Pasture Ploughed

Choosing forage varieties

Reading Time: < 1 minute Are you looking to reseed a forage stand? Production typically declines as tame pastures get older, but it is not always easy to know what forages or varieties to seed next. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency no longer requires experimental yield, quality or agronomic data before new forage varieties are registered. Often, the only information available is data from the breeder or seed company.


Preliminary results from a winter feeding trial at Lakeland College show that the overall feed quality of a forage blend in a swath grazing program is better than just oats.

Forage blends benefit swath grazing

Winter feeding trial studies virtual fencing as well as potential of moving away from using only one crop in swath grazing

Reading Time: 2 minutes A researcher at Lakeland College says he wanted to investigate using forage blends in winter swath grazing systems to ease producer hesitancy. Obioha Durunna, who is now in the third year of the study, says he was also prompted by the limited information available on backgrounding weaned calves in such systems. Durunna says producers are […] Read more



Forage sources sought

Forage sources sought

Reading Time: < 1 minute As winter begins, cattle and sheep producers are reassessing their forage needs and sources to ensure they have adequate feed for the winter. Neil Blue, provincial crops market analyst with the Alberta government, says although the early season dry weather allowed hay crops to be harvested in good condition, there were lower than average yields. […] Read more

Turning back the clock with grazing

Turning back the clock with grazing

Cattle can help fill the biodiversity void left from the loss of bison

Reading Time: 5 minutes Cattle are often maligned for their contributions to greenhouse gas levels, but Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Tim McAllister says that’s wrongheaded. “We hear about people advocating for the need to eliminate livestock from agriculture production, basically without really understanding the negative connotations that would have,” the researcher said during a recent webinar. “We really need […] Read more


Ryan Canart outlines his operation during a July field tour.

Yearlings get schooled in rotational grazing

Ryan Canart trains a new group of animals every year and says they take to it well

Reading Time: 3 minutes Ryan Canart’s approach to pasture management reflects a lot of the principles that have become old hat during grazing tours across the Prairies. He is among the proponents of rotational grazing. His 907 animals are mostly moved daily through relatively small paddocks, with a goal to grow soil health and productivity. His land features an […] Read more

Close-up file photo of an alfalfa plant in a Canadian field. (Jennifer Seeman/iStock/Getty Images)

DLF buys Corteva’s alfalfa seed business

Business to be 'fully transitioned' after 2024 season

International forage and turf seed firm DLF is stretching its reach in the alfalfa market with a deal for Corteva Agriscience’s assets in that business. The Danish firm announced Wednesday it had acquired Corteva’s global alfalfa germplasm and breeding program for an undisclosed sum, including its current commercial alfalfa varieties and their trademarks such as […] Read more


Dexter Lethbridge says the right forage mix can help manage saline soils.

Mix up forages to fight soil salinity

Saline land improved by a number of grasses, say researchers at Ag in Motion

Reading Time: 2 minutes A mix of grasses can help address salinity problems on marginal farmland, says a forage expert. “The nice thing about a mix is you’re kind of guaranteed that something will catch,” said Dexter Lethbridge, a product line rep with Proven Seeds for Nutrien Ag Solutions in Lethbridge, Alta. Partnering with Ducks Unlimited, Proven/Nutrien set out […] Read more

Mature winter wheat. (Allan Dawson photo)

Manitoba’s crops continue to hold up 

Hay yields generally below average; pasture conditions were deteriorating due to dryness

MarketsFarm – Timely rains in Manitoba have kept the province’s crops in relatively good shape, according to the latest crop report. Manitoba Agriculture said precipitation as of Aug. 1 amounted to as much as 73 millimeters around Zhoda in the southeast to 13 mm at The Pas in the north. Although several locales throughout the […] Read more