Kady, Kurt, PJ, Kameron Myllymaki Bruce Myllymaki Operation 5 Years - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Kady, Kurt, PJ, Kameron Myllymaki Bruce Myllymaki

Operation 5 Years Ago ➢ February/March Calving ➢ April-June Field Work ➢ Late June-Early July Haying ➢ July-August-September Harvest ➢ September-October Seeding ➢ October, Ship calves, preg check cows ➢ December-April Feed Hay

Why Changes Needed To Be Made ➢ Burnout at start of new seasons ➢ Previous generation wanting to slow down ➢ Reluctance to hire help ➢ Inputs reducing farming profits ➢ Winter calving ➢ Make more profit from cattle

Cattle related Enterprise Changes ➢ Grazing ➢ Eliminated haying production Enterprise ➢ Move calving from February/March to May/June

Increase Stock Density

F ast Growth, Move Fast = Daily Moves / Slow Growth, Move Less Often

LONG REST PERIODS!!!

Eliminated Haying Production Why? ➢ Too Expensive ➢ Labor ➢ Quality of Life

February/March Calving

May/June Calving

Cattle Change Benefits ➢ Grazing practices have extended grazing season ➢ Reduced feed costs by at least 75% ➢ Increased profitability ➢ Decreased workload * ➢ Happier, content cattle ➢ Overall quality of life higher

Farming Enterprise – 5 years ago

Soil Health Principles ➢ Soil Armor ➢ Minimize Soil Disturbance ➢ Diversity ➢ Continual Living Roots ➢ Livestock Integration

Soil Armor

Soil Armor Stripper Header

Stripper Header Benefits ➢ Faster harvesting speeds ➢ Less wear on combine ➢ Combine uses less fuel ➢ Cleaner sample ➢ Snow catch ➢ Protects seedlings ➢ Shades and covers soil ➢ Soil Temp*

Minimize Soil Disturbance ➢ No-till ➢ Plant Green ➢ Fertilizers ➢ Herbicides ➢ Pesticides ➢ Fungicides ➢ Insecticides ➢ No-till is not Enough!

Diversity ➢ -WSG, CSG, CSB, WSB ➢ -Diversity of cash crops ➢ Cover Crops ➢ Intercropping

CSG WSG Winter Wheat Spring Wheat Barley CSB WSB

CSG WSG Winter Wheat Millet Spring Wheat Sorghum/Sudan Barley Sudan Oats CSB WSB Peas, Forage Collards Chickpeas Flax, Canola, Faba Bean Buckwheat Turnips, Vetch Sunflowers Phacelia, Mustard

Cover Crops ➢ - Flax (always) ➢ -Turnips and Collards (never more than 1#) ➢ -Sunflowers ➢ -Be mindful of herbicide carryover ➢ -Easy to overgraze ➢ -What are your goals?

Chickpea/Flax

ChickPea/Flax -IT WORKS!!!

What are our weeds telling us? ➢ Too Much Bare Soil ➢ Not Enough Diversity ➢ Weeds Cycle Nutrients ➢ Best way to beat a Weed is with a Seed! ➢ As long as we spray weeds we will always have weeds to spray! Do weeds make our land unhealthy or appear because our land is unhealthy?

Continual Living Root ➢ Cover Crops ➢ Companion Crops ➢ Perennial Mixes in Rotation ➢ Cover Crops Behind Combine after WW ➢ No Fallow

Livestock Integration

Our System ➢ Working With Nature ➢ 5 Soil Health Principles ➢ Profit Over Yield/Pounds ➢ Quality of Life

“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” -Hen enry ry Fo Ford Email: kurtmyllymaki@hotmail.com Twitter: @KurtMyllymaki Phone: (406) 788-6478