ALUS Canada works with producers on projects ranging from riparian area improvement to pollinator habitat.

Producer-driven conservation pays off

Two case studies illustrate the value of putting producers in the driver’s seat of conservation projects

Updated June 1, 2021 In the sweeping, ancient prairie of southern Saskatchewan’s Grasslands National Park, local ranchers are helping to ensure at-risk species continue to call this land home. In 2018, the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association (SSGA) partnered with Parks Canada to establish a grass bank pilot project in the park’s East Block, which hadn’t […] 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.

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

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


Sweet clover is grown extensively for forage, but mould can create an anticoagulant in hay or silage.

Beware sweet clover poisoning during calving

As one producer discovered, sweet clover poisoning can trigger widespread hemorrhaging, especially during calving season

Pilgrim Winslow’s life had mainly been in the fast lane of oil exploration, successful businesses and high-level finance. He retired early and bought a half-section farm east of Regina. Winslow had built a small barn, a set of corrals and spent his days looking after 16 two-year-old Hereford heifers, bred to calve near the end […] Read more

Greg and Trish Tetz bring complementary experience and skills to their meat business.

Crafting a new meat business

Trish Tetz shares how she and her husband Greg launched a new business at the start of the pandemic

Starting a niche marketing meat business is no small feat, but launching it at the beginning of a pandemic takes the challenge to a whole new level. For some time, Trish and Greg Tetz of Three Hills, Alta., had the dream of “opening the conversation between producers and consumers. We wanted to be transparent and […] Read more


Salinity in central Saskatchewan, just off Highway 15.

Managing soil salinity for the long haul

Establishing perennial forages is one of the top recommended methods to manage saline soils for the long term

Growing up on a mixed farm in southern Alberta, Alan Iwaasa was no stranger to the costly headaches that saline soils could create. “There were certain land bases that just were poor,” Iwaasa recalls. “For a period of time, there was a lot of effort that was looking at levelling your land and putting in […] Read more

Rafael Otfinowski conducting research at Grasslands National Park.  Photo: Supplied by University of Winnipeg

The struggle to restore native prairie

Though grassland reclamation can take decades and has many challenges, efforts are underway to renew native prairie ecosystems

On the Northern Great Plains, it’s estimated that one acre of native grass is lost every minute. Though recently there has been increased awareness about this ecosystem being the world’s most endangered, pressures to convert this irreplaceable landscape remain strong. “Unfortunately, there’s always this push and pull between different land uses and intensification of agriculture […] Read more


Cattle waiting at the Pathlow Community Pasture in July 2006.

Ideas for advanced grazing management

Once you’ve established the foundation of grazing management, you’re ready to fine-tune the system

The idea of moving cattle to graze higher-quality forages goes back hundreds of years. Long before barbed wire and electric fences, shepherds would move their flocks every day to new areas to graze. Similarly, on the North American prairie, the vast herds of buffalo were continually on the move in search of better grazing. The […] Read more

Yearling steers grazed each site for about 30 to 40 days in August and September for three years.

Grazing binary forage mixtures during the summer slump

A University of Saskatchewan study evaluates new grass and legume varieties at two different soil zones in the province

Grazing grass and legume mixtures in late summer and fall has the potential for promising gains, research conducted in south and central Saskatchewan shows. There are proven benefits to including a legume in a mixture to improve grass pastures. But researchers at the University of Saskatchewan’s Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence (LFCE) saw an […] Read more


A wider vision for grassland conservation

A wider vision for grassland conservation

A new collaborative effort across North America is focusing efforts to protect the fast-disappearing Prairie ecosystem

For many who call the Canadian Prairies home, it would be impossible to imagine springtime without the cheerful song of the western meadowlark. That distinct, flute-like call, along with the other songs of grassland birds returning north, is a defining part of this landscape. But as grasslands across North America continue to disappear, the meadowlark’s […] Read more

Ryan Boyd and his daughter Piper during a farm media tour in the fall of 2018.

Nuffield Canada scholarship expands horizons for Manitoba producer

Ryan Boyd shares how he’s applying the insights from his international travel on his family’s cow-calf operation

A mindset of continual improvement led Ryan Boyd on an international adventure with benefits for his family’s farm upon returning home. Boyd runs South Glanton Farms at Forrest, Man., with his wife, Sarah, and his parents, Jim and Joanne. He is passionate about implementing the principles of regenerative agriculture and the soil health movement, including […] Read more