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Restoring the Land By Julie Turner-Crawford
Jordan and Megan Richner are using the science of agriculture to give their family farm new life There’s a science to agriculture, and for one El Dorado Springs, Mo., couple, it’s a perfect match. Jordan and Megan Richner each possess advanced degrees in agriculture. Megan is a former agriculture instructor turned science teacher at Stockton (Mo.) High School and Jordan is a soil scientist. Jordan and Megan, along with Megan’s parents, Sam and Nancy Eaves, run a herd of about 40 commercial cows. Jordan and Megan took over the day-today operations and management in 2013,
ning 160 acres,” Jordan said. “We tore out the interior fences and put in the electric (fences), and we used cost-share programs to fence the wooded area and a pond, and to add concrete waters.” Multiflora rose, blackberries and sericea covered much of their pastures until a spraying program, which was also eligible for cost-share funding, began to eradicate the undesirable plants. “Now we’re down to the broomsedge,” Jordan said. “Our next step is going to be getting our lime program down.”
Jordan and Megan Richner, pictured with their son Ethan, are incorporating rotational grazing and selective genetics to improve their Red Cedar Ranch. Photo by Julie Turner-Crawford
With the improvements underway and the after buying 40 acres that join the farm where Megan grew up. In all, the family grazing system installed, the grazing system farm consists of about 300 acres, includ- at their Red Cedar Ranch, the Richners have extended their grazing season, allowing ing pasture, wooded areas and hayfields. “This is the smallest the herd has ever them not to begin feeding hay, which is also been, but we’re trying to focus on quality,” grown on the farm, until mid-December. “During the growing season, I have Megan explained. “We’re trying to restore our plants and improve the health of our an 80 split into 20-acre pastures, then split those into fives, sometimes 10, soil, so we don’t want to have if I want to go a little longer, and too many cows because that quarter them around the waters,” would be counterintuitive to Jordan explained. “Our cattle restoring our forages.” can go two to five days on the Part of the improvement has 5-acre paddocks, then I will been converting pastures from El Dorado move them on.” continuous grazing to a rotaSprings, Mo. tional system. — Continued on Page 24 “At this place, they were runFEBRUARY 3, 2020
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