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Cows and family are the heart of
Smith Family Farms
Jack and Maria Smith (center) operate Smith Family Farms along with their sons, Ted (left) and Nick (right).
At Smith Family Farms in Dubuque County, Iowa, it’s all about the cows – and family. The 1,000-plus-acre farm – run continuously by the Smith family since 1853 – is home to 425 head of Red Angus and Charolais cattle that are at the heart of a balance between sustainability and stewardship.
“Conservation is a good word, but we need to do more than conserve, we need to improve,” said Jack Smith, the fifth generation to lead Smith Family Farms. “Conservation efforts don’t have to be hard; simply step back and look at the whole thing as a system. You know the things that matter, and make little decisions every day that, over time, make a big difference.”
Running what he considers a larger beef farm for Iowa, Jack and his wife, Maria, along with sons Nick and Ted and Ted’s wife, Sarah, manage their herd by integrating the cattle with their row crop operation, creating a closed-loop system.
“Our biggest source of income is our cattle, so we like to graze them as long as we can,” Smith explained. “We’re kind of bucking a trend where we’ve actually taken some (marginal) row crop acres and smaller fields out of production and turned them back into pastures.”
Allowing cattle to graze on forages and summer annuals such as sorghum Sudan grass enables the family to utilize time and feed resources wisely. For example, the family took about 140 acres that is 30 miles from the main operation completely out of row crop production. This acreage has been divided into 14 different paddocks where they graze about 75 cow-calf pairs over the course of the year. This means they don’t need to purchase extra feed, and they only move cattle on a weekly basis.
“We feel like this is a really good use of our resources,” he said. “Row crop farming right now is kind of tough, and the cattle market is currently high, so, for us, it’s a really easy choice to make. Our input costs are practically nothing, and it’s better to do that than trying to grow row crops on those marginal acres.”
Rotational grazing protects soil health
A strong rotational grazing strategy at Smith Family Farms involves more than just moving cattle from paddock to paddock. It also involves a 100% no-till operation and allowing cattle to graze on every single acre, including those that will be planted with corn or soybeans in the spring.
“We grow cover crops on every single acre. In the spring, we’ll have cows on our acres right up to the time of planting corn and soybeans,” Smith said. “We feel if people committed the same management level to their pastures that they do their row crops, they might be more profitable. We feel like cows are such an asset when it comes to building healthy soil. They upcycle nutrients.”
While Smith feels his ancestors took good care of the land, he believes his actions have helped improve the acres over the years he's farmed there. He uses traited corn and insecticides to fend off corn rootworm, and he plants Brevant® brand Enlist E3® soybeans to manage waterhemp. Through the combined effects of no till, cover crops and cattle across his land, Smith has increased soil fertility, organic matter and crop yield.
“We have three pillars in our simple little system – cover crops, no-till and cows. They are all complementary to each other,” he continued. “When you pull the cows off and pull the planter into a field, you are saving time and fuel.”
Battling invasives and managing acres
While soil health has improved greatly on Smith Family Farms, there are still issues with weeds, brush and invasive plants. In addition to mowing, the Smiths use GrazonNext® HL herbicide to control invasives like multiflora rose and to keep pastures and fence lines clean of weed pressure.
“We keep our brush cutter hooked up throughout the summer, and if anyone has time, they’ll go out there and just start whacking the weeds,” Smith laughed. “However, sometimes we have more pressure than what can be mowed away, so we incorporate a fall treatment rotation.”
Using a 60-foot Hagie boom, Smith is able to reach a good amount of land that needs to be treated. For areas the boom can’t reach, he does spot treatments. This is especially true for fence lines and other hard-to-reach areas.
“GrazonNext has done a really good job for us,” he said. “With some of the rose bushes that are pretty big, we might need to do a couple of applications, but that knocks them back pretty well. Then, hopefully we can get another application the following year to finish them off.”
Giving back to the land and the community
When asked where he learned to be strategic with sustainability and stewardship practices, Smith was quick to credit other farmers in the area through a farmer-to-farmer group. Today, in his late 60s, Smith realizes that he needs to mentor younger farmers to help them survive in today’s world of agriculture.
“Unless they are born into it, they have to figure out a system that’s different than the big row crop guys,” Smith concluded. “So, let’s try to figure out something where they can own a farm and stay on their land and contribute to their community, both culturally and financially as well.”
Smith Family Farms is the Region III winner of the 2025 Environmental Stewardship Award Program, which celebrates outstanding land caretakers in the cattle industry.
Additional images of Smith Family Farms
The transgenic soybean event in Enlist E3® soybeans is jointly developed and owned by Corteva Agriscience and M.S. Technologies L.L.C. Enlist One® and Enlist Duo® are not labeled for use in all 50 states. To find product labels, state registration status, and additional resources about the Enlist® weed control system and its availability, visit Enlist.com. Additional stewardship information on Enlist crops and to review seed product use guide details, visit traitstewardship.com. GrazonNext® HL has no grazing or haying restrictions for any class of livestock, including lactating dairy cows, horses (including lactating mares) and meat animals prior to slaughter. Label precautions apply to forage treated with GrazonNext HL and to manure and urine from animals that have consumed treated forage. GrazonNext HL is not registered for sale or use in all states. Contact your state pesticide regulatory agency to determine if a product is registered for sale or use in your state. GrazonNext HL is not for sale, distribution or use in New York state and San Luis Valley of Colorado. Consult the label before purchase or use for full details. Always read and follow label directions.