Missouri Livestock Farmer Mike Kaiser on Real-World Research, Neighbors and Better Farming

On 400 acres of pastureland in southwest Missouri’s Lawrence County, Mike Kaiser is doing what he’s done his entire life. Raising cattle. But today, his work goes beyond managing a cow-calf operation. It’s about finding practical, proven ways to make that operation more efficient, more sustainable, and more profitable, not just for himself, but for his entire community. 

Kaiser manages between 100 and 120 cows across a mix of owned and rented land, relying on experience built over decades. Yet, even with that deep knowledge, he’s always looking for ways to improve.  

That search for better answers led Kaiser to the From The Ground Up Project (FTGUp). FTGUp is a farmer-led project in Ohio and Missouri, working to improve real-world, on-farm performance of conservation practices across the Midwest. Backed by researchers from The Ohio State University, University of Missouri, Central State University, Lincoln University, and non-profit partner Solutions from the Land, farmers are designing their own research projects with scientists supporting them. Yield stability, protection from extreme weather, and profitability are key outcomes that the farmer-led research is investigating. 

For Kaiser, one of the project’s greatest strengths is its real-world setting. “Probably some of the best parts about it is with it actually being on farm and on six different farms. We have a group and now we’ve got ideas that we can share with each other.” 

The collaboration doesn’t stop at formal data collection. Farmers involved in the project regularly visit one another’s operations, comparing soil types, grazing strategies, and management decisions. Kaiser says that level of peer-to-peer learning is just as valuable as the research itself. “We can visit each other’s farms and look at the different management practices and the different soil types of different areas.” 

And the impact is already spreading beyond the project. Curious neighbors are stopping by, asking questions, and seeing the results firsthand. “We’ve got the neighbors coming by and wanting to know what we’re doing, how we’re doing it, and why we’re doing that.” 

For Kaiser, that visibility is key. Too often, he says, research can feel distant or disconnected from everyday farming realities. This project flips that dynamic and puts research decisions in the hands of farmers. “The research is something that is real to everybody. It’s not just something the university came up with, but it’s real world research done on our farms.” 

For practices to be adopted widely, they have to make economic sense. Kaiser believes that by demonstrating tangible benefits on local farms, projects like FTGUp can help more producers feel confident in making changes. “Years of experience has taught me that whenever I can go to a person I know is respected in his community… and have them tell me, ‘this is what we did… and this is the results that we’ve got,’ that’s real to people.” He says, “when farmers talk, they talk in the same language.” 

That shared understanding is what Kaiser hopes will drive broader adoption of improved practices the research project will recommend, from rotational grazing to soil health management. And ultimately, he sees those changes benefiting not just individual farms, but entire rural communities. “I think we can really help other people adopt these practices and help them to be more profitable. And further our soil health as a community.” 

On his farm in Lawrence County, Kaiser is proving that innovation doesn’t have to come from afar. Sometimes, the most meaningful progress starts with neighbors comparing notes across a fence line, and turning experience into results that everyone can see. 

By Joseph Opoku Gakpo