 Look good morning So today I am going to talk about some of the research that we've been doing at NDSU On the soil health impacts of integrating livestock into our crop systems. Just I'm not going to talk about the forage and like and livestock production pieces we have that data, but We're going to probably be close on time the way it is just talking about the soil health piece of it And so in addition to myself involved with this research is Erin Gogler She's actually speaking this week or during the conference as well And she's a PhD student working on this research and We wouldn't we wouldn't have gotten through a lot of this project without her where we're we're working with The current project we're working on is working with six different producers and at two of our RECs And so she is very very busy and helped keep us on track Especially during the drought when I was pulled other directions We're collaborating with Dr. Kevin Sadovic the director at the Central Grasslands Research Extension Center and our range Our range specialist with an extension and then Caitlyn Landis. She is our She's also a graduate student on this work. She's else and our extension agent in Grand Forks County So just kind of recapping those those soil health benefits of having cover crops And I think most people know these they're pretty straightforward and Well documented well published But the first one is just having that soil covered prevents and reduces of both wind and water erosion And then that benefits to biodiversity and that we can look at that a few different ways of biodiversity within our cropping system Bringing in different types of soil microbes different plants that function differently have different by soil biology that goes with them we can look at in terms of plant diversity within that system which kind of pairs well with that soil Diversity and then actually providing habitat and food for wildlife and Then soil structure, which I think is a lot of things a lot of people are interested in soil health benefits increased aggregate stability Helps aerate the soils in some cases and Penetration penetrating compaction layers which we see in that bottom photo there when we have some of those brassicas Have that that deep tap rope that can help us break up those compaction layers in the top photo We can see that a good increased aggregate stability here where we have a lot more large agar dates and our the soils better aerated We'll have better infiltration in that soil Also as can touched on is that we can cover crops help feed our soil organism increasing that biology and that functioning of that soil increasing with bringing in different fungi bacteria which are going to provide different types of carbohydrates and and that can help Release our nitrogen and phosphorus that may be tied up and in those soils or some of that organic matter in those soils They cover crops increase earthworms. Is that good? Is that bad depends who you ask and what system you're in probably So earthworms good in terms they aerate they can help with soil aggregation earthworms. Are they native to North America? Not all of them. And so there's that if we get into our grazing rangeland system Probably we don't want to see earthworms there because they don't belong there They actually can disrupt at our plant or ecology and ecosystem there because they're releasing nutrients That will benefit some of our invasive grass species that and and maybe have a negative impact on our native plant species That thrive in low nutrient environments and then they can build soil carbon Which is needed to create organic matter and kind of plays into that aggregate stability is that organic matter is important for Developing that aggregate stability to enhancing that water holding capacity and holding that nitrogen in place so that it's not leaching out of that system cover crop adaptation. It's becoming more important more and more interesting adapting cover crops across the US Fortunately, I don't have more recent data than this. This is the most recent data from USDA between 2012 and 2017 there was a 50% increase in and cover crop adaptation across the United States And that was a that equaled 15.4 million acres and here we're in our region. No, we're doing all right. We're kind of at the in the topper upper between that 150,000 500,000 acres but if we look at that in terms of That acre harvestable acreage in those counties excluding alfalfa We're actually only one to five percent on average of those acres that are incorporating cover crops So there's definitely some room for improvement there So what do cover crops provider or what don't cover crops or provider soils? We've talked about or Provide in general. I mean we talked about those benefits into To the soils, but what's the gap? What's keeping people from incorporating cover crops into their system? Any thoughts? A lot of it's just there's no immediate economic return We're putting money into those cover crops, but there's there's not a Immediate benefit and it takes a few years to even see those soil health benefits And so is it worth that investment? And I think that's where our livestock come into play is that we get an immediate return when we incorporate livestock because they are able to utilize that forage and Benefit and we get an economic return from investing in that cover crop then And so kind of the other thing that does so we got the feed for those livestock and they are loving it this is from one of our research trials and then the livestock Actually speed up the rate in which those nutrients