Exploring Opportunities for Integrated Crop-Livestock Systems in Missouri

Missouri farmers are constantly looking for ways to make their operations more resilient, sustainable, and profitable. Missouri Organic Association (MOA) is exploring potential research opportunities that could help farmers do just that—by integrating rotational crops and livestock into conventional row crop systems.

Many of Missouri’s row crop systems rely on simplified rotations, such as corn-soybean or wheat-soybean double crops. While these systems are productive, they face ongoing challenges, including short growing seasons, nutrient depletion, pest pressures, and heavy reliance on
synthetic inputs. Cover crops and livestock have been incorporated on some farms, but their integration has not yet been widely supported or validated through systematic research, leaving opportunities for improved nutrient cycling, soil carbon storage, and diversified farm income largely unexplored. MOA is interested in exploring how rotational diversity and strategic grazing might provide multiple benefits. Possible approaches under consideration include:
 - Rotation A: Winter cover crops followed by soybean, corn, and sorghum
 - Rotation B: Winter wheat double-cropped with forage for livestock
 - Rotation C: Winter wheat or multi-species cover crop followed by soybean, corn, and sorghum