Block’s Ranching Ltd. is near Abbey, Sask., and consists of approximately 60,000 acres. The family runs cow-calf pairs and yearlings and grazes year-round. Ranching in the sand hills of Saskatchewan can feature dryness and shifting soil, but Block says with a little care, it is a great location.

“It’s really very resilient if you respect it, so, I don’t know if we have any challenges. It’s actually quite a great place to be.”

Taking care of grass is a primary pursuit, said Block, and he is always working to improve the range.

“We’re doing a project with the (Saskatchewan) Stock Growers Foundation. It’s a 100-acre field that is primarily crested wheatgrass that we are changing back to native. And we’re using grazing pressure to try and control the crested wheat to enable the native species to have a chance to establish themselves.”

In recent years, he has been allowing researchers and larger groups of people onto the ranch as a way to share the message that ranchers do good, sustainable work.

“I realized there are a lot of people that are on our side,” Block says.

Now that Block’s Ranching Ltd has won the provincial TESA award, it will participate in the national award program competition. The winner will be announced at the August Canadian Beef Industry Conference in Saskatoon.

The post Block’s Ranching receives stewardship award appeared first on Canadian Cattlemen.

In their home province, the Fossens of Bar 7 Ranch are named the winners.

The ballroom erupts in applause and cheers, everyone immediately rising to their feet. The elation is evident, the air electric. The crowd parts and the Fossens emerge, Doug Fossen sporting a grin from ear to ear as he accepts handshakes and climbs the stage with his family to accept the award.

“It was a real shock,” Fossen says in an interview. “Everybody who was nominated is spectacular. Yeah, just top-of-their-class people and they all have an awesome story.

“But that was also really encouraging because I think that shows that there are lots of caring people in our industry and hopefully we can keep moving ahead and doing the right thing for the environment.”

Nominees

TESA nominees are selected by their peers within their region. From there, a panel of judges from Ducks Unlimited, Cows and Fish, and the CCA decide who wins the award by going through what the nominee does on their operation. This includes details from the nominees themselves, letters of support and photos.

“It’s one of the most difficult jobs I do all year long,” says Duane Thompson, the environment committee chair of the CCA.

TESA was created in 1996. The original idea for the award started in the early 1990s, following the start of a provincial stewardship award in Alberta. The goal of the award was to celebrate what was being done in the industry by ranchers and to encourage others to follow suit. It is a very prestigious award that producers all across the country are honoured to be nominated for or win.

“All of the nominees just were outstanding stewards of the environment and this industry, but what really stood out for Bar 7 Seven was they operate in an extremely fragile environment,” Thompson says.

“They’ve worked in that fragile environment, they’ve managed the grass really well, they’re very conscious of the habitat and the species that make their home on their ranch.”

Even though the other nominees didn’t win, Thompson says they still are recognized as successful stewards of the land.

“They’re all just really proud of what they do. And frankly, producers are one of the first environmentalists because our very existence depends on it.”

Bar 7 Ranch

Nestled against the side of a mountain overlooking Rock Creek and the Kettle River is Bar 7 Ranch.

“We do have a little bit of open area for our government land, but a lot of it is forested cut blocks and just rugged B.C. mountains kind of country,” says Doug Fossen, owner and operator of Bar 7 Ranch. 

The area is rugged, with cattle grazing on the slope of the mountain, and north of them, a timbered area. Managing a wide expanse of land — 2,300 acres owned, around 2,500 acres rented, and using around 20,000 on their range permit — Fossen and his wife, Erika, as well as their two children often sweep the intricate British Columbia landscape on horseback.

It’s something Doug Fossen has been doing since he was young, ranching with his parents, who bought the ranch in 1976. 

“That was the year before I was born,” Fossen explains. “And then my brother was farming with us up until about 10 or 11 years ago, and we have just slowly added land over the years and built the cow herd up. When Erica and I got married in 1999 we had about 150 cows and then we’ve just slowly been adding cows every year.”

But they’re doing more than just managing their commercial cattle herd. They also actively find new ways to improve the environment they ranch on.

Fossen says he grew up in a family where taking care of the environment is important, so he continues those practices.

“We’ve never been the kind of people who just put our head down and work. We’re always thinking, ‘If we’re overworked and overloaded what could we change to make things better?’ And so a lot of the same improvements that help us work less and be more efficient and grow more crops also benefit our ranch and benefit the environment and the wildlife.”

Fire mitigation

British Columbia experiences more forest fires than any other Canadian province. The Government of B.C. says 60 per cent of B.C. forest fires are caused by lightning. From 2011 to 2020, B.C. saw an average of 1,352 forest fires each year. Even as Bar 7 Ranch was named the winner of the TESA award, a forest fire west of Penticton raged, casting a haze over the city.

[RELATED] A rangeland up in flames

As a result, the Fossens have made it a mission for their ranch to help mitigate the risk of forest fires. They do this by working to space out the timber and provide more grazing areas.

“We’re getting into an area where there’s just not much livestock grazing. We have a lot of retired people buying big acres of land. So they’re sitting on these properties and not grazing them, not logging them,” Fossen says.