that organic matters broke broken down in that system because it's passing through that cow and Coming out in the form of manure and urine which are more readily available in terms of urine and our nitrogen's much more readily available in urine And then manure is stable a form and compared to some of the other forms that would be in that system and Then also with those livestock There's different type of biology that's going to come in in soil biology is going to be introduced when we introduce those species With with the cattle and the livestock and then that benefits our crop growth and for subsequent crops And we're going to touch on all of that today So in North Dakota alone. This is from USDA crop acreage reports from 2019 to 2021 we've seen an increase in 26,000 acres for The annual crops that were planted with livestock in mind so either for a forage or for grazing We seen that decline last year but I believe that had a lot to do with the 2.4 million acres of Prevented plant that we had in the state and knowing that we don't I don't have numbers on that I haven't seen that reported anywhere that a lot of that did get planted to cover crops because of the flexibility That has now been introduced into the prevented plant Policy and RMA allowing allowing them to be used for livestock forage feed without a penalty Before November 1st because after the November but previously that November 1st is the livestock producer, you know That's not there's not any quality there and so Was it worth it then at that time? But now we can harvest those forage use those forages when they're a good quality for those animals How many of you do have livestock? Great now I know who to ask questions to So I'm gonna talk about four different projects and Really probably most of the results come from our current Sarah project So we have a soil. There's a soil health and livestock performance project that was done at the Central Grasslands Research Center in Streeter And this one used mixed species cover crop following a cash crop So basically dual cropping system where they had the crash crop then they put in the cover crop and graze the cover crop and Then I'm not going to talk about this research, but it is available I kind want to make you aware of it that they've been doing We've been doing a lot of research on winter cereals and full season cover crops and just like species selection What's the quality of those? What's the production of those? What's the best fit depending where you are in the region? The current project that I'm going to focus on a lot is the grazing management impacts on a full season cover crop So there's a lot of research on grazing or not grazing a cover crop Not so much. And how do we manage those livestock in that system? So we looked at two different things stock density with a high stock Density more animals per unit area and less animals per unit area same stocking rate But hoping that that would influence nutrient distribution across those fields We're still looking at that data that part that piece of the project is really hard for us to replicate Because a lot of the livestock producers are working with didn't have enough animals to get that impact on the fields that we were working on Because they were working on 28 or fields to graze and we did strip graze But even that just didn't we didn't get that density. We're hoping to get the other piece. We looked at was utilization rate So kind of that take half leave half of 50% use are Take everything out there. And how does that influence our soil health? Then the second project is actually the same project with a little another component added to it where instead of We just had the full season cover crop we graze This other project after they were done grazing the full season cover crop They put in a winter cereal that the graze in the spring. So two grazing periods and No crop cash crop on both projects. We did this for two years And then we put corn in as a cash crop this year just to look at that Economic and how does that and it benefit our crop production system potentially? So those are pro that that project is probably where is gonna be where most of our focus is today because that's what I have the most data on When I talked about the grazing utilization for cover crops on I know when somebody said we Here's you say take everything out there take everything out there that the cow can actually get It's a lot different than actually taking everything out there So this is actually what it looked like when we're done with our grazing period So this is our 50% harvest efficiency which are 50 full use Which this is that this is our take everything. So we calculated that after off of a 50% harvest efficiency Pass that cows weren't really grazing. They're starting to lose. We don't want to push them harder than that And then this is our take half leave half which was calculated off of a 35% harvest efficiency So basically 35% of what's out there is available for forage use and 50% What that what was out there for total production was available for grazing in these two systems? But you can see there's not really much difference in ground cover There's there's a little bit of more tall height here, but it's an overall ground cover protection It's pretty good in both in both situations here in both scenarios The only exception was one year. We've had it got snowed and it got wet So then we had a little bit more of an impact because of that getting trampled and incorporated By the livestock before we could pull them off So we went out no So and I can share