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A Sense of Where You Are: Forest for the Trees

Part 5 in a Series

By Brian DeVore
January 17, 2025

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Note: This is the 5th installment in the 12-part “A Sense of Where You Are” series. 

Grazing livestock have been described as “combines that poop.” That’s an accurate, if somewhat graphic, depiction of how moving cattle and other animals through well-managed paddocks can rebuild soil that’s been decimated by tillage, chemical use, and compaction.

Langdon Collom (right) and Jonathan Kilpatrick examine a field that has been converted from row crops to perennial forages. “The only thing we’re taking off the soil is a pound of beef, versus a bunch of hay or corn, and all the organic matter with it,” says Collom.

Langdon Collom farms in a part of west-central Minnesota that sorely is in need of such rejuvenation. On parts of the land he farms, the soil starts to thin out to the point where it’s not unheard of to hit gravel when digging down just a bit past the surface. On a hot evening in mid-September, under a sky made smoky by distant Canadian wild fires, the farmer explained how he’s used beef cattle to bring the soil back to life. His family was hosting a field day sponsored by “Match Made In Heaven: Livestock Plus Crops,” an initiative that’s helping show ways crops and livestock can be integrated in a profitable and sustainable manner. Match Made In Heaven is a six-state collaboration involving 50-plus groups, including LSP.

And Collom wasted little time showing that when done under the auspices of managed rotational grazing, the marriage of animals and land can be a happy one. He walked field day participants out to a spot that had grown corn and soybeans for years. Six years ago, he seeded it down to perennial forages and started rotationally grazing it. That worked well, but three years ago, thanks to advice he received from Sustainable Farming Association grazing specialists Kent Solberg and Jonathan Kilpatrick, he “upped his game,” as he put it, by increasing the number of paddocks, varying their sizes, and manipulating stocking densities.

On this September evening, the results were evident: there was a verdant mix of perennials that had been grazed 40 days before and were ready for another pass by Collom’s Black Angus cow-calf beef herd. This was a field that had weathered three years of drought and then, in a reversal of fortune, early 2024 rains so pervasive that at one point part of his herd was stranded on the opposite side of a swollen waterway.

“The pasture just rejuvenates itself,” Collom said in half amazement as Kilpatrick dug up a fragrant spadeful of soil.

It’s one thing to bring a field growing annual row crops back to life using walking biology, but quite another to take on a parcel of land that resembles a dendrological obstacle course. At one point, Collom led the group across the road to a 40-acre field that represented a failed experiment in perennialization. Three decades ago, a company came in and bought up thousands of acres of land in the neighborhood and planted fast-growing hybrid poplars for the pulp paper market. The business went bust, and Collom bought this particular field with the trees still growing on it.

The poplars had sucked massive amounts of fertility out of the ground and when they were cut, stumps and logs made it difficult to even navigate a four-wheeler though the field. The farmer bought a type of heavy disc used by road construction crews and “beat-up” on the woody leftovers. He then planted a 15-way mix of cover crops and began grazing it. Besides getting low-cost forage off the field, Collom is finding that the biological activity he’s triggered is helping break down the plantation’s remnants.

On this particular evening, a few bare spots were evident, but the former poplar grove was beginning to resemble a thriving stand of forages. “After only three years, it’s become a field I could conceivably raise corn on,” said Collom.

But he isn’t breaking out the corn planter anytime soon. His experience with adaptive grazing on other parts of the farm has, by the farmer’s estimation, virtually doubled his carrying capacity. That’s resulted in a healthier biological cycle and more money in the bank.

“Actually, when we do taxes now it’s not quite as easy to show losses as it used to be, so we’re coming on to a new problem there,” Collom chuckled. “But we’ll be able to handle that one.”

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

Give it a Listen

  • Ear to the Ground Podcast 350: Cranking Up Capacity (Landon Collom & Jonathan Kilpatrick)

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 • grazing cover crops • integrating livestock • Langdon Collom • Match Made In Heaven • pasture-based livestock

Upcoming Events

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June 2025

Saturday June 21

1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Farm-Scale Deep Winter Greenhouse Tour
Saturday June 21
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Farm-Scale Deep Winter Greenhouse Tour
Owl Bluff Farm, 12314 County Road 4 Houston, MN 55943

The University of Minnesota Extension Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships (RSDP) and Owl Bluff Farm will co-host an open house to celebrate the completion of the state’s first farm-scale deep winter greenhouse. The event, held on the farm about 45 minutes east of Rochester, is free and open to the public. RSVPs are required at z.umn.edu/OwlBluffOpenHouse.