“I really feel with our management, we can take away some of that risk. Grazing heavily at certain times of the year when there is a fire risk or grazing beside a highway or beside houses, and doing that forest mitigation as well — it just keeps our whole community safe.”

They try to minimize fire risk by logging the area so trees aren’t so close together. They also clean out some underbrush by doing controlled burns. As a result of their work, the community followed suit, as well as the local park.

“When people were involved in that and saw that, then neighbours did little logging jobs on their areas, and the forest company and some of their logging blocks, they followed a similar pattern,” Fossen says. 

“And I think that sort of leadership in that direction really helps. They’re so scared of logging and grazing but when they see it done properly, they like the look of it.”

Grazing, irrigation and cropping

Although Fossen says he wouldn’t consider himself a “rotational grazer,” he does use some aspects of rotational grazing, such as the long rest periods. They do this in part to help maintain soil health on their ranch. Fossen says they have started making 10- to 15-acre pens to feed in the winter, which they constantly move around so the manure and urine are spread out across the land.

“We’ve really noticed a difference on our soil using fencing so that it puts the cow manure and feed ground where we need it for crop production.

“We’ve also done that on some grass fields and it’s just amazing to see how much more grass production we’re getting. Instead of having pens where we’re not growing anything, now we’re doubling or tripling our grass production where we’re feeding those animals in the winter.”

When their cattle aren’t grazing in their pastures, Bar 7 Ranch grows crops for their cattle for winter feeding.

Fossen says they pick crops that can handle the B.C. heat and climate.

“That’s how we got into growing corn because we actually figured out that it’s quite an economical user of water,” he says. “And so we’ve switched to a little bit of corn and then doing our rotation with grass and alfalfa and some for forage, or grain crops as well like some peas and oats and barley and triticale mixed together.”

When they irrigate, Fossen says they only use surface water.

“We’ve really worked on making ourselves more efficient, putting in centre pivots, and improving our irrigation over the last few years.”

TESA winners

Fossen recognizes what Thompson has said about his home — the fragility of the environment around them in southern B.C. Despite this, they continue striving for success and to be stewards of the environment.

“It’s tough ranching in southern B.C.,” Fossen says, “so it is nice to be recognized for that. There is nothing easy about it. Some days you wouldn’t wish it on somebody. But it’s nice to be recognized that we are working in the direction that our industry has to go and hopefully we can be an encouragement to people who are working away with the same idea of just raising quality livestock and raising good kids and families and hopefully being a benefit to the community around us.”

Bar 7 Ranch will continue to expand this type of work. Fossen says they applied for another kilometre of fence for him to build, which they’ll use for more rotational grazing. They also hauled in chicken manure for the fields that needed more nutrients. 

“We’re trying to make our farm more efficient,” he says.

Cattle producers and the environment

Bar 7 Ranch and the other TESA nominees aren’t the only cattle producers in the country who are using their ranching practices to better the environment. Thompson says producers all across Canada are active stewards of the environment.

However, Thompson says TESA is important because consumers need to be aware of the good the industry is doing.

“My grandparents, my great-grandparents, and even my father would never have dreamt of having to promote or even justify producing food,” he says. “But the very fact that we are less than one per cent of the population now, the other 99 per cent, there’s not a whole lot that know a lot about our production systems and how we produce the food for them. And to my grandfather … a lot of people had a real strong connection to where their food came from. But now a lot of people don’t. And now we have to tell our story.”

Canadian cattle producers manage about 68 per cent of wildlife habitat on their pasture lands. Although the greenhouse gas footprint of Canadian beef production is 11.04 kg CO2, this represents only 2.4 per cent of the overall emissions in Canada and is offset by the 1.5 billion tonnes of carbon that grasslands use for carbon sequestration.

“I guess that’s been one of our downfalls … is we’re not really good at going on and saying, ‘Look at me, look at what I’m doing’. We do it because it’s our life. And it’s what we love to do,” Thompson says. “And the fact is, there’s a lot of improvement to be made in some areas and on some things, but by and large, ranchers and farmers are really proud of being sustainable and building a system to produce sustainable food in a sustainable environment.”

The post Ranching in a tough environment appeared first on Canadian Cattlemen.

Despite these natural advantages for agriculture, the Manning Family Farm at Falmouth, Nova Scotia, is subject to the challenges of encroaching urbanization, such as land availability.

“Land doesn’t come available for sale very often, so I think we really have to manage what we have here tightly to keep it as productive as we can, but at the same time making sure we’re protecting what we have as well,” says Catherine Manning.

This perspective and an understanding of the importance of working with the environment has guided the Manning family in running an efficient cow-calf operation and market garden that makes use of good stewardship practices to manage risk and allow wildlife to coexist with their cattle. When the Manning Family Farm was named the 2021 recipient of The Environmental Stewardship Award (TESA) this September, the family’s successes in sustainably managing their land while working to build positive relationships with consumers were on display for the Canadian beef industry to celebrate.

“The Manning Family Farm is a leader in their community and the Canadian beef industry with their outreach efforts to the general public and their open-door policy to educate consumers wanting to know more about how beef cattle are raised,” said Duane Thompson, CCA’s environment committee chair, in a press release.