this you reach out to me I can help with these calculations Unfortunately, we don't have simple curves. We had to go out cover crops, especially because we had an eight-way mix Productions highly variable. So we went out we clipped what was out there to the ground and then we Calculated 30 dried it down and then 35% of our 35 or 55 or 50% of that dry matter was available for grazing then and we estimated off of an an intake of 1,200 pounds per animal and that was just that's not their traditional stocking If you're Cal you on range land we use 913 but we've noticed with our research that cows have higher intake on cover crops And so we have adjusted that to match that Yeah, if you want any of that data, I'm happy to share how we how we calculated that and hopefully we'll in the future be able to develop some growth curves and estimates, but it's just so tricky because We put this in but what grew did this get too deep then yeah There's just so many unknowns in cover crops right now and this is a trial We're just getting started so I don't have any data for this But I wanted to talk about it because I'm really excited about this one So all the other ones are full season fall grazing this one is looking at rye management in a soy soybean production system We have a no rye treatment a rye only only with no grazing a Rye that's going to be spring only grazing Which is what most people do in in northern plains and then we're going to do all grades So we're going to graze we great we graze this fall and then we'll graze again this spring It's this fall fortunately was so dry We got like two to five days of grazing it was limited But that we want to get that grazing impact and see what that impact has on that sand of the next spring and hopefully in a normal Growing season if we encounter one We'll have more production and be able to graze a little bit more out there And this one we're actually looking at soil biology There isn't any studies out there that look at soil biology when we're in incorporate livestock yet, but we're Looking at that component in this study So what I'm going to talk about today then is the soil physical properties bulk density aggregate stability infiltration and Chemical properties I'm going to focus on the key nutrients nitrogen phosphorus potassium and organic matter and This is very data heavy, so I apologize for that, but this is the dual cropping systems the left first study and This is bulk density across the three years of the study We have our single crop and the dual cropping and you see that there is no Significant difference in these two years and this year. We actually seen a little bit of a benefit or a lower bulk density Due to on that livestock treatment or like raised treatment similar in our current study is That with these bars when they overlap it means we're not different So there's no difference between our we had cover crop only the 50% or lower use The full use and we have an annual crop system here So no difference between those On in terms of bulk density or compaction. I know that's always a question we get in the northern plains and There's lots of research that shows us that we don't see a compaction issue when we live integrate livestock in the fall Because we're going to go through that freeze thought cycle that's going to break up that compaction I mean exception would be if you have high clays and it's wet when you're grazing you might see see some impacts But that's more likely in the spring actually so we hopefully learn more on with our ride trial and some If there's any impacts on that we're spring grazing Water infiltration. This is highly was highly very well in this study. We had working with six producers across six counties There's lots of variability in the soils we're working with and so lots of variability But there is no significant difference across our cover crop only our two grazing treatments And then the annual crop system lots of variate but the ability but not significantly different In terms of water of infiltration on both sides This now we're looking at aggregate stability. This is that dual cropping system where they had a cash crop and then the the cover crop that they grazed and we seen across the Across by the end of the treatment or the end of the project that we had a Significant increase in aggregate stability on our two grazing treatments and a greater increase on that full use Grazing treatment in comparison to our on graze and this was still cover crop. It just wasn't grazed This is our current study. I did add so we have this is an annual our traditional or annual annual crop And this is our baseline and then this was this fall or the spring when we measured again And so that did there was an increase I'm not sure what the increase was is probably a function of what plants were planted there I mean, then here's our integrated crop baseline across all sites and then our different treatments and so it didn't significantly increase or decrease From our grazing treatments, but you'll see that we have an increase in our macro Aggregates so those larger aggregates that are more stable And so that is a definitely a positive and that we were we see Across these treatments. So either what you either have no Impact or we have a positive impact in terms of aggregate stability looking moving on soil nutrients and this is that first study again with the dual cropping and We had a year effect were nitrogen But it wasn't a treatment. So there was no differences between treatments your effect probably lightly related to Climate which is what we see for