Wednesday June 25

2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
LSP-PFI Grazing Field Day at Hoosier Ridge Ranch
Wednesday June 25
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
LSP-PFI Grazing Field Day at Hoosier Ridge Ranch
Hoosier Ridge Ranch, 15998 Wabasha County Rd 26, Altura, MN 55910, USA

Over the last 50 years, livestock have left many farms. Eric Heins is doing the reverse: bringing cattle – and their poop, pee and hooves – back to his land. Come see how Eric is using his Normande-shorthorn crosses in a variety of grazing situations. During this Land Stewardship Project-Practical Farmers of Iowa field day, you can view permanent pasture, where Eric (like everyone) is battling the cool-season grass takeover. You’ll also learn how Eric is using his cattle in cover crop mixes, prairie and woodlands.

Since purchasing the farm in 2020, Eric has converted the cropland to pasture. He also custom-farms a diverse rotation of crops, covers and small grains on neighboring farms, including an established prairie on Iowa Department of Natural Resources land. A possible bonus: Eric is hoping to have virtual fence collars by the time of the field day, but no guarantees!

A meal featuring Hoosier Ridge Ranch burgers will follow the field day.

See & Discuss

  • Cash-flowing the conversion to pasture on owned versus rented cropland
  • Stockpiling pasture for winter grazing
  • Mechanical buckthorn clearing for silvopasture
  • Grazing agreements on DNR prairie and neighboring cropland
  • A sudangrass mix after a canning pea crop
  • An extended rotation with oats, barley and Kernza

For details and to register, click here.

Saturday June 28

4:00 pm – 8:00 pm
LSP's Boots & Roots: A Celebration of Land & People
Saturday June 28
4:00 pm – 8:00 pm
LSP's Boots & Roots: A Celebration of Land & People
Dream Acres, Co Hwy 8, Spring Valley, MN 55975, USA

Join Land Stewardship Project members and supporters to kick-start the Driftless summer with an evening of good food, good music, and good times. We’ll have activities for all ages that will get you out in nature, exploring the connection between our region’s farms and your community’s food, land, and water. Bring a side or dessert to share for dinner, and the Dream Acres wood-fired oven will provide locally-sourced pizzas and flat breads. Dinner will be followed by live music and contra dancing by the Crater City String Band.  

To reserve a spot, click here.

Camping sites are available at nearby Masonic Park and Forestville Mystery Cave and Lake Louise State Parks. Camping at Masonic is rustic,first-come-first-serve, free, and does not require a reservation. Fillmore County, who manages the park, only asks that you call the dispatchers at507-765-3874 when you arrive with your vehicle information and phone number in case of emergency. State Park reservations cost $25 a night and can be made online.

July 2025

Saturday July 12

All Day
Fishing, Farming & Food: Rush Creek’s Fish Kill Anniversary & Why it Matters
Saturday July 12
Fishing, Farming & Food: Rush Creek’s Fish Kill Anniversary & Why it Matters
Rush Creek area in southeastern Minnesota

The Land Stewardship Project will mark the anniversary of a major fish kill in southeastern Minnesota that spawned citizen action and led to new public policy around how such events are reported. We will have fly fishing classes, birding opportunities, discussions about how regenerative farming systems can support healthy soil and clean water, good food, and fun music.  

More details are forthcoming. For more information, contact LSP’s Kate Rowe at krowe@landstewardshipproject.org.

Tuesday July 15

5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Organic Fruit & Vegetable Field Day
Tuesday July 15
5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Organic Fruit & Vegetable Field Day
1805 Dudley Ave, Falcon Heights, MN 55113, USA

Join U of M researchers and Extension for updates on organic fruit and vegetable research and tour the Student Organic Farm and the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station in Saint Paul. Topics include: organic insect management, integrating livestock into vegetable farms, new crops for Minnesota, irrigation strategies, and more. Free to the public.
 
For details and to register, click here.

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  • Rolling Out the Welcome Mat for New Neighbors May 30, 2025
  • Land Line: Modern Dust Bowl, Corporate Indifference, Farmers’ Market Stores, Soybean Giant, SNAP & Local Foods, Carbon Markets, Farm Economy’s Twin Tale May 28, 2025
  • MN Ag Bill Supports Market Access, Land Access & Soil Health  May 21, 2025

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