Fridays on the Farm: The Benefits of Improving Soil Health

This Friday meet Shawn Feikema, a third-generation farmer in Luverne, Minnesota. Shawn runs a 7,000-acre row crop and cattle operation along with his uncles and brother. Each morning, before heading out to work on his farm, Shawn said he pauses to ask himself two questions. How can he do more with less and how can he pass this to the next generation better than it was when he got it? His answers form the guiding principles of how he and his family manage what has grown into a sprawling operation since his grandfather started it in 1950.

The Feikemas now grow thousands of acres of corn, soybeans, small grains, and hay along with operating a large cattle feedlot that markets about 6,000 head of cattle a year. The operation’s size and the family legacy they are working to uphold create pressures Shawn says they carry with them every day and influence every decision they make on the farm.

A Systems Approach 

The Feikemas have embraced a systems approach to their farm where the row crop operation and the cattle feedlot work together in a symbiotic relationship.

They utilize manure on their fields instead of commercial fertilizer. They’ve also started growing about 800 acres of small grains a year both as a cash crop and for cereal rye seeds for cover crops. The feedlot has provided a lot of flexibility to experiment with grain crops, because in the worst-case scenario they can bundle it and feed it to the cows, Shawn said. 

“It's really a systems approach to soil health is how I look at it. It's a cycle,” Shawn said. “I use everything the soil gives us. We use it in the feed yard, we turn around and return it back to the field. That's kind of how it works. I really feel like animals are a large part of soil health.”

Because they utilize the manure on their fields, Shawn has to invest resources into storing and hauling the manure. Recent regulation changes in Minnesota made that more difficult as they are no longer able to haul manure in February and March, their two biggest hauling months Shawn said. After exploring all their options, they decided their only path forward was to build a stacking pad to hold the manure in the months they can’t haul. 

Getting Assistance from NRCS

With the future of their feedlot in doubt, they turned to USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for help. They received assistance through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), which covered 90% of the cost to install multiple conservation practices, including a waste transfer system, a waste storage facility, and a heavy use protection area. 

“We wouldn't have been able to do the project if we wouldn't have had the Environmental Quality Incentives Program,” Shawn said. “It would have been impossible.”

The project was recently completed and removed an obstacle affecting the farm’s long-term sustainability. It is all part of being the best stewards of the land that they can be and making sure they are leaving the farm better for the next generation.

“Our core principles are we do the best we can with what God has given us,” Shawn said. “That is in everything we do. We have to do better with everything we do. This is the Earth he's given us and we're to make the most of it for ourselves, for our communities and the world. That's our job.”

More Information

Visit local farms, ranches, forests, and resource areas through our Fridays on the Farm stories. Meet farmers, producers and landowners who are working to improve their operations with USDA programs.

USDA offers a variety of risk management, disaster assistance, loan, and conservation programs to help producers weather ups and downs in the market and recover from natural disasters as well as invest in improvements to their operations. Learn about additional programs.

For more information about USDA programs and services, contact your local USDA service center.

Brandon O’Connor is a public affairs specialist with USDA’s Farm Production and Conservation Business Center.

NOTE: Header image courtesy of Andrew Bydlon.