Receiving this prestigious award, now in its 25th year, took the Mannings by surprise, and for them it’s a true honour to be recognized at this level. “We were just excited even with the nomination. To be nominated by your peers, in our world, that means a lot,” says Catherine.

When you consider that farming with an eye on sustainability has always been a cornerstone of this family’s operation, however, this recognition isn’t so surprising. “My grandfather used to rent this farm, and then when he was able to purchase it in the early ’60s he did, and they had the typical mixed farm at the time,” says Dean.

Dean’s parents implemented several conservation practices throughout the years, which Dean and Catherine built upon when they returned to the farm in 1997. Today, their cow-calf operation consists of 80 head of purebred and commercial females. The cow herd is made up of predominantly Angus genetics, as well as some Simmental and Limousin, and most of their calves are sold at weaning or backgrounded before being sold to a feedlot.

The Mannings’ land base covers around 500 acres, and they grow most of their feed. To expand their cow herd, they’ve rented land locally where possible, and they keep 25 pairs on what was Catherine’s parents’ farm a few counties away. A few animals are kept close to home during the summer, and the entire herd winters at the home place.

They calve twice a year to balance the workload with their market garden business, in which they sell vegetables through wholesale markets, weekly farmers markets and their online store. To complement this service they also finish some of their calves and sell beef directly to their customers.

Working with the landscape

The lifeblood of this farm is the brook that runs through it, a favourite spot for ducks and Canada geese to return to each spring. The brook is also home to the Gaspereau, a local fish species, as well as plenty of trout and perch. The farm’s riparian areas attract herons, beaver and even turtles that are upwards of 40 years old.

Caring for these riparian areas was an early stewardship project for the Mannings, who fenced out the brook and wetlands throughout the farm to create buffer zones for wildlife.

More than a decade ago, the opportunity for a natural resource biologist to conduct a biodiversity report on their farm opened their eyes to the range of species on their land. Seeing someone else get excited about species the Mannings saw all the time had an impact, Catherine explains.

“It increased our awareness of all these things that interact,” says Dean. “We got a really good report card.” They learned how their practices benefit these animals, such as leaving grassed areas in some pastures for birds and mammals to raise their young.

More recently, the region’s normally rainy climate has given way to extreme weather occurring more frequently, which has prompted the Mannings to adapt their system to these changes. Heavy rains, for example, can pose an issue for the nutrient-rich farmland surrounding the dikes, areas ideal for hay, pasture and cereal crops. Considered to be the best agricultural land in Atlantic Canada, these were once salt marshes in high tidal areas that were drained and managed by Acadian farmers through dike systems.

“It’s so important to have the drainage working properly on those. Sometimes it’s easy not to keep the ditching cleaned out, but I know in the last few years it’s so important to keep the main drains cleaned up,” says Dean. “It’s not something you do every year, but you just have to find the weak spots that are backing water up.”

On the other side of the coin, the summer of 2020 saw extremely dry conditions throughout the Maritimes, something unusual for the region and troubling for producers. The Mannings saw this firsthand in one of their pastures.

“We had cattle there for 20 years and had a pond that’s never gone dry,” Dean recalls.

When this reliable water source went dry last summer, it showed the Mannings that different management practices based on moisture levels may be needed. “It just created that much more awareness that we just can’t rely on what we did in the past,” he says.

Dry conditions also prompted the family to rethink some of their grazing practices. They stockpiled forage in some pastures so they could choose how best to use this feed after the growing season.

“We either maybe graze it once or we may graze it twice, or we may graze it and then take it off for hay towards the end of the season, or use it a little bit later when the animals all come back,” says Dean.

This new grazing plan also led to changes in how they winter their cattle. While many producers in the Maritimes traditionally house cattle in barns during winter, the Mannings were short on space to do so, and the natural forested landscape provided a welcome alternative.

“We’ve got a bunch of trees, and we started feeding them there in the fall,” says Dean, who reports there were no negative impacts on the cattle. “We got thinking, ‘Well, let’s look at what’s our natural advantage here.’ We’ve got those old drumlin hills, I’d say, that’s left from the glacier that’s solid gravel underneath, so there’s pretty good drainage on them and out of the wind, so those were our feeding sites.”

As well, the natural shelterbelts and forested areas increase the water-holding abilities of wetlands and provide habitat for species such as owls, hawks, bald eagles, red fox, mink, raccoon, whitetail deer, coyotes and pheasants.

Their decision to start grazing cover crops was also a result of adapting to extreme weather events. “It was so wet one year that we couldn’t cut corn, so we grazed it and it worked reasonably well,” says Dean.

From there, they began experimenting by seeding cover crops after harvest or grazing. “This spring when we finished up a piece with the grazing corn … we were able to go in and disc it twice and seed it down to alfalfa, a grass mix, and we got a really good stand establishment on it.”

Building public trust

Regular interactions with their vegetable and custom beef clients have impressed upon the Mannings the importance of being aware of the public’s perception of agriculture. The farm’s proximity to urban development has also shaped this awareness.

“We have a golf course on one side, subdivision on the front, so that’s one of the reasons why this public is so important to us because we have people all around us,” says Dean.

