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A Sense of Where You Are: Against the Grain

Part 12 in a Series

By Brian DeVore
January 10, 2025

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Note: This is the 12th installment in the 12-part “A Sense of Where You Are” series. 

In case Allen and Kathleen Deutz need a reminder of one of the main reasons corn dominates the landscape in their part of southwestern Minnesota, they need to look no further than the massive Archer-Daniels-Midland ethanol plant that rises to the sky just across one of their fields. Here’s their context: that plant has been gobbling up corn in the region since the mid-1980s. As a result, fences have been taken down, pastures and hay ground plowed up, and livestock pretty much removed from the land.

Allen Deutz examines a stand of forages he plans to graze. In the background is an ADM ethanol plant, which buys corn from a wide area around his southwestern Minnesota farm. The farmer sees not devoting his entire land base to growing corn for the plant as a way to stay economically and agronomically nimble.

“It changed the landscape,” said Allen one evening recently, gesturing toward the biofuel plant across the Redwood River.

The Deutzes farm some 800 acres in Lyon County. They do raise corn, and yes, much of it goes to that ADM plant. But as farmers from throughout the region haul corn past the Deutz place — Allen jokes that “every farmer in four counties drives by my farm at some point” — they can’t help but notice a different look to this particular farm’s landscape: there are small grains such as wheat, well-kept fences, and forages — and animals out there grazing those forages.

Literally in biofuel’s massive shadow, the Deutzes are going against the grain. About half the acres that make up Redwood River Farms produce crops for the organic market. They have a cow-calf beef herd, as well as a flock of hair sheep. Goats and hogs are also part of the mix, and the couple direct-markets meat to area eaters. All those animals are raised on rotationally grazed perennials and summer annuals. They also graze a local Minnesota Department of Natural Resources wildlife area. The Deutzes dairy farmed until they sold the herd in 2016, and re-integrating animals onto the farm hasn’t been easy. For one thing, they had to set up miles of fencing, which they were able to do with the help of the NRCS’s EQIP program.

At first glance, not taking full advantage of a handy local market for a crop that grows well on this land may not seem to make sense. But the Deutzes have some good, commonsense reasons for not going whole hog into growing corn for biofuels. Allen has a master’s degree in economics and teaches ag business at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, so he knows how to crunch the numbers and do financial projections. He sees livestock as a way to diversify the farm’s income stream while providing a kind of insurance policy that fortifies the farm against crop failures — something that’s become particularly critical in recent years as climate change cooks up extreme weather events on a regular basis.

For example, during a September field day sponsored by the Sustainable Farming Association and the Department of Natural Resources, Allen explained how a drought in 2023 devastated a corn crop he had planted. However, after checking with his insurance agent, he was able to bring cattle onto the fenced field and graze it. That not only produced some economic value from the ruined crop while controlling weeds, but built soil fertility for the next growing season, when he planted organic wheat on the field. That wheat was his most profitable crop in 2024. The Deutzes knew that the drought-stricken field probably got some second looks from farmers driving to the ethanol plant, but over the long-term, it’s turned out to be a success.

“It didn’t look good, but I knew that failed corn field made sense economically,” Allen said while standing at the edge of the 40-acre plot. “I’m not stuck in a rut of always having to make money from having corn and soybeans in my rotation. The livestock and fencing system gives us options, and with the erratic weather systems we have now, it provides some resilience.”

At one point, the Deutzes took the field day participants to a 170-acre parcel north of the farmstead. Allen explained how this “summer pasture,” which was made up of wheat, oats, barley, field peas, common vetch, and buckwheat, would be grazed. In 2025, organic corn will be planted in the resulting nutrient-rich soil.

As the sun set, the lights of the ADM plant twinkled at the edge of the field. Biofuel was being distilled above the ground. Biology was being built beneath it.

Brian DeVore edits the Land Stewardship Letter and produces the Ear to the Ground podcast.

