Cows and climate change
Former Central Michigan University Chippewa and now farmer, Mike Newman, tells his story as a dairy and beef farmer at Newman farm on Monday, April 7, 2025. Newman drives his father's-side by-side vehicle across all 630 acres of land. (CM Life | Jasmine Brookins)
Among fields of crops and pastures, cows flick their tails as they eat a grass-filled lunch on Newman Farms in Clare, Michigan.
Mike Newman is the owner and raises both cows and crops. The original 630-acre property was bought by Newman’s grandparents in 1937. The farm has gone from being a dairy farm to a part-beef and part-crop, where he grows corn, soybeans, wheat and pasture - grass used to feed the cows.
“It keeps evolving,” Newman said. “We’ve changed what we do.”
Now, Newman sells beef directly to families, which he said can help households save money.
“There’s been quite a push to people that want to buy beef that’s closer to a local farm,” Newman said. “It saves money, (it’s) high quality, they know where their food’s coming from.”
As Newman’s farm has changed, he has also seen a lot of changes in sustainability practices.
In recent decades, there have been growing concerns worldwide about what countries should do about a warming climate. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Earth’s surface has seen rising global temperatures for over a century.
“(The) Global average surface temperature has risen at an average rate of 0.17°F per decade since 1901,” according to the EPA.
One leading source of greenhouse gases is the methane produced by cows, according to the University of California, Davis.
“Each year, a single cow will belch about 220 pounds of methane,” the UC Davis website reads. “Livestock are responsible for 14.5% of global greenhouse gases.”
Many cow farms have found a way to use this methane sustainably.
On March 18, state representatives Jerry Neyer (R-Shepherd) and Joey Andrews (D-38) proposed two bills that would protect and make methane digesters more accessible. These digesters are machines that turn methane produced by cows into a renewable energy source. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy defines methane as toxi n-neutrality” by 2050.
“This will provide an opportunity for smaller operations to have ownership in a mult-owner community digester,” Neyer said.
He also said this would help reach the goals set in MI Healthy Climate Plan, a plan set by EGLE to help Michigan’s goal of reaching full “carbon-neutrality” by 2050.
Despite the climate change concerns, Newman isn’t worried.
“There’s been a lot of worry about global warming,” Newman said. “In my entire career of 40-some years, I can’t remember one spring that isn’t exactly the same.”
Newman said he does not use methane digesters because his farm is small. Despite this, he said he still considers his farm to be a sustainable.
Mike Newman of Clare Michigan farms around 630 acres of land while tending to his beef cows in Clare, Michigan on Monday, April 7, 2025. Newman takes care of it all mostly on his own with some help of his family. (CM Life | Jasmine Brookins)
Methane used on farms
On larger cow farms, farmers have found ways to stay sustainable through methane digesters. Since methane is found in cow manure, farmers use large machines to capture the methane found in the manure and use it as a renewable energy source, according to the EPA. The leftover material, called “digestate”, can then be used as fertilizer on farms.
“We’re capturing (methane) and converting it into a natural gas,” Neyer said. “The organic material leftover is taken back out and put into fields.”
Neyer said he and Andrews would work to clearly define what methane digesters are in the state of Michigan in House Bills 4257 and 4265 after.
“Recent regulatory changes by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) have significantly impacted the viability of the renewable energy facilities, specifically their use by medium to large-sized farming operations,” according to a press release from the Michigan House Republicans on March 18.
Neyer said cow farmers use these digesters to reduce the cost of energy on farms, and reduce the need for applying commercial fertilizers.
According to EPA, these digesters also reduce the amount of methane emitted to the atmosphere. When left to decompose, the methane within the manure is released. When this energy is captured by a digester, less is released into the atmosphere.
“It gives us an opportunity to further lower our carbon footprint,” Neyer said.
Cow manure and sustainability in farms
Instead of using commercial fertilizer, Newman uses cow manure as fertilizer for his farm. Newman said he will use his cows to help fertilize his crop fields through a process called cell-grazing.
This is where he allows his cows to graze in certain gated-off pastures (or cells) for a certain period of time, or until the grass gets short enough. Then he will move them to the next pasture.
In this process, the pasture that is being grown will never have to be replanted or get too short.
“Healthy soil is the basis for organic agriculture,” according to the United States Department of Agriculture. “Healthy soil can provide an abundant crop of healthy plants, which in turn provide healthy food and feed.”
According to the USDA, the grazing cycle tends to be anywhere from 25 to 35 days.
Crop dusting seeds
Newman hires a crop duster to fly a plane called an aerial seeder to plant his crops. The aerial seeder will fly above and cover his fields with seeds. Newman said he uses this to prevent erosion and reduce the cost of tractors.
The seeds being planted are never the same. Through the cover crop system, Newman will switch the crops that are planted on an area regularly.
First, soybeans will be planted. As time goes on and the soybeans are growing, the aerial seeder will fly through his field and dump wheat seeds over the already-growing soybeans. This means when it’s time to harvest the soybeans, the wheat will already be growing.
Newman said this system helps prevent soil erosion and allows for healthy soil all of the time.
According to Crop Science, “crop rotation can increase nutrient cycling and nutrient use efficiency, decrease plant diseases and insect pests, assist in managing weeds, reduce soil erosion and increase soil health.”
Streambank Protections
Located along a small stream connected to the north branch of the Chippewa River, Newman said his farm makes efforts to ensure they do not pollute the water, especially because the water source in Isabella County is the Chippewa River Watershed.
Newman said in three areas of the stream, his cows cross through part of a small branch of the river. If left unmitigated, Newman said, pollutants like manure and silt can enter the stream.
Along the three crossings, he said, bases were bulldozed and filled with fieldstone and tilestone. This way, the river can stay silt and erosion-free as his cows cross the river.
Fences line the river throughout his farm so his cows do not cross the river. The land slopes down a few feet from Newman’s farmland to the stream. To prevent erosion between the fences and the river, tall grass has been planted along the fences.
“This creates a riparian buffer to stop settlement erosion and keeps the water clean,” Newman said.