our current study as well the we there was a significant increase in phosphorus for our 50% use Grazing treatment and potassium for our full use grazing treatment This is our current study. We haven't ran stats yet, but can I kind of look at the increases this first year 2020 the baseline year for all of these is Following a traditional fertilizer application and In 2019 so we would still have that residual effect of that application Where during our study we did not add additional fertility So there was no fertility added in 2020 2021 or 2022 across these sites Except for the traditional because that was just business as usual So right away you're looking at this. You're like, oh, this is didn't help at all And that's what we were thinking like then I remembered but this has a fertility And so nitrogen was highly variable. You see we had an increase initially and then a decrease and Does anyone know why that might have happened? So it's because of our drought that started in 2020 and lasted it We even this spring when we sample we were still in in our drought conditions. So that influences our nitrogen availability And then also I the changes of the form of the other the nitrogen that we Had are seen and being more bound up in our organic matter, which we'll look at as well but we've seen our Across our treatments that the phosphorus actually was either at or above our baseline levels without without that fertility and Potassium increased throughout the study and Above our requirements well above This is I just want to kind of show a different way of looking at the same data for this study So 2020 is that predict our baseline year in 2022 and what I want to show here is that we've had a lot of variability We had different we tried to keep soils types the same but because we were covering such a large geographic region We had similar ones, but not the same Also, you can see we had it's really high pre Pre-treatment nitrogen one of our farmers had Chickpeas planted the year before so we were seeing that residual impact of that legume there in in our samples So there's just there is a lot of factors a lot of variability that goes into on-farm research And that's what showing up up in some of our data here Phosphorus we did same thing Not quite as much but still variable We did see again that trend for overall our average increase over time And this line here is the requirement for a hundred eighty bushel corn in Eastern in Eastern, North Dakota, but non-irrigated Which is just a little bit over a hundred And then same thing for potassium except here's our requirements here. So we're well above requirements This is for the the same study where we incorporated those winter annuals And in this study, they're actually haying as well. So what's that removal of that cover crop? How does that influence our night our nutrient dynamics? and so nitrogen we actually seen a Significant increase when that full-use grazing treatment compared to our other three treatments here Phosphorus there's the other ones. There's no significant difference So there's some trends, but no significant differences here Same for potassium soil organic matter Here's our pre treatments levels and we seen our grazing treatments increased by about point seven five percent in just over two years our cover crop only increased by about point five percent and There was a slight increase as well and just the traditional croppings in that traditional cropping system of around point two five percent, but point seven five percent in two years is pretty good in terms of Organic matter response and this is in topsoil. We did look at six to twelve inches But that just it takes longer to see that impact there And this is that other one of the winter annual incorporated and you see that when we were moving that Forge it's really impacting that organic matter component because we don't have that residue that's breaking down into that system This is what I think is really cool about this data Definitely even though we didn't see that that nitrogen boost in this past year This is from our Fargo study location and since this was on campus. We can manage things a little bit more And so we actually added a split-plot fertilizer application because of fertilizer prices just to see How did that play into things and what was that benefit and so these are our no graze here? This is no graze and no fertilizer This is no graze plus fertilizer and then these second bars in each color are the There's no fertilizer. So this is our high high stock density This is our moderate stock density which were applied accurately at this location and you can see that When we add that grazing component It had a similar impact is have as are no grazing but fertilizer similar performance similar yield so I think that's pretty cool to see that and Then here's just what those those ears looked like for those for that same chart So we have that no graze no fertilizer Our 50% use no fertilizer, but high stock density 75% in the high stock density So very very similar and so I think that's really powerful is that economic potential economic savings there So two years prior of grazing so we did two years grazing treatments and then this this spring we planted the corn yeah so kind of in a summary of the findings from the research that we've been conducting is that Incorporating livestock either has a neutral impact or positive impact on our soil physical and chemical properties and To me what this says is because all these studies were two to three years We really need more long-term research and data on