Manitoba livestock producers up against dry conditions can now apply for temporary passes to get onto Crown land not normally designated for grazing or haying. The province announced Friday it will make such lands available this year for agricultural use “under certain circumstances.” Permits and land uses will be handled through the Agricultural Crown Lands […] Read more
Manitoba to open more Crown lands to haying, grazing
Province now taking requests for permits
Pasture care in four words: Balance, distribute, rest and litter
There are many different grazing systems but they all adhere to these four management principles
Reading Time: 3 minutes At first glance, grazing a pasture may appear as simple as placing cattle in a fenced area with a water source. However, practising effective grazing management is an art and a science. Pasture conditions and types vary widely from native grassland to tame forage, with stands comprised of many diverse plants or perhaps just a […] Read more
Carrying capacity: You gotta know if it can hold ’em
Overgrazing can really hurt productivity, so it pays to know how many cows you can put on a pasture
Reading Time: 3 minutes Struggling with finding the right amount of cattle to graze on a pasture or not sure how many cattle a new rented pasture will hold? The Beef Cattle Research Council now has a calculator to help you with that. There are four basic principles of range management: Balancing forage supply and demand; managing for uniform […] Read more
New grazing lease plan a win for producers, say cattle groups
The groups feared long-frozen rental rates would be seen as a subsidy and lead to a countervailing duty
Reading Time: 3 minutes Grazing leases are about to change for the first time since 1994 after years of work by Alberta Beef Producers and the seven grazing lease associations in the province. The quarter-century-old system could have attracted potential tariffs on Canadian cattle, so the changes were necessary, said Rich Smith, executive director of Alberta Beef Producers. “The […] Read more
Harvest woes increase supply of alternative feeds
Prices are down and depending on the region, availability is up — but you need to do the math
Reading Time: 2 minutes Hay costs vary significantly this year, with prices in some areas with short supplies nearly double those in areas with adequate supplies. On the other hand, there could be numerous options for alternate winter feeds this year as some crops originally intended for grain are being harvested as feed. Alberta feed barley prices have dropped […] Read more
Film celebrates not just grass, but a special, overlooked habitat
Documentary shines a spotlight on grasslands and why they need to be protected and cherished
Reading Time: 3 minutes Not all superheroes wear capes — some put on work clothes and graze cows. Ranchers are the stars of a new mini-documentary called “Guardians of the Grasslands” and their mission is to protect this fast-disappearing habitat. Three-quarters of the country’s native grasslands have already been lost, and cattle are key to protecting those that remain […] Read more
Alberta to lift residency rule for public grazing lands
The Alberta government plans to remove a restriction on non-Albertans’ use of public lands for grazing, in a bid to smooth out paths for interprovincial trade. The province on Saturday announced it will do away with eight of its declared exceptions under the interprovincial Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA). Of the eight, three deal with […] Read more
Producers can reduce carbon hoofprint while boosting profitability
Reading Time: 3 minutes If you want to raise more environmentally friendly cows, there are several things you can do, say experts. And make money from doing them. Over the last 30 years, the beef sector has improved efficiency by 15 per cent, but it can still do more to reduce methane emissions, said John Basarab, senior research scientist […] Read more
U.S. to move BLM headquarters to Colorado
Reuters — The U.S. Bureau of Land Management will move its headquarters to Colorado from Washington, officials said on Tuesday, sparking ire from conservationists who said the decision would weaken the agency dedicated to managing the country’s vast public lands. The Department of Interior, which oversees BLM, announced the move in letters to key congressional […] Read more
Livestock feed webinar series underway
Reading Time: < 1 minute A livestock feed webinar series is underway. The first webinar on grazing options for dry conditions took place on July 4 but there are eight more in the series: feeding economics (July 18, co-operating with cropping neighbours (Aug. 1), safely grazing hay lands (Aug. 15), alternate feed myths (Aug. 29), effective culling (Sept. 12) feed […] Read more
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