Their clients ask them myriad questions on both beef and vegetable production, which has taught Dean and Catherine much about both the customer’s understanding of agriculture and how best to connect with the public.

“In order to have that relationship with them, you have to be able to give them honest answers but back those honest answers up,” says Catherine. “We’ve learned that to build trust with them, they like to see proof.”

Becoming certified with Verified Beef Production Plus is one way they’ve demonstrated their commitment to safe, sustainable management practices. The farm already met all the requirements to be verified with the program when it first caught their interest. “It’s actual proof that we can provide to the customer,” says Catherine.

“It just seemed like an easy program for us to fall into and then hopefully reap some benefits out of it as far as being able to use it for marketing.”

They also see third-party audits as a great starting point for producers who want to introduce new sustainability projects to their operations. “The Verified Beef Plus audit was easy to go through, but at the same time it did make us really analyze certain things that we probably take for granted. So even going through a simple audit like that, it just makes you think about things that you see every day and you don’t give that second thought to,” says Catherine.

They recommend starting small with stewardship efforts, keeping an open mind and not being afraid to try new things. “Anything you do is going to be of benefit to your farm or ranch,” says Dean. “You can learn the best from your neighbours or fellow farmers or ranchers that are already doing some of these things because the thought process is already there.”

The opportunity to connect with and learn from other producers is something this family finds very encouraging in terms of opening up more possibilities for the Canadian beef industry. “I think there’s a lot more opportunity as producers work together and grow together,” says Dean. “The more we can work together or learn from one another or help one another out, those are all opportunities.”

Dean and Catherine’s shared enthusiasm and positivity for the future of this industry are evident when they speak about the possibilities. Closer to home, their lifelong love of raising cattle in this special place endures, and when they reflect on what they’ve created since returning to the farm, they find satisfaction in where the journey has taken them.

“When you see the improvements we’ve tried to make and mistakes we’ve made and where we are now, I think it still keeps us excited to be doing what we’re doing,” says Catherine.

With the promise of the next generation on the horizon, there’s much for this family to be excited about. “Our son is interested in the beef cattle, and he has a small herd on his own, too,” she says. “He’s still in university but I think preparing someday for that transition to have our herd in a good place where he’s happy with it, too and eventually (being able to) combine herds — I think that keeps us very much engaged where the beef herd is, too.”

The post Using natural advantages for a sustainable cow-calf operation appeared first on Canadian Cattlemen.

Each year, producers are recognized at the regional level. A national TESA winner is then chosen from the regional recipients. This year the national winner will be announced during the Canadian Beef Industry Conference, slated for August 31 to September 2.

Watch for a feature about TESA’s 25th anniversary in the August issue of Canadian Cattlemen. In the meantime, we’ll be featuring the regional winners on the website. This story was originally published by the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and is republished with permission.

Connecting its animals with the land is only one tenet Brylee Farm adheres to. Indeed, the Thurso, Quebec area operation not only believes that healthy grass leads to healthy animals, but that it’s imperative that land and resources are sustainably managed by working together in harmony with nature.

Brylee Farm is a five-generation family farm owned and operated by husband-and-wife team Brian Maloney and Lise Villeneuve, along with daughter Kim Maloney. The farm engages in grass-fed beef and lamb production, custom grazing and direct marketing. Located in Lochaber in the Outaouais region of Quebec, the family owns three farms and rents a fourth. The herd size currently sits at 200 head of cattle and 150 sheep.

Brian’s great grandfather cleared much of the land in the area, land that was bought from lumber companies around the turn of the 20th century. The property followed the basic cycles of a lot of farms in the east where everything was based on producing what the demand was at the time.

“In the beginning, it was wheat and oats for the lumber camps,” says Brian Maloney. “There were horses there for the lumber camps, so the farms raised and sold hay as well, and the farms had dairy. When we took over, I did a mix of all those things – I’d sold some hay once we put the farms together, I grew some grains with dairy. But in 2002, we got out of dairy.”

Maloney says that from the beginning, they were always very heavy on the grazing aspect of the farms and the environmental aspect. At the beginning of 2002, they turned the farms into a custom grazing operation and started direct marketing their meat products.

“My daughter came back to the farm, and she loves marketing, so we doubled our production and we do less custom grazing,” notes Maloney. “Our focus right now is producing grass-fed beef and lamb, as well as managing 400 acres of permanent grass. We don’t plow, we don’t do anything other than move cattle around.”

Pasture management has been Maloney’s passion from the beginning, always with the goal of preserving land for future generations – as previous generations did for him. His passion for pasture management has led him on a series of trips around the world to develop his knowledge of pasture and pasture management with a view to reducing on-farm production costs.

“With a lot of this land, we’ve changed the look of it for our farming and ranching. As we develop something that is close to nature as possible, that’s going to be what makes it easier for us, long term, where we don’t have to buy inputs anymore,” he says. “When we really understand and have the farm close in sync with nature, life on the farm is going to be easier and more profitable for us.”