the impacts of Incorporating livestock into our cropping systems and how that influences our soil health and those properties and Kind of that trend shows that integration of livestock has that potential to enhance soil health and in higher use may actually increase these benefits Integrating livestock can create a return on farmers investments and in those cover crops I think that's really a big piece that's that economic return not only from maybe those the benefits and savings and fertilizer but actually having that forge and extending your grazing season and Minimizing the feet the dry lot feeding period Grazing cover crops can reduce winter feeding costs and other costs some you know if we're grazing rye We're extending that spring grazing period grazing us fall in We can get rid of some of those late fall winter feeding costs We had one of our producers he grazed into late December one year because he had such high production and as heard wasn't huge So we had they were out there a long time And It can lead to an increase in crop production and yields potentially the other thing I want to talk of touch on is There we learned a lot of lessons in this project about integrating a livestock and there's definitely lots of challenges that go with that And we just maybe show us some very challenging years to work in so 2020 we started we had too much moisture and Right away and challenging planting conditions And then we had some of our sites got planted too deep and we didn't have our brass cuz represented in that and so that influenced the nutritional quality the other thing that happened in 2020 is we had a Frost a hard frost on September 5th and so that tanked the quality of our cover crop and our livestock we were only grazing cows so that helped but In terms of meeting their requirements. It was much more challenging and I think in those situations We need to evaluate Supplementation and make sure that we're meeting those needs of those animals with cows not as big of a deal Especially at that state the stage of production they were in but if we were had yearlings on there Something that's needing to grow and gain. We need to make sure that we are supplementing and meet and meeting their needs Then we had 2021 which even more fun We didn't know if our cover crop was going to grow and then thankfully it was a full season and we got rains and Something took off and we actually had were able to graze at all our locations But we ran into even though we weren't applying fertility ran into nitrate toxicity on some of our sites So then we had to adjust our grazing Approach that for that to make sure that those animals were safe We weren't having abortions or things like that from those nitrate levels And so that was I think that's any thing the same thing that you're gonna encounter when you're grazing is You had to be prepared for those unknowns if you have something that's a nitrate accumulator test It's just better to know what you have and it doesn't cost much to test 20 max around $20 to test for nitrates So definitely worth just sending that in knowing what you're dealing with it knowing that your animals are safe We also had water issues on one of our producers Use this lake to water for his livestock. We were like, okay, we trust you and He lost a cow because of sulfate so we had to stop grazing that treatment because that water wasn't Was too dangerous for those animals to use So there's definitely a lot of planning that goes into this and and then you know that strip grazing is a little extra work, but definitely see benefit in terms of Efficiency of use and there's data out of Nebraska that shows those numbers of Additional grazing days that you get When you're grazing with a strip grazing system because you're not they're not trampling as much and not picking up the things They like best and then coming back across and grazing other things, but that's that's extra work and it all takes time and labor so there's Definitely lots of variables when we graze cover crops and and we always want to have a backup plan So that's really that's that's all I had to share I'm hoping we'll have some discussion and you guys have any questions on on the data that we've we've gathered so far Yep so it's gonna in what happens around route is Especially if you've applied those that nitrogen it's just gonna sit there until those plants have Some type of water they can't mobilize and use it unless there's moisture available But also it affects the availability of that nitrogen too So that's where the toxicity came from is that those plants when they're stressed They accumulate they accumulate nitrogen and it can reach toxic thresholds because it's accumulating it But it's not growing properly because it doesn't have adequate moisture so it can take it up But it can't use it and so that's what happens in those situations We didn't in the first year and then we added it and Since it wasn't on farm we let the producer do what they wanted to do Whatever you felt comfortable with that's something that is that Carlson our new beef nutritionist and I have talked about is doing some more research looking at supplementation in our cover crop systems Because that's definitely another gap out there in that research But just the quality data we call it we've collected it was yeah, I mean it was all dried. It was it was not it was not good It was bad I know it was it was it was really bad timing on our part, but So we don't have any for this project, but we are doing some other cover crop stuff And we'll we'll probably it will implement some of