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Robbie Hale of Maverick Livestock stands in the family’s cocktail crop near Hines Creek, Alta.
Crops, Features

Lessons learned growing cocktail crops

Despite an adverse start, cocktail crops have become a regular part of the Hale family’s crop rotation over the last six years

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It is a long, long way from Dallas, Texas to Hines Creek, Alta. But the distance did not deter Curt Hale’s grandfather and father from making the move to Alberta’s Peace Country. The Hale family calls their operation Maverick Livestock, an apt name, with a maverick being an unorthodox or independent-minded person. The pioneering spirit […] Read more
The cow is a big part of ranching, but she is only a part of it.
Features, From the Ground Up, Livestock

The mobile hotel

From the Ground Up with Steve Kenyon

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If you own your own business, you know one of the most difficult tasks is acquiring and holding onto good employees. We all know that it’s important to provide desirable working conditions to keep employees happy. We try our best here at Greener Pastures Ranching, but there is one other aspect that we work on […] Read more
‘It is not about adding fertility, it is about building biology.’ – Steve Kenyon.
Features, From the Ground Up, Livestock

Building biology

From the Ground Up with Steve Kenyon

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I was asked to speak at a nutrient management conference last month and once again, I was the odd man out. It was not unexpected, I usually am. Regenerative agriculture has a long way to go in our big business world of industrial agriculture. The majority of the speakers there had letters behind their names […] Read more
Researchers are studying what might happen if livestock were removed from the landscape.
Livestock, News

Research solidifies cattle’s role in soil health

British scientist argues that higher stocking rates and uniform distribution of animals lead to better soil structure

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Glacier FarmMedia – Long-term grasslands studies have made researchers like Taro Takahashi a believer in the environmental value of livestock and grazing. Takahashi is a research scientist whose work at Rothamsted Research in Hertfordshire, England, includes a life-cycle assessment of pasture-based cattle production systems. Rothamsted Research is one of the oldest agriculture research institutions in […] Read more
The CRSB’s Certified Sustainable Beef Framework sets out the standards for sustainable beef production that must be met by both producers and processors to become certified.
Forages, News

Polycultures: A cocktail forage mix for semiarid prairies

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Producers rely on grazing native, tame perennial pastures or stockpiled forages to typically feed their cattle. Annual diverse forage mixtures give producers an opportunity to provide high quality feed while also gaining additional benefits for the soil and ecosystem. Polycultures could even be integrated into a crop rotation or used as green manure (working it […] Read more
Leaving crop residue and building soil through root growth ensures that rain won’t immediately hit exposed soil.
Features, Livestock

Water is our most important nutrient

From the Ground Up with Steve Kenyon

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Is it just me or has anyone else noticed the increased flooding around the globe? Am I the only one who notices the increasing number of droughts? My local area, according to government data, has had seven droughts in the last 11 years. We also had people kayaking in the grocery store parking lot a […] Read more
A teaspoon of productive soil generally contains anywhere from 100 million to one billion bacteria, says Dr. Elaine Ingham, microbiologist and founder of Soil Food Web Inc.
Crops, Features, Forages

Building healthy soil for forages

Research group targets five basic principles to improve soil health

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Feed the soil and everything gets better, says Brian Harper, Manitoba beef producer and 2018 Environmental Stewardship Award (TESA) winner. Harper’s focus has moved from the livestock, down to the plants and now to the soil and the below-ground activity. “I have realized the cattle are just a tool.” Many ranchers are starting to acknowledge […] Read more
The study tracks the performance of pregnant beef cows swath grazing a polycrop mixture versus straight barley.

Forages, News, News Roundup

Polycrop grazing goes under the microscope

Research: News Roundup from the November 2018 issue of Canadian Cattlemen

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Those wondering about polycrop potential to sequester carbon, improve soil health and benefit animal performance will have some answers by the fall of 2019 thanks to research underway at the University of Saskatchewan. Jacqueline Toews, a graduate student in the College of Agriculture and Bioresources, is halfway through a two-year study comparing the costs and […] Read more
Crop rejuvenation from livestock is highly important to building healthy soil.
Features, Livestock

A monoculture is ugly!

Grazing with Steve Kenyon

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Yes, I said it. I know, this goes against every fibre in your body. It goes against everything you learned in college. It goes against what your agrologist tells you. It goes against what your neighbours say and it definitely goes against what your salesman tells you. If that offends you, I am sorry but […] Read more

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