It’s an honour for the family, said Rob Taylor, who owns and operates the ranch with his wife Audrey and their children.

Rob, Audrey, and their two youngest children, Courtney and Clayton, live along the Milk River Ridge southwest of Warner. Two older children, Kyza and Katrina, work off farm.

The Taylors manage about 850 commercial cows and more than 15,000 acres of land. Their cattle run on deeded land, Crown grazing land and an allotment with the Waldron Grazing Co-operative. They calve in May and June and background the calves. Most are sold in February.

The family grows most of their own feed, putting up about 800 acres of silage and greenfeed and a similar amount of hay at the home place.

“We try to run a low-cost operation with low input. That would be one of our big things,” said Taylor.

• RELATED: Wray family honoured for environmental stewardship

They also practice rotational grazing and move the cows every three weeks to a different field. They run cattle in groups of 250 in the summer.

“We find if we run in bigger bunches, they’re harder to water and harder to move,” he said.

About 200 cows are shipped to Milo in the summer and graze there until October. Other groups go to the Waldron Grazing Co-operative north of Pincher Creek.

“Out there, there’s a lot of big, open, south facing slopes. We winter a lot of cows up there. We’ll take cows there now, and then we’ll take some more cows there in November, after we wean here and we’ll graze out on those big open slopes right through to the end of March,” Taylor said.

Audrey’s parents bought some of the land now owned by the Taylors in 1983. After additional land purchases, they took over the operation and have been there for 23 years.

The family is conscious about preserving wildlife and they collaborate with the Alberta Conservation Association, Ducks Unlimited and Multiple Species at Risk. Their land is home to many species at risk, including small birds, ferruginous hawks and northern leopard frogs.

The Taylors worked with the Alberta Conservation Association and Ducks Unlimited to install water troughs; more than 70 in total. This keeps cattle out of dugouts, improves water quality and results in better herd health.

“We used to have horrible runs of calves getting sick in August. As soon as we troughed the water, it just stopped.”

Taylor said one of the secrets to being efficient is having good cattle.

“Your cattle work for you. They’re like employees of the ranch. They all bring in a calf that brings cash flow or they are cash flow.”

Family members also work well together, he added.

“We’re all pretty much cross-trained.”

He and Clayton do more work with feed and silage, and Clayton does most of the seeding. Audrey and Courtney run balers and other equipment. Clayton and Courtney both manage the calving, and Clayton does a lot of feeding for the backgrounder calves while Audrey takes care of the banking.

Courtney and Audrey both walk pens, and Audrey has probably put 4,000 kilometres on her quad checking cattle this year, said Taylor.

His two youngest children are devoted to the ranch, and this is important to him.

“It’s a dream come true. If we didn’t have support from the previous generation and the upcoming generations, we wouldn’t be where we are. We wouldn’t be in this position.”

Working with nature is a key principle.

“It’s been a commonsense thing to do, especially with more cattle and less help. I think one of the things people do is they make ranching hard. It doesn’t have to be hard,” because working with Mother Nature is more efficient and more profitable.

All the Taylors love animals, which play an integral role in their ranch. They use horses and dogs, mostly border collies, for many ranch duties.

“They’re like having 300 men,” said Taylor.

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Producers can be nominated by an individual or organization, or apply themselves. A panel of representatives from conservation and agriculture assess the candidate by examining the stewardship goals and activities of the nominees, including land management, water quality, wildlife, animal welfare and leadership activities in the community related to stewardship, ABP said.

For nomination details, go to the Alberta Beef Producers website.

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It’s the home of Jerry Baerg, his wife, Dawn, and six children. They raise cattle on land purchased by Jerry’s grandfather in 1972.

At first, the farm was 1,500 acres of mostly cultivated land, growing grain and hay with a small backgrounding operation. Jerry became involved in the early 2000s, bringing with him an enthusiasm for building a viable and sustainable business.

He pivoted the backgrounding operation into a commercial cattle operation in 2013, sourcing genetics and seedstock from producers who were prioritizing environmental stewardship.

Ribbon Creek has converted some cropland to perennial grass, with trials of annual crops under-seeded with clover. In winter, his cattle graze on the residue of annual crops.

“The cow-calf and the grain farm really complement each other,” he said. “There’s a lot of value in the grain side that you can utilize for the cow-calf side.”

The move to year-round grazing was achieved while saving approximately 320 acres of wild grass, and Baerg has no plans to cultivate the ground. He also wants to preserve wildlife habitat.

“As a God-fearing man, it’s our duty to take care of what we have in the best way we know how,” he said of his farm and Mennonite faith. “We’ve just been handed it, and stewardship to me is exactly what it is. We’re not actually owners here. We are just taking care of things.

“This award isn’t about the biggest operation, it is about stewardship,” he said. “That is what I am trying to do – take care of things and work together with nature. Me and my family are honoured. I feel really humbled.”

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The mixed cow-calf and grain farm with a backgrounding operation is located near Linden, on land purchased by Jerry Baerg’s grandfather a half-century ago.

The family’s stewardship efforts include rotational grazing in summer, residue grazing in winter, fencing off riparian areas, developing a solar-powered water system, seeding some cropland back to perennial grass, and using cattle to increase fertility on hilltops.

A feature on Ribbon Creek Ranch will be in the next edition of the Alberta Farmer. 