Today, Maloney says they are continuing their focus of improving the land, including creating dams and ponds to try and get some of the water that belongs on the land to stay on the land like it used to. “That’s what the sustainability part is for us,” he notes. “We’re in direct meat sales – this is part of what our customers are looking for environmentally. It’s a small part of the big picture – we have to focus on our sustainability so we can continue doing this.”

Animals are moved from one pasture to another, naturally fertilizing the farm’s 360 acres of pastureland. All water bodies are fenced off, and thanks to permanent plant cover and the increased organic matter/carbon the land is able to capture, Maloney says the fields retain more water – a principle that can save the day in droughts like those of recent years.

Brylee Farm rehabilitated its rented land, which they call King Ranch. Initially, only blackberries, goldenrod and wild strawberries grew. They have since installed fences and water lines, and began managing the paddocks by rotating the animals through, starting with those most in need of organic matter.

Bale grazing is another improvement that has been made. And the farm uses mob grazing where a large number of animals graze a small area for short periods before being moved to another pasture. This operation is performed four times per day. The animals graze the best, trample on the rest and leave their droppings on the ground, which allows for plant regeneration, carbon capture, root conservation and water retention for soil biology. With this pasture management method, Maloney has noticed the roots of the grasses reach deeper into the soil.

“This farm is something we’ve worked at as a family. I’ve only caught the football in the last 25 yards – there were three generations before me that had the same vision,” notes Maloney. I’ve learned that good management is not just jumping on trends, and also being aware more of the soil. A lot of this is just things our grandfathers did anyway. On most farms that’s the way it is. If they want to step up their environmental game, look at how grandpa managed it and you’ll see a lot of the answers are right there.”

A member of the local ALUS committee, Maloney decided to create a pasture reserve that will not be grazed until July 1 in order to protect eastern meadowlarks and bobolinks, two bird species that are threatened in Canada. He also works with Docterre, a Quebec-based soil life laboratory and consulting service whose goal is to help regenerate soil ecosystem services and functions. Work at Brylee Farm has been done on compost extracts to improve the balance of bacteria and fungi in the soil.

Maloney says the future of environmental stewardship in cattle production in Quebec is positive, especially as more producers, along with the general public, understand the benefits of it overall.

“Here in Quebec, the beef industry probably occupies the biggest part of the arable land, and beef production now has the opportunity to flourish,” he says. “We’re probably the less intensive part of agriculture compared to grains and dairy and poultry. And as we use some of these sustainable and environmentally friendly methods of doing our production, we really will shine. We’re showing that cattle and beef are definitely the right products for the environment – we can be pulling down carbon in the soil with our pastures and finding that long term, this will help production costs for farmers.”

This summer, the Maloney hopes to organize a grazing/soil caravan in collaboration with Quebec’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to teach farmers about the importance of soil health in their pastures. They also plan to build ponds in order to recreate the original landscape from 150 years ago, when beaver dams were common. This will increase biodiversity by creating the ideal environment for birds, insect, mammal and native flora species. Another project is tree planting, and Maloney has already begun working with a forestry engineer to better manage the health and quality of their forests.

Going forward, Maloney is excited about his daughter taking over the operation one day. In the meantime, he hopes his passion for the land and for keeping things simple continues to earn respect within his family and with consumers and the general public.

“That respect for every action that we do to the land and animals will reflect on us one way or the other, positive or negative,” he says. “And by the actions I’ve taken over the past 40 years, even to my non-farming children, the respect and the awareness of how important the land and the environment is just transmitted naturally to them by my actions.

“I’m more excited about farming now than I have been my whole life because science has caught up to what we’ve known and been doing all along and proving that it’s true.”

This article was originally published on the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association blog.

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Robyn Unrau was raised on a small cow-calf operation near Marquette, Man. Unrau has earned a diploma in agriculture, majoring in livestock production, from the University of Manitoba, and is pursuing an animal science degree. Unrau plans to pursue a career in the beef industry while growing her family farm. Unrau’s mentor is Dawn Hnatow, who has studied stockmanship with Bud Williams and managed livestock on large Texas ranches.

Savannah Hodgkinson completed all of her primary school in Florida. She moved to Alberta in 2015 to attend college, where she discovered a passion for business. After completing her business certificate at Olds College, she began working at Titan Land and Cattle, initially doing the bookkeeping. She then moved on to Titan Ag Finance, where she completes applications and manages loans. Hodgkinson also started a small cow-calf herd, which she is working on growing. Hodgkinson’s mentor is Craig Klemmer, principal ag economist with Farm Credit Canada.

Dr. Tamara Quaschnick is a large animal veterinarian. Quaschnick was raised on a commercial cow-calf operation south of Hanna, Alta. In 2009, Quaschnick graduated from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, then completed an internship in equine medicine and surgery at Idaho Equine Hospital. In 2014, she returned to her hometown and established Steadfast Veterinary Services Ltd. She currently splits her time between Hanna and Bashaw, where she and her husband, Darren Schultz, run a commercial Angus herd. Quaschnick’s mentor is Dr. Mark Cameron, vice-president of nutrition and consulting for More Than Just Feed Inc.