these same treatments just because we need just because of that lack of information on them We're right now looking at trying to get some funding. I'm looking at the integration of lives of grazing technology so automatic gates and the virtual fence so how can we so optimize that Stock density by grouping those animals and strip grazing making the use more efficient, but reduce the labor No, so the the season long ones we had eight-way mix So there's oats There's peas sorghum sedan Millet with some sunflowers in there Brassicas, so I think we did Paja We did kale one year just was a price of kale and Flax, but I think too is like that there's that balance if we're trying to so when we do that that season long We're trying to do something that will for sure grow because you're giving up a cash crop We want to make sure we have something that will grow that we can graze and so having that diversity helps address that Certified I would ask I don't believe it does though because it's still grazing as long as you're not supplementing is that correct I don't know Yeah Or Yeah, so in this situation I think as long as you're grazing vegetative You would be and it's better quality than anyways, but In timing yeah, yeah and that timing piece when you're harvesting for hay you're gonna get better quality anyways when you cut it at those stages Yeah, and so one thing we put like oats if you put in a field pea or that's a really good option to That brings up that quality and it's one of the low-cost legumes that we can incorporate into our cover crop system So that's why we use it a lot because there's lots of other options But it grows well here and it's low cost and I think that's one of those things especially season long and you don't know if it's Going to grow There's always something so keeping it low cost is as I think important When you're thinking about that economic return and what you're putting into that system Aren't Yes Yeah, I think that there's a few different things so when an animal grazes So we think of where the organic matter comes from in the plant. It's from what's in the soil. It's from the roots Yes, the residue on top is going to get there eventually but it takes a long time to break it down So one that animals facilitating that above down break above down Ground breakdown But also when an animal grazes the roots will break off. It's called senescence the roots And that becomes incorporated into that soil and so that's increasing That's actually your most rapid increasing organic matters from those that the roots breaking down and senescing So that's the immediate that that I see In terms of organic matter And then I yeah, I think that we don't have the data, but there's different There's different biology that comes just from the what's in that animal's room and that's going to get passed out And so that's gonna feed different things in that in that system And then the stability of the nutrients in the different form of the nutrients that they're going to come out as In the once they pass through that animal And so the biggest piece is just their help and break things down faster and making it available quicker Yeah, I don't know. We don't have chickens on campus. So that might be that might be a challenge But yeah, there's definitely things Most of our research is with cows because that's most representative of what we have in this state and it's of We also have access to them But there's definitely other ways we can look at this too and other things we can incorporate Incorporate and I think it's it's becoming more popular and people are bringing sheep in and then they And they graze a lot differently. So And they'll have obviously left a little less hoof impact than a cow That yeah, there's in terms of the research that's out. There's really A lot of it's very limited. It's grazed or non grazed or it focuses on the animal production piece But doesn't bring in that soil health piece and so that's what we're our goal is Is to fill in some of those gaps and look at the whole system And not just a piece of that system Yeah So that that would be the same that was the same grazing study So Not it didn't it showed it in the p in the k but not the n But I think that yield shows that maybe It was there. It just maybe wasn't in In a form that our animal or that our tests recognize And we did have some issues with the lab our testing lab this year. So that might have been part of part of our part of things There's always a challenge with research Um Yes, so that was We go and I don't have those specific sites pulled out. I just have the average So here's our organic matter though and the so those those crazy treatments were the ones that had almost They had a three quarters of a percent increase in organic matter over the Over the treat over the trial time are from baseline Out people yeah, it's not going to be Yeah, it's not going to be as big of a benefit because you're yeah, you're not having that grazing impact At least that's initial and there's still going to be that benefit and we've seen in our cover crop only trial that you and Hopefully with our our rye trial we're doing now we can answer some more of those those questions But this this trial here So this one did have this had rye in part of incorporated it into So we definitely see a bigger boost but we're seeing a bigger boost when we're Integrating those livestock would see but even with the no use of the no livestock. Here's our That's just the cover crop by itself. So it's still a benefit. It's just not as big of a benefit Because you're still getting