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Each year, ABP recognizes a cattle operation that demonstrates leadership in environmental stewardship — one that contributes to the land while improving productivity and profitability.

The award has been given out since 1992 and the recognition of the winners “contributes to the positive story of sustainability in cattle production,” ABP said.

The nomination deadline is July 15.

More information and the nomination form is at albertabeef.org.

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“We are asking producers to take this opportunity to share the unique environmental practices employed on their operation and to present the positive story about cattle producers’ contribution to the environment,” said ABP.

Nominations are open until July 15 and nomination forms can be found at the Alberta Beef website.

The winner will receive a commemorative gate sign and a video highlighting their ranch.

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The environmental stewardship award from Alberta Beef Producers recognizes individuals and families who contribute to the land while improving productivity and profitability.

Randy and Sandra Radau have been ranching at Coulee Crest Farms since 1989 on a farm homesteaded by the Radaus in 1929. They run a purebred Hereford herd and commercial cow-calf operation and background their own calves. They also grow grain, grazing cattle on stubble and utilizing composted manure on cropland.

“The environment is our lifeblood in an agricultural operation,” said Randy Radau. “If you don’t take care of it your operation will fail. We’re constantly motivated to make things better for the environment so it takes care of us.”

The farm has doubled in size and the herd has tripled in the last three decades, with 1,500 acres of grain and 2,000 acres in pasture and hay production. The majority of grazing is done in Spruce Coulee which was designated an Environmentally Significant Area by Red Deer County.

The family is constantly working on environmental improvements and has completed projects through Growing Forward 2 and Ducks Unlimited. Springs were developed and fenced off to provide a fresh water source for cattle, and wetland restoration was completed. Solar-powered watering systems are used to pull water off site from a fenced dugout.

Coulee Crest Farms is home to many wildlife species including deer, elk, moose, a variety of birds, cougars, and most recently a grizzly bear. The family has designated and fenced areas with native trees for wildlife habitat, which also provide wind shelter for the cattle.

“Our goal is to always try to make one or two significant improvements in sustainability every year,” said Randy Radau. “We’re really honoured to be named the Environmental Stewardship Award winner. I don’t think there’s a bigger compliment you can pay to someone who’s involved in agriculture than to tell them that they’re a good steward of the land.”

The post Coulee Crest Farms earns 2019 stewardship award appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

The nomination form can be found at the Alberta Beef Producers’ website, or by contacting the ABP office (403-275-4400) or your local delegate.

The winner will receive a commemorative gate sign, a video highlighting their ranching operation, and a paid trip to the ABP AGM in Calgary in December.

The deadline for nominations is July 15.

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“I prefer to use the word regenerative,” Ian Murray says in a video portraying the work he and wife Carman have done at Shoestring Ranch.

“I don’t want our ranch to sustain itself and be what it is now in 10 or 20 years. I want it to be better, I want to go beyond sustainability.”

The Acme-area rancher also views the Alberta Beef Producers’ Environmental Stewardship Award as more of a recognition of progress, rather than achievement.

“I don’t think anyone who is on this path ever gets to the end of it,” he says. “I don’t think anybody has ever won this award based on the culmination of your life’s events… It is more of a recognition for being on the path.

“I don’t think anybody who is on this path ever gets to the end of it. There’s always something more to accomplish, to make something a little bit better.”

Part of that journey on Shoestring Ranch has involved changes such as calving in May and June instead of March so cows have the richest supply of grass when lactating; fencing off dugouts and employing solar waterers; and swath and bale grazing instead of “hauling that feed around.”

But Murray’s focus is increasingly on soil health.

“I’ve dedicated the last 10 years to really improving my knowledge of grassland management. As one of my mentors told me, ‘It’s an evolution, it’s a progression. You begin focusing on the cows and then you begin focusing on the grass, and the grass takes care of the cows.

“And then you begin focusing on the soil and then everything changes.”

Two of the organizations that Murray has chaired — the Foothills Forage and Grazing Association and ARECA (Agricultural Research and Extension Council of Alberta) — have been leaders in the province in promoting soil health.

The fifth-generation rancher — his family homesteaded in the Jumping Pound area in 1883 — runs 180 pairs and retains calves for a natural beef program on the operation that he and Carman started. The couple has two children, Ty and Amber.

The 2018 Environmental Stewardship Award video on Shoestring Ranch can be found on Vimeo.

The award, which dates back more than 25 years, is presented annually to the beef producer who best exemplifies environmentally sustainable cattle production. Award candidates are nominated by their peers and they are assessed by a panel of representatives from conservation and agriculture organizations. The panel looks at factors such as land management, water quality, wildlife, animal welfare, and leadership activities in the community related to stewardship. Nominations close July 1 each year.

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The award recognizes cattle producers whose stewardship practices contribute to the environment, and enhance productivity and profitability. Applicants are invited to share the unique environmental practices employed on their operation and to present the positive story about cattle producers’ contribution to the environment.

Nomination forms can be downloaded here or obtained from the Alberta Beef Producers office or delegate. All cattle producers are encouraged to either enter or nominate another producer who is taking strides towards sound environmental production practices.

A team of judges will review the submissions and tour the nominated ranching operations. The winner will receive a commemorative gate sign, a video highlighting their ranching operation and an all-expenses-paid trip to ABP’s annual general meeting in Calgary. The deadline for nominations is July 15 and the winner will be announced in December.

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