Terry Gjersvik of Alden, Minnesota started raising oats four years ago, growing between 50 and 60 acres per year. In 2022, he’s planning on seeding 270 acres - more than quadruple what he’s previously grown.
Why increase: A combination of favorable oat prices, high input costs and confidence from recent crops led Terry to make the change this year. “All these additional oat acres were going to be corn this spring,” he says, “corn has just become such a high input crop.” Terry has already forward-contracted his oats, taking advantage of the high bids released this winter.
Modifications for scaling up: This year Terry direct cut his oats for the first time. While swathing has worked well for the farm in previous years, it’s too time consuming for them to operate at a larger scale. “We have a combine with a draper head, which hopefully will be perfect,” he notes.
Livestock add value: Terry added a goat herd to his operation in 2020. In addition to grazing goats on cover crops, increasing his oat acres this year will provide him with more straw.