Earlier this year, John Masswohl retired from his role as director of government and international affairs at the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA). Masswohl served in the position for over 15 years. Before joining the CCA, he worked as an agriculture counsellor for the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C., and in the tariffs and market access division at Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. Masswohl is still consulting part-time for the CCA on special projects as director emeritus. Fawn Jackson is now CCA’s director of government and international affairs. Jackson has worked with the CCA for over nine years in positions such as executive director of the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef and, more recently, as the senior manager of government and international affairs.

Dr. Karen Beauchemin received the Canadian Beef Industry Award for Outstanding Research and Innovation at the Canadian Beef Industry Conference last month. Beauchemin is a ruminant nutrition scientist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Research and Development Centre in Lethbridge, and an adjunct professor at the University of Saskatchewan, University of Alberta and Utah State University. Beauchemin’s work focuses on ways to improve production efficiency and reduce environmental impact. She was part of the National Research Council committee that produced Nutrient Requirements for Beef Cattle, a publication widely considered the cornerstone for beef nutrition.

Ontario’s Livestock Research Innovation Corporation (LRIC) welcomed three new directors to its board earlier this summer Jean Szkotnick, who served as president of the Canadian Animal Health Institute for 29 years before retiring, is now chair of LRIC’s governance committee. Jim White, an animal health industry consultant with over 35 years of experience, is chairing the international research advisory committee. Finally, Franco Naccarato, executive director of Meat and Poultry Ontario, has also joined the board. The new directors fill positions vacated by Cornelia Kreplin and Paul Uys, who both retired, and Mike McMorris, who became LRIC’s CEO last September.

Congratulations to Ricky and Chad Seelhof and family, national recipients of The Environmental Stewardship Award (see above). The Seelhof family own and operate Woodjam Ranch, located in the Cariboo region of B.C. Working with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, they installed eight large off-stream watering systems to protect the tributaries on the ranch and provide year-round water. They’ve also fenced off rivers and creeks, planted willows and built berms to direct creeks. Congratulations again to the regional environmental stewardship winners, including Paul De Jong of Ontario, Thomas and Felicity Hagan of Manitoba and Deer Creek Livestock Co. in Alberta.

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Dr. Jill Bainard is being mentored by Saskatchewan rancher Duane Thomp­son and agri-environmental
specialist Sarah Som­­merfeld. Bainard is a forage ecophysiologist who studies the relationship between forage plants and their environment at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Swift Current Research and Development Centre (SCRDC). She did a post-doc at SCRDC on the use of annual forage polycultures.

Dr. Diego Moya, a newly appointed assistant professor in beef cattle and welfare at the University of Saskatchewan, is being mentored by rancher and chair of the Saskatchewan Forage Council Tamara Carter, and CEO of the Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association Ryder Lee. Moya is a veterinarian, with an MSc. and PhD in animal nutrition and post-doc on animal behaviour and welfare. He is interested in developing nutritional and management strategies to optimize the balance between animal care and environmental and economic sustainability.

Dr. Dongyan Niu is mentored by Elizabeth Homerosky, a rancher, veterinarian and researcher from Airdrie, Alta., and director of technical services for the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association Mark Klassen. Niu is an assistant professor of food safety in the faculty of veterinary medicine at the University of Calgary. She’s focusing on food safety from farm to fork by gaining an understanding of the emergence and persistence of zoonotic pathogens.

Dr. Gabriel Ribeiro, an assistant professor of production animal nutrition at the University of Calgary’s faculty of veterinary medicine, is being mentored by feedlot operator and past chair of the BCRC Bryan Thiessen, and Allied Marketing Group nutritionist Dirk Burken. Ribeiro obtained a veterinary degree, and an MSc. and PhD in animal science from the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Brazil. During his PhD, he undertook a year of study at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Lethbridge Research and Development Centre, working with Dr. Tim McAllister. His research focuses on improving beef cattle production while reducing its effect on the environment.

Last month James Bradbury resigned as brand officer for Canada Beef, to accept the job of global brand and marketing strategist with BIX Systems, the parent firm of BIXSco Inc. and Viewtrak Technologies. At the same time, Lee Irvine, left his job as manager of national and global key accounts with Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health to become the business development executive for BIX Systems. The company says the moves reflect the recent growth in the company with the expectation that it will apply for a seat on the TSX Venture Exchange in November under BIXS to fund further expansion.

Heinz Reimer of Manitoba is the newly elected chair of the Canadian Beef Check-Off Agency. Joining him on the new executive are vice-chair Chad Ross from Saskatchewan, governance chair Larry Weatherby from Nova Scotia and finance chair Lonnie Lake representing the retail and food-service sector.

The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association presented its 2018 Environmental Stewardship Award to Circle H Farms near Brandon, Man. Circle H Farms is a purebred cow-calf operation owned and operated by Brian and Sonja Harper and family. After purchasing the 500-acre mixed farm in 1990, the Harpers started on a path to rejuvenate the organic matter in their sandy or sand/clay loam soils and improve the water and nutrient cycles to the benefit of their 80-head herd. They switched to rotational grazing and perennial crops and, as time and budgets allowed, installed off-site watering systems — including a solar powered winter water system — planted trees, and completed an Environmental Farm Plan. Previously the family has been recognized as Conservation Farm Family of the Year and Manitoba Grazer of the Year. In three years of high stock density grazing, the Harpers saw beef production rise by 9,400 lbs., off the same 130 acres using just animal density and time management.

