56 NEBRASKA CATTLEMAN February 2024 our farming system, and that’s very typical of farms in western Nebraska. We have to protect our soils and manage them properly.” Wine Glass Ranch also utilizes cover crops to feed their cattle. “We have been grazing cover crops for about seven years now,” Pribbeno says. More than half of the ranch’s acreage is dedicated to short-duration grazing. In order to accomplish this goal, 18,000 acres was divided into 90 paddocks and outfitted with 120 stock tanks and 50 miles of pipeline. “When we do rotational grazing, we let the cattle stay in a paddock for about five or six days,” Pribbeno says. “We’ll hit each paddock twice in the growing season, then get completely off it in the winter to let it rest. This level of intensity has worked for us for over 30 years.” Each year, the Wine Glass Ranch team evaluates each paddock’s forage and soil to create the grazing strategy for the upcoming season. “I’ll have a big-picture idea of when cattle need to move, but we really move them based on the grass and experience,” Pribbeno says. “If you do this every day for a few years, you start to pick up on when they need to move and when they don’t. You must balance what the cow wants and what’s best for the range.” Pribbeno’s dad, Jeff, advocated for wildlife habitat restoration and management, and he passed that down to his son. Jeff planted approximately 10,000 trees and shrubs, and Pribbeno has added to that in the years since, providing a windbreak and wildlife habitat areas. He says it is a challenge to keep trees and shrubs alive in the arid landscape where he lives. “Trees don’t just grow in western Nebraska. Every tree you see here, someone was stubborn and made sure that tree didn’t die,” Pribbeno says. “I have a great appreciation for how my dad was able to put so many trees in and keep them alive.” Pribbeno says it was an honor to be recognized for something he considers part of his family’s legacy. “We just love being able to share our passion for conservation with others,” Pribbeno says. “2022 brought a lot of challenges for our ranch in the form of drought and other issues. We liked being able to host tours to show people what it looks like when things aren’t going right, and that conservation is still worth it.” ~NC~ CONSERVING FOR THE FUTURE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 54 “In the summer, we grow multi-species cover crops, which grow to about 15 feet tall. We’ll graze the top two-thirds, and the rest will stay to protect the soil.” Letting their cattle graze on cover crops and harvested crop residues helps recycle the nutrients in the soil and saves money on their feed bill. This grazing method allows the native range to have some down time and to protect the soil from wind erosion.
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