I like to see mushrooms in my pastures as that is a sign to me that my mycorrhiza is also functioning. 

Dealing with the mob

Grazing with Steve Kenyon

A healthy soil is an incredibly complex ecosystem that we know very little about. There are millions and millions of interactions that occur within our soils. It is more complex and busier than a bookie in Vegas on fight night. I call this My Secret Underground Black Market and it is controlled by the plants. […] Read more

(GullLakeSK.ca)

Wildfire-damaged grazing areas up for Saskatchewan aid

Saskatchewan’s provincial disaster assistance program (PDAP) will be opened up to cover southwestern grazing areas damaged by this fall’s wildfires. The province’s government relations minister, Larry Doke, on Wednesday announced producers who incurred wildfire damage on “tame and native lands” intended for grazing may now apply for assistance to get feed for affected livestock. Winds […] Read more


Unlike the table-flat Red River Valley to the east, western Manitoba has a range of elevations such as these along the Birdtail River.

Fighting floods and drought — with grass

Manitoba’s forage group is leading a project which will allow more control of water on the landscape

Floods one year, drought the next. As we’ve seen this year, it’s a fact of life for residents of southern Manitoba and Saskatchewan, but a project led by the Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association (MFGA) may help reduce the extremes. It’s being conducted by Aquanty, a Waterloo, Ont. company that has developed a HydroGeoSphere (HGS) […] Read more

(Saskatchewan.ca)

Saskatchewan to offer discount option on Crown land

Facing another rent hike in 2018, some Saskatchewan farmers leasing cultivated and “formerly cultivated” Crown land from the province are getting an option to buy the land instead at a 10 per cent discount. Provincial Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart on Tuesday announced a “targeted incentive” program aimed at about 1,100 eligible leaseholders, offering the 10 […] Read more



The Hagan families of Virden, Man., (l to r): Erin, Alistair, Slade and Harley-Mae, Shawne and Jocelyn, Thomas, Rory and Felicity accepting the National Blue-winged Teal Award.

Conservation fits the growth plan for the Hagan family ranches

The Hagan families of Virden, Man., were pleasantly surprised this summer to hear that they had not only been nominated by Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation for the prestigious National Blue-winged Teal Award, but had been chosen by the North American Waterfowl Management Plan Committee as this year’s recipient. The award is presented annually through Environment […] Read more


Student Chris Solecki pilots one of the school’s drones.

Are you ready for a drone?

In today’s world unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) or drones are used for everything from small indoor toys to delivering military weapons or managing cattle

Drones are a relatively inexpensive way to locate cattle in big pastures so you know where to ride and start gathering. John Church, an associate professor in the natural resource sciences department of Thompson Rivers University at Kamloops, B.C., an area with semi-arid grassland, forested range and many large ranches, says some ranchers in this […] Read more

Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister, shown here in April 2016. (Dave Bedard photo)

Farm fuel to be exempt from Manitoba carbon tax

Farm fuel will be exempt from a carbon tax, Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister said in an interview Thursday on the eve of announcing his government’s Made-in-Manitoba Climate and Green Plan. “It does exempt some farm costs — farm fuel, for example,” he said. “I know we’ll get pushback from some industry groups that are not […] Read more


History: Buffalo Park Grazing Ass’n Community Pasture

Reprinted from the November 1950 issue of Canadian Cattlemen

By Capt. K.S. Tory, Wainwright, Alta. In this rich ranching country of Alberta the big name ranches and ranchers, and ranches with romantic backgrounds steeped in the traditions of the Alberta cattle story, are liable to obscure the less romantic but just as vital little ranch lay-outs known as Community Pastures. Such a little lay-out, […] Read more

James Hargrave (second from right) in September 2016 with provincial Agriculture Minister Oneil Carlier, Medicine Hat MLA Bob Wanner and Environment Minister Shannon Phillips. (AlbertaGrazingLease.ca)

Communities rally around producers in wildfires’ wake

Ranchers, farmers and rural residents who suffered losses, injuries and more in recent wildfires in southeastern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan are seeing support from neighbours and beyond. Alongside a number of online campaigns launched in support of affected farmers and families, the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association on Monday launched a wildfire relief fund to help […] Read more