Pasture , Latest & Featured - Canadian Cattlemen

Grazing management and soil health

By adapting grazing practices that fit your context and by following the six soil health principles, you can improve the soil on your ranch

By Burke Teichert March 30, 2022

I hope this title suggests that there is a definite causal link between grazing management and soil health. Nothing you do on grazing lands can improve soil health more than good grazing management. While growing up, I wanted to be a rancher because I liked cattle and the challenge of raising them profitably. I wanted […] Read more

Cattle grazing at B-C Ranch near Dorintosh, Sask.

Beef Cattle, Forages, Pasture

Finding equilibrium in forest grazing

Fire suppression, managing invasive species among benefits of grazing forested areas

By Piper Whelan November 23, 2021

If producers want to reap the benefits of grazing forested areas, they can’t ignore the balance needed for the health of these ecosystems. Creating balance in forest grazing systems involves managing for risks, such as erosion, particularly in steep areas, soil compaction in places where cattle tend to gather and impacts on water quality if […] Read more

Cattle grazing at Kingsclere Ranch in the Columbia Valley of B.C. Jeff Braisher produces beef and timber on the land he own and manages, balancing between forestry and beef production.

Pasture

Into the woods

A focus on balance required to get the most from grazing forested areas, producers say

By Piper Whelan November 22, 2021

On Kingsclere Ranch, the balance between forestry and beef production is mutually beneficial for both its business model and the environment. “The cows have a role to play in the total balance of the equation, and that’s a pretty significant role,” says Jeff Braisher, who produces high-end timber as well as raising cattle at Golden, B.C. Here […] Read more

Former federal and provincial community pastures operated for decades in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, many of them on ecologically sensitive lands. These pastures held habitat for wildlife and provided grazing allocations to area farmers. Starting in 2013, the pastures transitioned to patron operation.

Features, Livestock, Pasture

Pastures hold on to ecological benefits through transition

Pasture managers and patrons are working with conservation groups to preserve these islands of Prairie habitat

By Tara Mulhern Davidson August 30, 2021

The following is the final in a three-part series exploring how community pastures shifted from government to producer operation. You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here. The Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration’s (PFRA) community pasture program began in the 1930s as a quest to stop drifting soil and provide stable grazing for the […] Read more

A 3-D illustration of Bacillus anthracis bacteria. (Dr_Microbe/iStock/Getty Images)

Livestock, Pasture, Sheep/Goats, Weather

Anthrax kills southeastern Saskatchewan sheep

Spores forced up by changes in soil moisture

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News July 10, 2021

Dramatic shifts in soil moisture are again bringing anthrax spores to the surface on the Prairies, this time in a southeastern Saskatchewan sheep pasture. Lab results on Wednesday confirmed anthrax as the cause of death of one animal in a flock of sheep in the R.M. of South Qu’Appelle, about 50 km east of Regina, […] Read more

When the government pulled out of community pastures, operations became the responsibility of board members and patron volunteers.

Features, Pasture

Community pasture patrons adapt to new business models

By Tara Mulhern Davidson June 30, 2021

The following is the second in a three-part series exploring how different community pastures shifted from government to producer operation, and the ongoing effects of that shift. Years after government decided to turn over community pasture management to patrons, board members and staff are still finding new approaches to managing and improving operations while ensuring […] Read more

Forages, Livestock, Pasture

Tips for managing through a drought

News Roundup from the June 2021 issue of Canadian Cattlemen

By Canadian Cattlemen Staff June 9, 2021

It’s a given that farmers and ranchers will face drought cycles over their lifetimes, and as the Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC) notes, managing forage and water through those cycles is challenging. Drought reaches beyond the southern Prairies, too — as Saskatchewan Agriculture recently noted, even producers in northern growing regions with plenty of sloughs, […] Read more

Beef Cattle, Features, Forages, Livestock, Pasture

Moving towards a career with purpose

Young Leader Spotlight: Discovering an interest in range management has broadened Jourdyn Sammons' educational opportunities

By Piper Whelan June 2, 2021

When Jourdyn Sammons joined the University of Saskatchewan’s Range Team in her third year of undergraduate studies, it led to an exciting field of study that’s positively shaped her educational experience. “We talk about varying topics like ecology and grazing practices and multiple-use relationships, like how people can utilize rangeland for its facilities,” says Sammons, who grew up on a cow-calf and grain farm near Gleichen, Alta. “The […] Read more

In 2012, the federal government announced they would be ceasing operations on former PFRA federal community pastures. Three years later, Saskatchewan announced they were pulling out of provincial pasture programs as well.

Features, Livestock, Pasture

Community pasture patrons and staff persevere through tough transitions

When the federal and Saskatchewan governments wound down their community pasture programs, pasture employees and patrons faced a lot of uncertainty and stress, but they’ve adapted

By Tara Mulhern Davidson May 26, 2021

Updated May 31, 2021. The following is the first in a three-part series of articles exploring how different community pastures shifted from government to producer operation, and the ongoing effects of that shift. Future articles will focus on environmental and financial implications. It’s been years since governments got out of community pastures. But the effects […] Read more

File photo of cattle grazing on Prince Edward Island. (ArodPEI/iStock/Getty Images)

Forages, Livestock, Pasture

Eastern drought zones set for livestock tax deferrals

Regions designated in P.E.I., N.S., N.B., Quebec

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News May 12, 2021

In a decision that may have come late for some, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and parts of southeastern Quebec and northwestern Nova Scotia have been declared drought zones for eligible livestock producers’ 2020 tax purposes. The federal government on Monday released its list and map of prescribed drought regions where tax deferral on sales […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Cattle, hogs rise

U.S. grains: Wheat falls on favorable weather in growing regions

ICE Weekly: Soyoil influencing canola prices

Daily Network News