![mpx-01252023-cor-stock-cropper-IMG_2369[5322].jpg](https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/manchesterpress.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/e4/ce48ff44-91c9-11ed-8969-57e9e35a8a2c/63bede595b2ad.image.jpg?resize=666%2C500)
The reincarnation of the spirit of livestock and crop farming from 100 years ago just might be the future of farming.
The Stock Cropper is the brainchild of Zack Smith, a farmer in northern Iowa who believes he’s developed a system that can address issues faced by Iowa farmers without giving up productivity.
The Stock Cropper is described as “an agricultural experiment that is going to combine livestock and grain crops together in the field at the same time.”
Smith plants rows of corn and soybeans with strips of pasture in between. Using multiple species of livestock, a mobile barn autonomously moves through the strips daily during the growing season. According to Smith’s website, “The animals consume the pasture mix while stimulating the soil with their hooves, snoots, beaks and microbiomes, leaving behind a rich mix of manure to feed the soil.”
Smith said the system is efficient. “We aren’t trucking nutrients in from outside sources, or if we do, we minimize the amount we need. Probably we just put on a bit more nitrogen. We make kind of a perfect rotation where the animals graze for a year, then we flop and put the crop the next year where the animals went and put the animals where the crops were. It’s a way to get significantly more biodiversity in both plant and animal form back onto the land like we had 100 years ago.”
Smith said the Stock Cropper calls for a mix of animals — in the initial prototype, sheep or goats were in front, followed by pigs, with chickens trailing. “We usually have three or four species of livestock parading across the field in the barn, kind of doing their thing, then growing corn in between.”
He said a mix of livestock is key to the success of the system. “The idea of stacking enterprises in one spot is really the secret sauce. If you just put a pen out of cows in this system, it doesn’t work. You’ve got to have the multiple livestock enterprises t make it economically viable.”
He uses the Stock Cropper on five acres of his 1,200 acre farm, and the results are eye catching.
“Growing corn in strips where there is a shorter pasture crop in between, we can actually boost corn production to the tune of 50-75 acres more because it has full light interception on the edge rows. We raised over 300 bushels of corn an acre this year on one of the strips where the animals were last year. The edge effect got really big yields. The rest of the corn around here averaged 230-240 bushels per acre.”
He admits the system is not designed for large operations. “I wanted to create a system that allows a family to make a living off 160 acres like we used to have instead of needing to farm thousands of acres.”
That being said, Smith said he’s crunched the numbers and believes if stock cropping were used extensively in Iowa, producers would see the benefits.
“We could still raise 25 million hogs in Iowa a year. We could do it in one turn in the summertime, like how people used to finish livestock. It would require probably only 13 counties in Iowa with good land to use the system. We’d have essentially a closed loop system that would produce feed to feed itself.”
Smith has developed barns that collect rainwater and that move down the rows using a phone app.
“Last year we got to the point where the barn has its own solar panel on top of it and its own 24-volt battery system that can be charged every day. It has an electrified motor that drives the wheels and GPS guidance. We also have an onboard computer and an onboard cell modem so that we can communicate remotely with the phone app. However, the system still requires a fair amount of labor. You have to come out and chore the barn.”
But Smith can’t offer the Stock Cropper to consumers just yet — he’s still refining the system and improving the design, but he sees a future in the Stock Cropper.
“I think our biggest places for this will be on acreages or backyards where people want to raise chickens. Also, vineyards, orchards or even solar arrays. There is a big push back on solar farms because it’s taking land out of production. The lanes in between the solar panels are wide enough for our barns to pass through and you could have a livestock enterprise and make use of that land on top of capturing the solar.”
Smith has a background working in big ag as an agronomist, but now spends most of his time farming and working on the Stock Cropper.
“I’m having fun meeting people and doing things looking to the future. I’m still a conventional producer and yield is ultimately king, but I refuse to believe that it’s impossible to farm in an environmentally and sustainable, carbon-neutral manner without having to give up production. I think we need to change our viewpoint of what is possible and be willing to do more than just planting a corn or soybean crop. How do we maintain a high level of food production in Iowa, but do it in a more intelligent way?”
Those interested in learning more about the Stock Cropper can go the website, www.stockcropper.com, email Smith at stockcropper@gmail.com or find The Stock Cropper channel on YouTube.
