Research on the Record with Reynold Bergen
The beef industry takes pride in how forage, grazing and beef production benefit the environment. These environmental goods and services (EG&S) include carbon sequestration, plant and wildlife habitat, reduced soil erosion, watershed recharging, scenery, etc. While consumers pay for beef, the EG&S are free. For instance, many ducks need grasslands and wetlands to nest and […] Read more
A few small changes can really add up to greater efficiency over time
Many of Manitoba’s agricultural producers are embracing common-sense, energy-efficient, low carbon footprint mechanisms on everything from watering and fencing systems to forage crops. Some, like the Circle H Farms, openly rely on sunshine and the power that the sun provides on numerous fronts, including allowing cattle access to grazing. “Our solar-powered Batt-Latches allow us to […] Read more
Forage: News Roundup from the June 2017 issue of Canadian Cattlemen
Putting numbers to three observations that form the Grazing Response Index (GRI) will give you a good idea as to whether your management practices will benefit, harm or have no effect on plant health in the long run. If the scores for grazing intensity, grazing frequency, and opportunity for regrowth during the growing season on […] Read more
Research on the Record with Reynold Bergen
Aside from price insurance (in provinces where it is available), cow-calf producers can’t do much to control the price they receive for their calves, so managing input costs is often the biggest opportunity to improve profitability. The Western Beef Development Centre has found that annual production costs differ by at least $100 per cow between […] Read more
Vet Advice with Dr. Ron Clarke
No story about ranching would be complete without mention of two elements, generically unrelated yet closely coupled to ranching’s origin beginning in the late 1800s and its dominating role into the 21st century. Old texts and oral history serve as background. One component is an ancient grass that provided year-round nutrition for millions of bison […] Read more
Grazing with Steve Kenyon
Overgrazing. It is a very misunderstood term. Let me clear this up right at the start. It does not matter how many head of livestock. It does not matter how many acres. Everyone wants to know, “How big do I make my paddocks? How many animals should I have on my pasture?” Two ranchers can […] Read more
Annual clover may be just the remedy if your pastures and hayland are looking a little under the weather this spring. Performance Seed, a newly established forage seed company at Lethbridge, Alta., is introducing two new low no-bloat annual clover varieties that show good potential as stand-alone crops or in blends for grazing, hay, silage […] Read more
Stephen Hughes’ family has operated the Chinook Ranch near Longview, Alta., since the late 1940s. It consists of 5,000 acres, roughly half in Crown lands, and most of it in tall grass prairie to carry 500 cows year-round plus 500 yearlings in the summer. It was a traditional operation, raising hay to carry the cows […] Read more
New project looks at satellite mapping Canada’s range and forage lands
The management of species at risk on pasture, rangelands and wild lands is an issue of considerable interest to most cattle producers. As a result it was highlighted at a workshop jointly sponsored by Environment and Climate Change Canada during the International Rangeland Congress in Saskatoon last summer. Several provincial environmental farm plans and producer-run […] Read more
High legume pasture project in process
A sprinkling of a new sainfoin was enough to ignite renewed interest in high legume pastures across Alberta and British Columbia last year. The case for high legume pastures was made long ago, both in research trials and in the field by experienced producers with the skill and nerve to turn up the alfalfa content […] Read more
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