KELSEY STREMEL
K-State Extension news service
MANHATTAN, Kan. — For Charlie and Jeremy Kootz, a father-son team farming near the Kannapolis Reservoir in Ellsworth County, cover crops are more than conservation. For them, it’s about building healthier soils, reducing erosion, protecting water supplies, improving profitability, and extending the grazing season into fall and winter.
“We’re trying to incorporate cover crops to boost soil health and then integrate livestock as much as we can with it,” Jeremy said. “It’s about getting the best of both worlds — stacking enterprises so we’re improving infiltration and soil biology while also cycling nutrients with cattle.”
His father, Charlie, has seen the difference during dry years. “Most of it is for grazing cattle and soil health support. We’ve seen less erosion these past couple years, even when it’s been so dry. That’s been a huge benefit,” he said.
Those on-the-ground experiences line up with research from Kansas State University. A two-year study in Russell County tested how different grazing strategies on cover crops influenced soil conditions, grain yields, and overall farm profitability.
K-State Researchers compared ungrazed plots, the widely recommended “take-half-leave-half” approach, and a more aggressive “graze-out” strategy where up to 90% of cover crop biomass was consumed.
While heavy grazing has often raised concerns about soil degradation, this short-term study found that higher grazing intensities did not significantly reduce soil health indicators under the conditions observed. Soil organic carbon, nutrient cycling, and water infiltration remained stable, and subsequent grain sorghum yields averaged 83 bushels per acre for ungrazed plots and 89 bushels per acre for both moderate and high grazing treatments.
“That’s an important finding for farmers in water-limited regions,” said Logan Simon, K-State agronomist. “We know cover crops can improve soil structure and reduce erosion, but adoption has been slow because of costs and concerns about yield drag. Grazing adds another layer of value. It helps make cover crops profitable.”
Residue amount and plant height were reduced under grazing, but soil surface cover — critical for conserving soil water and reducing erosion — remained similar to ungrazed plots. Even at the higher “graze-out” level, such indicators of soil health as aggregate stability and time-to-runoff were unaffected, showing that the soil protective functions of cover crops persisted despite heavier utilization.
For the Kootz family, the bottom line matters as much as soil health.
“You may not see it in the short term as much as you’d like, but the hope is long term we’ll see soil health improvements and profitability,” Jeremy said. “The cattle are part of that cycle. They’re nutrient cyclers, and they let us make better use of what we’re growing.”
The Kootz family began experimenting with no-till years ago, then gradually added cover crops with support from conservation initiatives like the Kansas Reservoir Protection Initiative, a cost-share program supported by the Kansas Water Office in cooperation with the Ellsworth County Conservation District. By adding grazing, they’ve been able to offset input costs while also protecting water quality downstream.
That connection to water is where K-State watershed specialist Stacie Minson sees cover crops playing a larger role. Working with producers near Kannapolis Reservoir, she helps farmers adopt practices that keep nutrients and sediment on the land rather than washing into streams and lakes.
“If we have a living root in the soil for more days out of the year, we keep sediment and nutrients on the field,” Minson explained. “That helps with water quality protection, but it also helps the farmer. By bringing in cattle, farmers can cover their bottom line while improving water infiltration and reducing the need to feed hay in winter.”
Research co-author Augustine Obour, K-State soil scientist, said those synergies are what make integrated crop-livestock systems so promising.
“We didn’t see reductions in yield, and soil health indicators remained stable even under higher grazing intensities,” Obour said. “That gives farmers more confidence to adopt practices that regenerate soils, conserve water and improve profitability.”
While the findings are encouraging, researchers cautioned that the study was conducted during an exceptional drought, when soils were less vulnerable to compaction from cattle traffic. They emphasized the need for further testing under average or wetter years, when hoof pressure could have different effects.
Still, the short-term results provide hope for farmers navigating thin margins and unpredictable rainfall. By extending grazing seasons, reducing reliance on stored feed, resting rangeland, and keeping more living roots in the soil, cover crops with livestock integration can help Kansas farms become more resilient.
“Any year is different, and we just keep learning,” Jeremy Coats said. “But the goal is long term — improving soil health and keeping the operation sustainable for the next generation.”
K-State’s research supports broader water quality and soil health goals across Kansas, including efforts to meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s 9 Element Watershed Plan benchmarks developed by Minson, who also serves at the Big Creek Middle Smoky Hill River Watersheds Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) coordinator.
This project works in cooperation with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment Watershed Management Section. By proving that grazing and conservation can coexist, K-State’s work is helping farmers balance stewardship with profitability.
The full report, Cover Crop Biomass Removal Rates to Optimize Livestock Production and Soil Health in Dryland Cropping Systems, is available through the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports at newprairiepress.org/kaesrr.