that root matter that's breaking down and and becoming organic matter The nice thing about if you have if you're able to harvest it somehow you're getting a return from that investment And if you can graze it You're getting your animals out of a lot earlier, especially rye You're getting them out of a lot earlier in that in the spring and it improves health conditions conditions for them And it's reducing your feeding costs to Yep Yeah, that's Pretty common here And that's what we'll do on our study is that though the no graze treatment As well terminate and plant into it because that's what they're already doing at that research center And that's most of the where because that's that'll be done in central North Dakota both of our study sites so that We want to replicate what the producers in that area are doing Are any of you in other words a few livestock producers are any of you already grazing cover crops? Thinking about it or have considerations about it or what are some of the things that are maybe keeping you from doing that? And so that's that piece like if you can Set that That's why we clip in ways so we can kind of control that and set that grazing period And pull them off when we get to the point where we want to and that's that's tricky It takes and definitely just a lot of guests seen in it to it anyways because Every cow grazes a little different and depends on their experience with cover crops So our trial we had ones that had grazed cover crops before and were experienced And then we had some naive cows that were older and some younger ones the young ones did fine They adapted we had the old the older cows did not want to eat those brassicas They picked everything else out did not want to eat the brassicas and Which impacted them because that was where we were hoping to get the nutrition from at that time Because that was going to be so it was still green everything else was dried up And those cows were refused to eat at the first year and then they did eat it the second year But it just took them a little bit before they were willing to try that And we also had one guy that his he's They had a small herd and it was very connected with his herd and He called us they'd only been out like two days and they weren't even close to when they needed to be moved And I was like my cows are crying and so it's like just ignore them Wait till you get closer to the the date. They're not used to it So they'll be fine And in the second year they were they was better But you just like that trial of like this isn't something his cows were used to and But really good experiences the most of the those that we had worked with that hadn't grazed cover crops Are planning on continuing it. Um, one guy his father-in-law came out to our tour and I didn't think this was gonna work and they had a great experience They're the ones that grazed till december they fall calved out on it and It and it's something they plan on continuing to do and it especially with the drought last year It did give even though we had some challenges with nitrates It gave them some extra grazing and relieved pressure on their pasture So they can move those cows off those pastures and so really looking at that whole systems approach increasing the resilience of our grazing system overall and And reducing that impact on our pasture so they can recover from the drought a little better Which we've seen that on ours even we go out there and they're all like head to the head to the fence lines see if we'd move them Yes Because I know like when we talk with people it is it's hard. It's a big commitment. You had the fencing especially and Just that extra labor that goes into the extra costs But if you're going to put do cover crops you're already it's definitely worth worth it And water is always a big issue I think it's the infrastructure and having that infrastructure in place and that investment in infrastructure These we're all grazing we're bringing the animals out there Yep so Yeah, there we all the study or most of studies we've done we graze in the fall And so in the northern great plains we go through a freestyle cycle. Obviously this week is a very good example of that um and so Because of our the clays in our soils they shrink and swell and that shrinking and swelling as they go through that freeze thought cycle Helps to break that compaction As we go south that's definitely a bigger concern But here with our climate it actually there's one benefit at least one benefit of it being cold besides no mosquitoes right now right so That's that is there's research that was been Done out of the ars station at mandan that looked at that extensively and and all the trials we've done to bulk density hasn't increased significantly under our grazing treatments the exceptions are spring grazing if that soil is saturated and you have high clay content You're going to have some compaction issues And so I mean it's just one of those things is you know knowing your soils knowing your fields and If you're you know delaying grazing or getting those animals off of that field to reduce that And there's been research out in Nebraska to a long-term research looking at compaction as well and There was that they haven't had They don't have any negative results for that either And the their soils are a little sandier so like that makes sense But yeah, that's definitely the biggest concern we see or hear of is the the compaction piece and So far we haven't seen any evidence of that in our research And there's a lot and even you know research from the northern plains in general