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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

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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
Tips for managing through a drought
Forages, Livestock, Pasture

Tips for managing through a drought

News Roundup from the June 2021 issue of Canadian Cattlemen

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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
The Beef Cattle Research Council has released its five-year research and extension strategy.
Livestock, Research

How Mother Nature hedges her bets

Research on the Record with Reynold Bergen

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Pasture plants are generally classified as decreasers, increasers and invaders. Decreaser species are the plants you want to see and your cattle prefer to eat, so they face the most grazing pressure. Increaser plants tend to thrive when the decreaser species are challenged by overgrazing, drought or other sub-optimal conditions. Invaders (weeds) proliferate when increasers […] 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

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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
Cattle waiting at the Pathlow Community Pasture in July 2006.
Features, Livestock

Ideas for advanced grazing management

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

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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.
Features, Livestock

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

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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
Jointed goat grass can hybridize with wheat.
Features, Livestock, Pasture

Healthy range key to preventing new invasive plants

Range agrologists urge producers to watch for changes on the landscape and be mindful of how invasive species spread

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If your grasslands are in good health, you’re already on your way to preventing an infestation of an invasive grass species. Without proper range management, grasslands in poor condition will be less resistant to an unwanted species establishing, says Sheryl Wurtz, invasive plant specialist with the B.C. Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources. In […] Read more
Dallas Mount believes understanding both the ecology and economics of livestock production can help these operations thrive.
Features, Livestock

The economics of livestock and grass

Dallas Mount helps beef producers dial in their business practices, while also taking care of the land

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Livestock farms and ranches can slowly become stale enterprises with owners satisfied to view them simply as infrastructure supporting a way of raising a family. Conceding to this long-term mediocrity is a dangerous stance for many operations. Dallas Mount of the Wyoming-based Ranch Management Consultants (RMC) is in the business of helping ranchers transition from […] Read more
What is regenerative grazing?
Features, From the Ground Up

What is regenerative grazing?

From the Ground Up with Steve Kenyon

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I was reminded again the other day that regenerative grazing is not the norm. We need to make regenerative agriculture a household word. If you are on social media, and you see a meme or a story about regenerative agriculture, share it. And share it again and again. Let’s look at the basics. I have […] Read more
Plateau Cattle Co.'s Mt. Livingstone grazing allotment.
News

Ranchers fear loss of grazing lands due to coal mining projects

Public use of previously protected lands, water quality of Oldman River watershed threatened after Alberta rescinds coal development legislation

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Laura Laing can’t imagine how her family would run their cow-calf operation without their Mount Livingstone grazing allotment. These native grasslands, nestled among the hills and peaks, with Cabin Ridge Mountain rising above the pastures, support a large percentage of the Plateau Cattle Company herd from early June to the beginning of October. “Year after […] Read more

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