Diversity is key for healthy ecosystems on farms

MADISON, Wis. — Managing a grass-based grazing farm starts at the ground.

“We have to have good grass to support our livestock so everything we do is from the ground up,” said Thelma Heidel-Baker, soil conservationist for U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.

“We are a certified organic dairy farm and we produce milk for Organic Valley,” said Heidel-Baker during a Grassland 2.0 digital dialogue. “We also do grass-fed beef, raise pastured poultry to sell eggs and chickens and we have pastured pigs.”

Heidel-Baker is also an entomologist who loves insects.

“About seven years ago, my husband and I and our two kids moved back to my family’s dairy farm in Wisconsin,” Heidel-Baker said.

“Grass is so important to all of it — the livelihoods of the animals, the livelihoods of us and the livelihoods of all the other creatures that live on our farm,” she said.

And insects are vitally important for the system.

“We want to have a diversity of insects to provide specific roles of ecosystem services,” Heidel-Baker said. “Diversity is key — the flowers need the pollinators, the pollinators need the flowers and the cows need the grasses, everything is there for a reason.”

It is estimated that there are 400 bee species in Wisconsin, Heidel-Baker said.

“We know very little about a lot of the species because not a lot of research has been done,” she said. “In the U.S., it is estimated there are 3,600 species of bees.”

One of the vital insect groups for farms with livestock is the decomposers.

“The cow poop needs to be broken down, otherwise it can smother out the pasture grass,” Heidel-Baker said. “Insects are the key to that.”

Dung beetles do a lot of the magic, Heidel-Baker said.

“Dung beetles live in the cow patties and break down the patties in a couple of days,” she said. “A sign of a healthy ecosystem is to have dung beetles.”

The declining number of insects is a challenge.

“This study from 2017 was done in nature preserves,” Heidel-Baker said. “It showed a 76% decline of insect biomass from 1986 to 2006.”

Red clover is one of go-to plants on Heidel-Baker’s farm.

“It’s a legume, nitrogen fixer, favorite plant for the cows to eat and a favorite for the bumble bees,” she said. “I have found five species of bumble bees on our farm.”

Monarch butterfly populations have also declined a lot over the last several decades, Heidel-Baker said.

“Monarch butterflies have to lay their eggs on a milkweed plant,” she said. “It’s the only plant the caterpillar can feed on, but milkweed is a toxic plant for livestock.”

However, the cows on Heidel-Baker’s don’t eat the milkweed plants in the pasture.

“The cows take a bite and realize it tastes bad and spit it out,” she said. “And we also provide high quality grass which gives them the choice to eat the good stuff versus the bad stuff.”

Dandelions provide diversity for soil health in pastures, Heidel-Baker said.

“We call dandelions the ice cream to the cow world because cows love them,” she said. “The flowers are not just for livestock — they are also for bees and pollinators.”

Dandelions are one of the earliest blooming plants in the spring.

“The dandelions are where I often see the first bumble bees because there’s not much else in bloom,” Heidel-Baker said.

The Wisconsin farmers have created habitats for other organisms besides the cows on their farm, including a half-acre of pollinator planting.

“There’s been a huge decline in the number of birds across the U.S., with 2.9 billion birds disappearing since 1970,” Heidel-Baker said. “One group that has been really impacted is the grassland birds.”

During June and July, a part of the pasture on the farm is not grazed to allow the grassland birds to nest there.

“Now we have bobolink birds on our farm because their habitat is not disrupted as much,” Heidel-Baker said.

Trees are also very valuable for healthy ecosystems.

“Oak trees are one of the most ecologically valuable trees because they can be the host for hundreds of different species of insects,” Heidel-Baker said.

“One of the best food sources birds can feed their young is caterpillars because they are a great protein source,” she said. “It’s estimated that it takes up to 8,000 caterpillars to feed a chickadee to survive to adulthood.”

The farmers have planted oak, popular, cherry, willow, hickory, chestnut and cedar trees to support insect and grass bird populations on their farm.

“We’ve diversified our farm income to make it easier to be farmers,” Heidel-Baker said. “We don’t just sell milk. We sell beef, chickens and eggs to make the whole system work for us.”

There are a lot of challenges with farming.

“We want to have resiliency and a place that allows us to be able to survive and thrive,” Heidel-Baker said. “That’s where grazing has been the answer for us.”

For more information about Grassland 2.0, go to www.grasslandag.org.