Give it a Listen

  • Ear to the Ground 357: Against the Grain (Allen Deutz)

Installments in the ‘A Sense of Where You Are’ Series:

  1. Introduction to the Series: A Sense of Where You Are
  2. Red Dresses & Magic Management
  3. In the Blood
  4. Seeking Signs of Life
  5. Forest for the Trees
  6. The Quickening
  7. Food Bank Booster
  8. First Things First
  9. The Big Picture
  10. The Snowball Effect
  11. 7 Years Later
  12. Against the Grain

 

Category: Blog
Tags: adaptive managed grazing • Allen and Kathleen Deutz • diversity • drought • ethanol • grazing cover crops • integrating livestock • mono cropping • organic crops • Redwood River Farms • soil health

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September 2025

Wednesday September 17

9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Grazing for Invasive Species Management in Oak Savannas
Wednesday September 17
9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Grazing for Invasive Species Management in Oak Savannas
Myre-Big Island State Park, 19499 780th Ave, Albert Lea, MN 56007, USA

For details on this workshop, click here.

12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Extending the Grazing Season with Cover Crops & Native Grasses
Wednesday September 17
12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Extending the Grazing Season with Cover Crops & Native Grasses
Bluffton Resort & Bar, 2619 W Ravine Rd, Decorah, IA 52101, USA

This Ducks Unlimited workshop will feature a discussion of how livestock producers can utilize cover crops and native grasses to extend the grazing season. Featured speakers include Adam Janke, who will discuss Iowa State University’s research on CRP grazing, and Brian Dougherty of Understanding AG, who will discuss the economics of grazing cover crops. There will also be a presentation on Ducks Unlimited’s Advancing Markets for Producers Partnership. 
 
For details, see this flier. or call Ducks Unlimited’s Liam Bonk at 612-483-3577. To register, click here.

Thursday September 18

5:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Minnesota Women in Conservation: Conservation Land Walk in Dawson
Thursday September 18
5:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Minnesota Women in Conservation: Conservation Land Walk in Dawson
Dawson, MN

During this Minnesota Women in Conservation event, participants will walk around a “homestead” farm site — exploring areas and goals the landowner hopes to improve in the future, including pollinator habitat, perennial plantings, wind breaks, privacy/noise screens, water quality improvements, well sealing, and compost placements. Participants will hear feedback and recommendations from a conservation professional on potential programs that could assist the landowner in achieving those goals. 
 
This is a FREE event, but you must RSVP here to get the address. For more information and to RSVP, click here.

Saturday September 20

All Day
Farm Aid
Saturday September 20
Farm Aid
Huntington Bank Stadium, 420 23rd Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA

 Farm Aid is heading to Minnesota for the first time for its 40th anniversary festival on Saturday, Sept. 20, at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The event will launch a year-long celebration of four decades of impactful advocacy, historic cultural moments and unforgettable music.

Farm Aid 40 — a full day of music, family farmers, HOMEGROWN food and agricultural experiences — will feature performances by Farm Aid board members Willie Nelson, Neil Young (and the Chrome Hearts), John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews (with Tim Reynolds), and Margo Price, as well as Billy Strings, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Trampled by Turtles, Waxahatchee, Eric Burton of Black Pumas, Jesse Welles, Madeline Edwards and more artists to be announced.

For details, click here.

Monday September 22

9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Twin Cities Urban Farm Bus Tour
Monday September 22
9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Twin Cities Urban Farm Bus Tour
Leatherdale Equine Center, 1801 Dudley Ave, St Paul, MN 55108, USA

Join University of Minnesota Extension, Hennepin County, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service on Monday, Sept. 22, for a bus tour of urban farms. We’ll discuss the challenges of city growing, including compaction, contamination, soil health, water management, and more. And we’ll learn about how growers are using soil health practices to mitigate these challenges. Stops will include: 

  • The St. Thomas research gardens, where researchers have been studying different methods for maintaining fertility in urban garden beds for 8+ years, and learning about how these different approaches impact soil health and water quality
  • Our Roots Community Garden, where gardeners have implemented a variety of soil health practices to remediate a brownfield contaminated site into a lush garden with healthy soil and plants. Gardeners here are also working to establish a micro forest at the site
  • Urban Roots farm at Rivoli Bluff. The team at Urban Roots has worked for years to establish a thriving farm at a former street sweeping site. They’ve tried many different practices to address compaction, replace invasive species with native plants to mitigate erosion, and to grow vegetables for their community. 

This is the first tour in a three part soil health bus tour series. Participants can sign up for just one, two, or all three tours. Register at https://z.umn.edu/vegetablebustours. The cost is $15 (flat fee, covers 1, 2, or 3 tours). There are more details in the attached flyer.

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