Dr. Eugene Janzen was presented with the 2018 Canadian Beef Industry Award for Outstanding Research and Innovation at the Canadian Beef Industry Conference last month in London, Ont. Janzen is currently a professor and researcher at the University of Calgary College of Veterinary Medicine. His publication record covers 110 peer-reviewed articles covering cattle health and welfare issues, diseases and pathology of feedlot cattle such as bovine respiratory disease, neurological conditions and mycoplasma bovis. On the cow-calf side he worked on Johne’s disease, bovine viral diarrhea, lameness, herd health and treatment protocols, epidemiology, antimicrobial use and resistance, sexually transmitted diseases, health effects of feedlot feeding programs, remote necropsy, pain management and disease surveillance and diagnostics.

Dauphin-area rancher Ben Fox resigned as president of the Manitoba Beef Producers last month to seek the nomination as the Conservative Party candidate for the federal riding of Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa. MBP vice-president Tom Teichroeb has taken over the role as interim president in the meantime.

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The event, held in Swift Current, kicked off with an announcement from outgoing SSGA president Shane Jahnke on the creation of the association’s new grass bank pilot project, a collaboration with Parks Canada to conserve habitat for species at risk on Grasslands National Park and surrounding ranches.

When ranchers meet habitat targets for the greater sage grouse, sprague’s Pipit and chestnut-collared Longspur, they will receive financial incentives and a reduced grazing fee for parts of the park’s east block. The program is funded through the Species at Risk Partnership on Agricultural Land (SARPAL), and habitat targets are monitored by the South of the Divide Conservation Action Program.

The SSGA also announced the development of an exclusive livestock mortality insurance product offered by Cherry Insurance Ag Secure for members. This new program was created as a response to the 2017 wildfires to provide producers with an affordable option in cases of mass loss of livestock. This will provide coverage for the loss of livestock resulting from a wide variety of events, including fire, drowning and accidental shooting.

The presentations at the convention covered a range of timely topics of interest to beef producers, with current trade negotiations at the forefront. Resolutions were passed to lobby the federal government to promptly ratify the CPTPP agreement and to ban the terms “hamburger” and “meat” on the labels of plant and lab-based protein products sold in Canada.

A number of resolutions were focused on the conservation of ecosystems and habitat for species at risk, with one calling on the SSGA to push for renewed funding for SARPAL after its planned expiry in 2020. Other discussions centred on eradicating the Saskatchewan population of wild pigs, changes to the Trespass Act, and enhanced coverage for the provincial Forage Rainfall Insurance Program (FRIP).

Following the meeting, Bill Huber of Lipton, Sask., was elected president. Joining Huber on the 2018-19 SSGA executive are Kelcy Elford of Caronport, first vice-president, and Garner Deobald of Hodgeville, second vice-president, while Shane Jahnke of Gouldtown will take on the role of past president. Jeff Yorga of Flintoft continues as the finance chair.

The returning SSGA directors at large are Jerry Chanig of Mankota, Keith Day of Lacadena, Glen Elford of Milestone, Calvin Gavelin of McCord, Joe Gilchrist of Maple Creek, Norm Nordgulen of Rockglen and Barry Olney of Estevan. New director Barry Wasko of Eastend was elected to his first term. They join Paula Larson of D’Arcy, Roy Rutledge of Assiniboia and Lee Sexton of Hanley, who are continuing their terms as directors.

Two special awards were presented at the event. The Environmental Stewardship Award (TESA) for Saskatchewan was awarded to Blain and Naomi Hjertaas of Redvers, Sask., for the environmental practices they have implemented on their ranch, with particular attention to soil health and carbon sequestration. University of Saskatchewan professor John McKinnon was awarded the SSGA Honourary Lifetime Membership plaque. He was recognized as a long-time friend of the SSGA for his contributions to Saskatchewan’s beef industry through research and mentorship.

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David Moss is the new general manager of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association replacing Rob McNabb who retired after 20 years in the position. Moss brings to the job practical hands-on experience managing a feedlot and custom silage operation and numerous executive positions in agribusiness. He was co-founder and vice-president of AgriClear LP the online agri-business marketplace that shut down earlier in the year; CEO of ITS Global, an integrated traceability system and CEO of Alberta’s Livestock Identification Services.

Ryan Beierbach of Saskatchewan was elected chairman of the producer-filled board of directors for the Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC) in June. Matt Bowman the past president of the Beef Farmers of Ontario, is vice-chair. Beierbach and his wife Tania operate a Black Angus cow-calf operation and a ranch supply and tack store near Whitewood, Sask. He’s a past chair of the of the Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association, a current member of the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB) council and a graduate of the Cattlemen’s Young Leaders (CYL) Mentorship Program.

Also new to the board are: Garth Porteous (Alta.), Graeme Finn (Alta.), Fred Lozeman (Alta.) and Dean Manning (Atlantic). They join Dave Zehnder (B.C.), Chris Israelson (Alta.), Michael Spratt (Sask.), Larry Wegner (Man.) and Rob Lipsett (Ont.).

