Cattle grazing a hilltop overlooking Lake Wisconsin might seem like a scene on an old postcard. However, it’s what real-world resilience looks like on the Schoepp farm. 

Dave and Nancy Schoepp, and their son Ron, have long been early adopters of conservation. Their long-term approach to keep soil in place and out of the lake has made their farm both ecologically and economically resilient. 

Since the 1960s, Dave avoided tilling near waterways, but the family’s conservation journey began by adopting no-till practices to reduce erosion and protect water quality in 1991. Just five years later, they hosted a no-till field day with the University of Wisconsin’s Arlington Research Station to showcase reduced erosion and improved soil structure.

Ron’s desire to share what he’s learned about conservation has only grown in the last three decades. He’s made it his mission to open his family’s farm to other farmers, students, researchers, and international visitors, where he freely shares his successes, failures, and lessons learned from growing cover crops and rotationally grazing cattle. Fellow graziers praise Ron’s dedication to pasture management, and his willingness to mentor others.

In addition to growing corn, soybeans, wheat, and hay, the Schoepps have custom-raised heifers and dry cows for a neighboring dairy farm since 1999. Across 110 acres of the farm, cattle intensively graze small paddocks for a short time before the land is given two months of recovery time. The Schoepps also raise a small herd of their own grass-fed beef cattle. 

In 1996, the Schoepps began growing strategically timed cover crops to provide living roots and protective plant coverage over the soil much of the year. A decade later, Ron began experimenting with grazing cattle on cover crops. Allowing cattle to harvest forage and recycle nutrients naturally further reduced the farm’s fertilizer needs and strengthened the biological systems that sustain crop production. Minimizing the need for costly commercial fertilizer also reduced the potential for nutrient losses to groundwater and nearby Lake Wisconsin.

With each growing season, the Schoepps saw how each conservation practice built upon the last. The combination of continuous no-till, cover crops, diverse crop rotations, and the integration of livestock onto cropland with rotational grazing, all worked in tandem to create healthier soils with increased water infiltration, while maintaining productivity and profitability. 

Each investment in conservation helped create a farm better prepared for changing weather patterns, volatile input and commodity prices, and evolving environmental challenges. Ron manages about 500 acres of rolling terrain on the edge of the ecologically important Driftless Area, in Columbia and Sauk counties. 

Recognizing that heavy equipment can compromise soil health, the Schoepps voluntarily use tractors under 100 horsepower to minimize soil compaction. These thoughtful equipment choices, combined with regenerative management, ensure that rainfall infiltrates healthy soils rather than carrying sediment into surrounding waterways. 

In 2024, Ron began participating in the inaugural Advanced Soil Health Training cohort hosted by American Farmland Trust and Purdue University. This invitation was only extended to farmers recognized as leaders in advancing soil health. 

Motivating others to consider new ways to harness conservation practices while feeding the world is one of the things that drives Ron. Another is improving water quality, something that is not an abstract concept for a farmer who can see Lake Wisconsin from his barnyard.