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The Midwest Cattleman · February 4, 2021 · P18
Red Angus Thrive on the Red Dirt of Kansas

By Tracey Koester, Red Angus Magazine Editorial Coordinator

Darrin Eck of Kingman, Kan- is only a shallow layer of topsoil the cotton bales and turn out stocking rates during the sum-
sas, has a vision for his com- before hitting shale. The drought their weaned replacement heif- mer. We have to be careful in the
mercial Red Angus cowherd in 2011-2012 forced them to ers to graze the fields for the fall that the native grass is not
– a vision for higher efficien- get creative with their grazing winter. overgrazed. Animals weighing
cy and increased profitability. strategies. As a means of feeding After the cows are pregnan- 1,600-1,700 pounds obviously
Most would say he has already their cattle, Eck relies on what cy checked, they go out on milo consume more tons of grass, and
reached his goal, but he knows he calls a "hybrid grazing" pro- stalks until a week or so before we could potentially damage our
with diligent sire selection he gram. calving starts in January. “We grass for the following year. We
can continue to improve his bot- “About half of our pasture is figure 250-300 acres of stalks are trying to get our cow size
tom line. hybrid grazing. We took less pro- for every 100 head of cows. down to be more efficient.”
Eck, his girlfriend Elizabeth ductive crop ground and seeded This saves on hay and silage,” They try to plan ahead for
Covington, DVM, and three kids, crabgrass and Bermuda grass,” he said. Our goal is that cattle drought years, too. “Every year
Peyton (15), Nathan (12) and he said. “We rotate our cattle spend most of the year out graz- we are swathing more and more
Sophia (7), are always on the off native pasture onto the crab- ing, and we only have to supple- of our crabgrass and pushing
move with their 600-head oper- grass when it comes on in early ment with one bale and one to harder to get more hayed. After
ation, a chemical and fertilizer June. They will graze that until two tons of silage per head that going through droughts, we hate
business, a multi-crop farming the first of September.” year. The systems work well in to not put up hay when we have
rotation and Covington’s vet- In addition to grazing the our area because we don't get a it,” said Eck. “Crabgrass produc-
erinary work. They have three crabgrass-Bermuda pastures, lot of snow." es a lot of forage. We plan for two
fulltime guys hired and employ they will swath and bale in the Replacement heifers weigh- to three acres per pair on crab-
some parttime labor during cer- same pasture the cattle are ing over 600 pounds also go out grass for the entire summer. The
tain seasons. grazing. “Most years we hay on milo stalks. “The cows teach stocking rate is similar on na-
“We are fortunate that Beth about 75%,” said Eck, “but this the heifers how to get through tive grass since it is only grazed
takes care of all the herd health,” year we were fortunate to hay and survive on the stalks.” for a short period of time. We
said Eck. “And we work together all of it. We don't hay crabgrass The feeder calves graze until have turned mediocre pasture
as a team, taking care of every- immediately prior to a hot spell. they reach 900-1,000 pounds. in to great pasture by allowing
thing like tagging and working If it's too warm, with no rain in Eck pulls them off pasture the native grass to rest and grow
cattle.” the forecast, the grass will not around mid-March or the first un-grazed all summer.”
Hybrid Grazing on Red Dirt regrow following haying, and the of April, and either sends them Marketing Options
cattle will be left short for the to the feedlot or sells them. Then
“When we have a drought, our Eck analyzes the markets
main focus in our red dirt soil is remainder of the summer. We Eck moves the cows with new each year to determine the most
have to get the bales off pretty baby calves at their sides back
that the cows have to be very fast with the cows in there, oth- to the rye-cover-crop pastures. profitable method in which
efficient,” said Eck, referring to “It puts cows in good shape for to sell the calves. Some years
the terrain of their south-cen- erwise they eat them.” they market them on Superi-
In the fall, they rotate off the rebreeding.”
tral Kansas ranch. “So, we are Eck explained, “That ground or Livestock Auction’s videos,
working to get our mature cow crabgrass to their native pas- other years through their Kan-
tures, and inter-seed a cover crop doesn’t sit very long without cat-
size down to 1,200-1,300 pounds cocktail of rye, rapeseed, turnips tle. It’s not irrigated so we rely sas-based auction barns in An-
or less. We are trying to breed and radishes into the crabgrass. on rainfall, and we've been very thony or Pratt. They have also
cows that are going to be effi- “During the first week in Octo- fortunate. retained ownership and finished
cient to get through drier weath- “Hybrid grazing with crab- them at Buffalo Feeders in Buf-
er so we can run more pairs on ber, we wean the calves for about falo, Oklahoma. He relies heavi-
30 days, then turn them out on grass, rye and the turnip and
less grass. We are selecting Red the cover crop where they spend radish cover crops is a big por- ly on the advice of Buffalo Feed-
Angus genetics with those effi- tion of why we need efficient cat- ers’ manager, Tom Fanning, on
cient qualities.” the winter grazing.” which is the best option for the
On their cotton fields, Eck tle,” said Eck.
The red dirt soil in their area current market situation.
has a limited water holding ca- seeds rye before the bolls open "Because the crabgrass is so “Tom has helped our family
up. Then they harvest, remove abundant, we can increase our
pacity because, in places, there for many years. He has a good