Consider cover crops, cattle, conservation

Lynn Grooms
Jul 13, 2023
Jul 13, 2023

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Bruce Sime and his son, Karl Sime, raise beef cattle near Stoughton, Wisconsin. Bruce Sime was a dairy farmer prior to dispersing his herd in 2019. A converted freestall barn houses steers that the Simes feed.

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Bruce and Karl Sime with cattle in background

'Karl (Sime), right, sets a goal for himself and figures out how to do it and Bruce (Sime), left, is supportive,' says Marie Raboin of the father-son team. 'It’s a true partnership.'

Lynn Grooms/Agri-View

Cows and their calves are attracted to the potential for grazing a new paddock of fresh grasses.

Lynn Grooms/Agri-View

Remaining in the Sime herd is a cow from one of the first crosses between one of Bruce Sime's dairy cows and an Angus bull.

Lynn Grooms/Agri-View

Karl Sime chooses to primarily raise Angus for their size and frame.

Lynn Grooms/Agri-View

Karl Sime experiments with inter-seeding cover crops between 60-inch corn rows.

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An eight-way mix of cover crops is inter-seeded into corn intended for silage to feed steers.

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Cover crops at the Sime farm help prevent erosion and build soil health. The Sime farm is just 70 acres away from the city border of Stoughton, Wisconsin.

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A calf nurses from its mother.

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Marie Raboin holds a forage turnip. She's a conservation specialist with the Dane County Land & Water Resources Department. She works with farmers such as Bruce and Karl Sime on rotational-grazing plans, the use of cover crops and other agricultural-conservation practices.

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Lynn Grooms

STOUGHTON, Wis. – Karl Sime says he’s open to trying new things with the beef-cattle farm that he and his father, Bruce Sime, operate near Stoughton. Their herd primarily consists of Black Angus, but in the past year he bred four cows with Wagyu semen. He has incorporated cover crops into his rotational-grazing program. And he’s considering participation in an on-farm research program focused on conservation practices.

Lynn Grooms writes about the diversity of agriculture, including the industry’s newest ideas, research and technologies as a staff reporter for Agri-View based in Wisconsin.