Extending the grazing season into the fall can help farmers and ranchers offset rising winter feeding costs.
Extended grazing can also improve soil fertility and forage yields. Leaving cattle on pasture longer, bale grazing on pasture or grazing stubble adds more organic matter to the soil.
However, there are also considerations that come with extending the grazing season, such as ensuring cattle have access to water, especially when rotational grazing or grazing swaths or stubble.
Read Also
Australian company brings ear-tag tech to Canadian pastures
With Smart Paddock, beef farmers and ranchers can track their cattle through GPS technology
That’s where technology comes into play.
Water systems
Kelln Solar is a remote watering system company based out of Lumsden, Sask. While they have remote watering systems for cattle production, they also service residents of Regina and Lumsden for any solar needs.
However, they are passionate about working with and for producers. Ethan Bender, customer service specialist with Kelln Solar, says they have many products that can help producers with fall and winter grazing.
“We offer motion-controlled winter watering systems that are fed from existing dugouts, as well as submersible pumps and insulated troughs optimized for Saskatchewan’s winter conditions,” he writes in an email. “Keeping the water source below the frost line is key in any winter system, as this prevents freezing and expensive frozen lines and pipes.”
They offer a 500-gallon mobile trough for summer and fall. The trough is a portable wagon that eliminates the need for multiple troughs. The pump is sold separately.
For winter watering, they have a motion-controlled winter watering system. The company’s website says it is 100-per-cent freeze-proof and does not require any artificial heat. The submersible pump is activated when the cattle step up to the bowl.
“Clean, reliable water is essential for healthy, happy livestock and a thriving operation,” Bender says. “Further, by isolating water sources and increasing accessibility for livestock, we can keep animals away from dugouts and other bodies of water, keeping them safer and keeping the water cleaner.”
He says their products are especially beneficial during droughts.
“Drought is a big factor. As water becomes scarcer, having a remote system can allow you to get water without having to trench power or spend thousands on fuel to power generators.”
Another benefit of these types of watering systems is the flexibility they provide for cattle management. With a remote watering system, producers can make use of their space through practices such as rotational grazing.
“From a producer standpoint, having the flexibility to get clean water for your animals at many locations is a huge factor in rotational grazing. Environmentally, rotational grazing is better for our water sources, soil and animals overall. As these practices become more commonplace, the technology needs to keep up, and we strive to provide that for the producers of our province and country.”
Bender says almost all their products are compatible with fall grazing.
“The good news is that anything designed for winter can also be used through the other seasons; furthermore, many parts of the system are compatible with summer or fall systems, giving you the flexibility to water from almost any source, in any weather.”
In the winter, Kelln Solar’s products can withstand the worst conditions.
“If sized correctly, our insulated troughs can withstand the harsh wind and cold of the Prairies very well with minimal upkeep. By keeping the water source below the frost line, we can avoid frozen pipes and lines and ensure effective operation through the winter months.”
For producers with remote pastures, Kelln Solar’s products can be used with a pressurized pipeline that can reach up to half a mile. However, they work best when the water source is mostly accessible.
Fencing
Range Ward produces solar-powered electric fence tools that can make it easier to set up high tensile wire. The company’s most well-known product is the Razer Grazer, which is a portable solar-powered fencer that can be moved around behind a truck or quad. The company’s products are designed to help ranchers efficiently manage livestock movement.
“More producers are fall grazing. Each year, there’s more and more of them, because of the sheer economics of extending your grazing season in whatever capacity,” says Neil Thorsteinson, the Canadian sales director for Range Ward.
“More and more people are doing it because economics is pushing them that way, because it’s much cheaper grazing than to be starting a tractor every day and feeding processed feed. … So I think that that’s kind of the … reasons why we’re really seeing a big increase in the producers that are using our equipment specifically for fall grazing.”
Range Ward’s products are often associated with rotational grazing because they make it easy to work with temporary fence.
“We’re seeing our stuff being used in conjunction with remote watering, the portable systems or permanent systems,” Thorsteinson says.
He gives credit to the many grants available from a variety of different organizations and governments that supply funding to rotational grazing projects.
“We’re seeing a lot of Razer Grazers going to the same projects as portable water systems.”
Creating alleyways around the watering system is an example of how their products are often used with remote watering systems.
“Utilizing a Razer Grazer to rotate the animals around that property and to give them access to water appropriately … it makes the impact on the property for the farmer leasing it for fall grazing much better. And so it could actually improve that field and the productivity of it next year,” says Steven Foster, the vice-president of sales and marketing at Range Ward.
Thorsteinson says another benefit of the Razer Grazer is how much simpler it can make rotational grazing.
“Just going from conventional grazing to rotational grazing, that’s a huge step. With a cool, easy-to-use tool, then that can take that conventional grazer to the next step.”
Razer Grazer can also help prevent forest fires by enabling grazing in areas with plant material that could fuel a fire.
