I’ve recently had a few newer producers attend my seminars and schools who reminded me that there is still a large part of the farming population who consider rotational grazing to be a completely foreign notion. Not necessarily because they disagree with it, but just simply because they’ve rarely heard about it; and definitely have […] Read more
Rotational grazing for beginners
Is it really food?
I get so frustrated when I go into a grocery store. Not because of the crazy grocery cart drivers who fail to yield, or drive on the wrong side of the aisle. It is because I spend most of my time standing over the cart reading ingredient lists. I am just trying to figure out […] Read more
Making a profit in the cattle business
Gross Margin Analysis was the biggest breakthrough my business ever had
There are two things that I hear farmers complain about all the time, other than the weather. It’s that they don’t have enough time or enough money. If this is you, I might have a solution for you. Many years ago I was struggling to keep my farm afloat. I was working a full-time job, […] Read more
Pasture pigs prove profitable
When I was a child we lived in rural Saskatchewan on a mixed grain and beef farm. I was never involved in 4-H but I always had some type of business venture on the go. I was fortunate enough to have a YEP (youth education program) in my home. One of my favourite profit centres […] Read more
A Greener Pastures walk
'Hayride' took producers on a tour of hayfields, bale grazing areas, and pasture pigs
The day was July 12, 2014. The sun arose early, the animals were all grazing, and I was still in bed. July starts to slow down for me and I get to enjoy a lot of the nice days with the family. This day was no exception, except for one thing — I had to […] Read more
Can Canada thistle be a remedy for overgrazing?
This 'pioneer species' may help maintain the soil surface
Of all the different species of forages that grow in my pastures, my favourite plant is the Canada thistle. It actually comes from southeastern Europe originally, so I am not sure how we Canadians got credit for it, but either way I’m proud to call it my own. Canada thistle is what I refer to […] Read more
Get gravity to move water where you need it
My favourite type of water system is a gravity flow. You know me, cheap and reliable is always my favourite. I will describe the setup and operation of two types of gravity-flow systems. We will first look at a true gravity flow from a dam or dugout and then we will look at how we […] Read more
My best employee ever!
When you run a business, it is always important to make sure you find and keep really good employees. To do this you need to follow a couple of simple rules. First, you need to make sure you make the working conditions favourable to attract good employees. This means you need to understand what they […] Read more
The more you know
You may have heard me say this before, but I truly believe that the more you know, the more you know you don’t know. There is so much knowledge on so many topics that I overwhelm myself with information sometimes. Just when you think you have a grasp on a subject, you learn something else […] Read more
The grazing plan
Hope you have your plan together for this year’s pastures. If not, your first question is: What is your stocking rate? Stocking rate is the number of animal units that you plan to have on the pasture for the season. This, of course, is not determined by the number of acres grazed, but it needs […] Read more
Canadian Cattlemen Presents: Depth of Field
