2S Land and Cattle is a sixth generation cattle ranch and crop farm in the Verdigris River Basin near the southeastern corner of Kansas. The Smalls work alongside their family, including their two young sons who have a budding interest in the family business and have even taken on the responsibility of planting their own crops.

The Smalls have long been considered leaders in relay cropping, which occurs when a second crop is planted into the first crop before harvest. Lespedeza is grown into their wheat crop and sold as seed to other producers, and red clover has been seeded to provide an emergency source of hay during dry years.

Implementing no-till farming practices has allowed the farm to continue to increase the number of acres farmed using the same or a reduced work force. Although it is commonly believed that  no-till soils in their area are too cold to produce corn, Randy has developed a system that works well. The Small’s corn yields are comparable to or above their neighbor’s yields, especially in drought-stressed environments.

Rotational grazing occurs in 2-3 pasture rotations, and their stocking rates are dependent on the quality and type of pasture. The Smalls have purchased and leased several overgrazed pastures over the years, regenerating and building the native grass biodiversity over time with light grazing, patch burning and limited herbicide treatments. These efforts have paid off in productivity, often allowing the pastures to be stocked at heavier rates than neighboring paddocks.

Wildlife thrives on the ranch. The Smalls make a conscious effort to maintain adequate habitat on crop field borders to help sustain wildlife populations. Mowing of roadsides and waterways is timed in such a way to leave adequate cover for wildlife. Quail buffer strips have also been planted in several fields to provide habitat on large field borders.

“Within their busy lives, Randy and Nicole have maintained a long-range focus of sharing their conservation passion with others as well as raising their two sons to understand and believe in conservation, stewardship and community,” said David Kraft, State Rangeland Management Specialist for the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.