A mix of 10 to 15 species are sown into dormant grassland.

• Produce superior quality and quantity stock feed.

• Faster improvements in soil health, soil structure, carbon and nutrient cycling.

• Add Nitrogen with legumes & scavenge other nutrients.

• Weed control.

• Insect control (flowering plants attract beneficial insects

• Harvest cereal crop after grazing

Pasture Cropping Harvest the crop with emerging perennial grass beneath

Multi Species Pasture CroppingHarvesting Grain

Before grazing (May 2014) After three grazings (August 2014)

Grassland after grain harvest (March 2015)

How did ‘Multi species Pasture Cropping’ happen?

• I had been experimenting with ‘Pasture Crop’ mixes like oats / field pea and millet / cow peas for the last 5-6 years.

The results were promising.

How it happened

Dave Brandt: Iowa USA

Gabe Brown: North Dakota USA

& USA Scientists Dr Jill Clapperton and Dr Dwayne Beck.

Gail Fuller: Kansas

How do we feed 9 billion people with good quality food

• Food can be grown in a grassland.

Cereal crops like wheat, oats, cereal rye, as a mixture with vegetables like , peas turnips, kale, radish in the winter.

Summer crops can be millet, cow peas, lablab, with pumpkins, watermelon, beans, etc, also sown into a grassland.

Including vegetables in the Multi Species MixBy including vegetables for human consumption in the crop

mix, it is possible to grow vegetables as well as a grain crop in grassland or perennial pasture

These plants can be grown while restoring grasslands recycling nutrients, adding nitrogen, improving soil structure, improving soil health and increasing soil carbon.

Native grass seed can be harvested after the cereal crop is harvested

Seed is sold for re-vegetation, and in the future, sold for human consumption

We can grow a diverse range of healthy food without destroying our farms and the planet.

While improving a grassland or perennial pasture:

Graze animals on grassland (sheep, cattle, pigs, chickens etc.)

Plant multi species crop (Stockfeed, grain, vegetables)

Graze animals on multi species cropHarvest vegetables Harvest grain.Harvest grass seed.

No pesticides, no plowing, restore grassland ,restore soil

Agriculture, and sound ecological practices should function together

On Winona no insecticide has been used for over 20 years.

We have no insect attack in crops and pasture.

How??

Insects1. On Winona there is now 600%

more insects and 125% more insect diversity.

2. Insect attack of crops and pastures can be controlled by having more insects.

2. Insecticides are not selective, they also kill predators like spiders and wasps that will control insects naturally.

3. Insecticides will ultimately lead to more insects and more insecticides.

On Winona no perennial grass pasture has been re-sown for 30

years.

•How?

‘Pasture Cropping’ has been shown to improve existing pastures and restore

grasslands

‘Pasture Cropping’ does this by stimulating perennial grass recruitment from seed in the soil.

Crop Fertilizer reduced by 70%

No fertiliser used on pasture for over 30 years

How??

• Winona’s soil now has 204% more organic carbon.

• Has sequestered 20 ton /acre of carbon (72 ton/acre of CO2.)

• Holds almost 200% more water. (40,000 gal /acre)

All of the soil nutrients including trace elements have increased by an average of 172%

• Ph has changed from 5.6 - 6.01 Pp

Winona Soil Neighbor soil

Fertiliser does not have to come from a bag

• Myrorrhizal Fungi supply P, N trace elements and water

• Protozoa and nematodes eat bacteria & fungi which supplies N and other nutrients

• Free living N fixing bacteria supply Nitrogen (up to 40lbs/acre)

No fungicide used on ‘Winona’for over 20 years

No crop or pasture disease

How??

Soil microbe tests on Winona have shown

Total fungi increase 862% Total bacteria increase 350% Total protozoa increase 640% Total nematode increase over 1000%

Having healthy soil with large numbers and large diversity of soil microbes will control plant disease

Is it profitable?

Winona annual costs (2013 costs)

From 1960- 1979 (high chemical & pesticide agriculture)• Annual cropping expenses $40,000• 2000ac: Pasture fertilizer $51,000• Annual sheep Vet costs $12000• Annual pasture establishment $5000• Annual cost $107,000

From 1980-2010 (‘pasture cropping & time control grazing)• Annual cropping expenses $20,000 • 2000ac: No pasture fertilizer $0• Annual sheep Vet costs $7000• Annual pasture establishment $0 Annual Cost $27,000

Annual saving $80,000 annually

Is it productive?

Compared to previous high input agriculture

• Annual income is higher

• Crop yields are similar.

• ‘Winona’ is running more sheep and cattle

• Harvest and sell over 1000 Kg of native grass seed annually

• Soil organic carbon levels are increasing

• Soil Phosphorus, calcium, ph, magnesium and trace elements are increasing (available and total)

With over $80,000 less inputs and less labor

Vertical Stacking of Farming and Grazing Enterprises

With Vertical Stacking of Farming and Grazing enterprises we can produce more food without high chemical inputs and GM crops.

If the farm enterprises are ecologically compatible they will regenerate the landscape and be more profitable.

Vertical Stacking of Farming and Grazing Enterprises

Grazing of grassland pre sowing

Grazing of the crop

Grain from the crop

Grazing of grassland after harvest

Vegetables

Native grass seed All produced off the same area over a 12 month period

Vertical stacking of different enterprises can give far more production and profit per ha.

Grain (wheat, oats, rye, barley)

Sheep meat Cattle Wool Vegetables Native grass seed Native grass seed human

consumption

Carbon sequestration

• It is very important to have diverse perennial grassland or pasture as the base of the enterprises.

• The number of enterprises is only limited by your

imagination.

• This method can produce a diverse range of food, regenerate the landscape and be very profitable.

Agriculture does not have to destroy ecosystems and the planet.

Agriculture Can:

• Produce vast amounts of good quality food.• Regenerate grasslands.• Restore soil ecosystems• Supply and cycle nutrients.

• Regenerate landscapes and ecosystems.

Our Farms should function as ecosystems

When we manage our farms as ecosystems :

Restore grasslands Produce healthy, nutrient dense foodIncrease soil carbon & water holding capacityImprove soil nutrient availability & cycling.Increase plant and animal diversity.Prevent plant and animal disease.Improve soil health.•Increase profit.

• Agriculture can be more profitable, & environmentally regenerative. But:

Agricultural practices need to function closer to how Nature

had it originally designed

If you require informationfor an on-line, Pasture Cropping Course

Covering:

Pasture CroppingMultispecies Pasture Cropping

Perennial Cover Cropping

www.perennialcovercropping.com colin@winona.net.au