Bill Huber of Lipton, Sask., has been elected president of the Sask­atchewan Stock Growers Association replacing Shane Jahnke of Gouldtown who remains on the executive as past president. Kelcy Elford of Caronport is first vice-president, and Garner Deobald of Hodgeville, second vice-president. Jeff Yorga of Flintoft remains the finance chair.

Trevor Welch of Glassville, N.B., is the new president of the Canadian Angus Association following the breed’s annual meeting in B.C. earlier this summer. Bob Hahn of Sherwood Park, Alta., was elected president elect, and Brett Wildman of Sangudo, Alta., moves to the past president position to fill out the association executive. Welch is an engineer who runs a land survey company along with Garvie Mountain Angus’s 30 purebred and commercial Angus cows with his father and son Trevor. Hahn operates HR Hahn Cattle Co. in addition to a chartered accounting practice, Hahn & Houle Chartered Accountants.

University of Saskatchewan professor John McKin­non was awarded the Sask­atchewan Stock Growers Association Honour­ary Life­­time Membership plaque at the association’s annual meeting earlier this summer in recognition of his contributions to Saskatchewan’s beef industry through research and mentorship.

Blain and Naomi Hjertaas from Redvers are the recipients of the 2018 Sask­­atchewan Environ­mental Stewardship Award (TESA). The couple share a passion for carbon sequestration and healthy soils which they have put into practice transforming their 1915 homestead ranch through environmental and holistic practices. They will represent Saskatchewan for the national TESA award, presented at the Canadian Beef Industry Conference in London, Ont.

Ken Perlich from Perlich Bros. in Lethbridge is the new Livestock Markets Association of Canada representative on the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency board of directors. He replaces Heartland’s Rick Wright who spent much of his 12 years on the board focused on the upcoming traceability regulations due out later this year.

David Colwell was appointed chairman of the Canadian Meat Council (CMC) at the group’s annual meeting in Montreal. He has been the president of JBS Canada since 2016.

Larry Garrett of Vanderhoof is the new pres­ident of the British Columbia Cattlemen’s Association replacing Brian McKersie who had served out his term. John Anderson of Merritt is vice-president.

Ramona Blyth of MacGregor was returned for another term as chair of the research and extension-oriented Manitoba Beef and Forage Initiative based just outside of Brandon. Larry Wegner of Virden is vice-chair.

Cattle producers Ryan Boyd and Christoph Weder are two of the five winners of the 2018 Nuffield Scholarships that will allow them to research projects of their own design. Boyd is the managing partner of a mixed beef and crop operation near Forrest, Man., while Weder and his wife run a 1,800-head herd of purebred and commercial Angus cows and 500 Plains Bison on 35,000 acres of range and tame pasture in the Peace Region of Alberta and B.C.

Garnet Ferguson and Holly Thompson have joined the board of the Saskatchewan Forage Council. Ferguson is the general manager of Can-Pro Ingredients Ltd., one of the few remaining alfalfa dehy plants in Western Canada. Thompson’s family operates Tee Two Land and Cattle Co. near Kelliher. She is studying animal science at the University of Saskatchewan and joins the board as a student member.

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Dr. Kotzeff, also a veterinarian, operates 1,800 acres in Bruce County with 700 acres of that in forages. He continually demonstrates leadership in the implementation of environmental improvements by preserving a number of riparian properties, providing alternate water sources through the use of wells and ponds, and fencing off a number of waterways to prevent the contamination of surface water. Depending on market and pasture conditions, Kotzeff pastures 500 – 1,000 head of cattle each year under his intensive grazing system.

During his career, Dr. Kotzeff has purchased a number of vulnerable riparian properties which includes approximately three miles of the Saugeen River and also includes woodland, smaller permanent/intermittent streams and wetlands. These key features, in his opinion, make the land ideal for grazing cattle.

On grazing sites ranging in size from 50-300 acres, Kotzeff operates an intensive grazing system where he grazes individual paddocks or strip grazes for three to five days with a minimum 45 day rest period between grazing as his goal. Water is provided to each paddock with a variety of systems sourced from ponds and well water

Unfortunately, forest conditions are declining in his area due to a predominance of agriculture and a decrease in riparian cover. To protect these areas, Dr. Kotzeff permanently fenced 150 acres of woodland and rotates cattle through approximately 30 acres of glade pasture. Where feasible, he also has fenced both sides of treed stone fencerows to maintain habitat and to provide wildlife corridors between woodlands.

“To date, I have found a successful system for maintaining woodland, rivers and streams My next goal is to protect the wetlands unsuitable for cropping while still using adjacent land in an effective manner,” says Dr. Kotzeff. “I would also like to refine how I integrate my new cash cropping component with my established grazing operation. I want to create economic diversity while maintaining long term productivity, soil health and minimizing the environmental effects.”

TESAward recognizes the outstanding environmental stewardship of an Ontario beef farmer. Special consideration is given to farmers who have taken innovative approaches to environmentally sustainable beef production. 

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