| | Grazing clubs and grazing mentors are two great ways for producers to learn from each other.
Grazing clubs: “A grazing club is a group of land managers who share a common desire to learn and work together towards the goal of improved management of their grasslands,” says Arnold Mattson from PFRA’s Range and Biodiversity Division. “It’s a kind of peer support. Everybody shares their goals, and then everybody helps each other to stay motivated and reach their goals.”
He adds, “There’s a real synergy that evolves from working together. Being part of a club empowers the producers to take practical action towards improving natural resource stewardship, profitability and quality of life on their farms and ranches.”
At present there are about 25 clubs starting up in Alberta. “It’s driven from the grassroots. If people want to start a club, we'll give them help. I’ve got a start-up kit to give them as a guideline,” explains Mattson, who is coordinating the Alberta clubs. “We’ve tried to model the clubs the same across Canada so if federal money becomes available, it can be integrated very easily.” Clubs register with Mattson so that “if new information or a new program comes along, we can make sure they’re aware of it.”
A club consists of:
- A key grass manager, who is an experienced grazier and the club’s contact person;
- A minimum of five other graziers; and
- A technical support person selected by the club.
The technical support person is an agricultural extension agent or specialist from a municipality, PFRA or other agency who has considerable grazing management experience. The tech support person does the legwork to put the club’s plans into action.
Club activities might include: pasture tours, club meetings, visiting speakers, and courses like Ranching for Profit. Topics could focus on developing grazing plans, establishing forage stands, or extending the grazing season. “Whatever they need, whatever their goal is, we figure out how to reach it and then go for it.”
For more information, contact Arnold Mattson (780-495-4593; mattsona@agr.gc.ca).
Grazing mentors: The Sustainable Grazing Mentorship Program is a consulting/mentoring program of the Agricultural Research and Extension Council of Alberta (ARECA). The program pairs experienced graziers with less experienced or novice graziers.
Albert Kuipers of the Grey Wooded Forage Association is one of the mentors. He says, “The program is designed to help people get started in grazing management. For a $100 investment by the producer, a mentor like myself or one of the many others, will come to the producer’s place for about 16 hours of consultation over the course of several visits.”
The mentor assists the producer on things like preparing a grazing plan, adopting appropriate beneficial management practices, or whatever is necessary to help the producer develop a sustainable operation.
Kuipers gives an example. “I worked with one gentleman who had a lot of grazing background but was new to this country, having come from Europe. He just didn’t know what to make of our wild climate. So we worked together developing his grazing system so that it would be more drought proof.” Within a couple of years, this producer went from a situation where his pasture capacity was sometimes barely sufficient to get through the growing season, to having enough grass leftover after the growing season to allow grazing for most of the winter.
For more information on this program, visit www.areca.ab.ca.
Improving Production efficiencies & the environment
A new, easy-to-use, readable guide called Cow/Calf Operations and Greenhouse Gases offers win-win options for cattle producers and the environment.
“Cow-calf producers are already making a significant contribution to the removal and reduction of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. By altering their existing management strategies, they have the potential to increase their production efficiency, creating positive results both for the environment and their profit margin,” says Kerrianne Koehler-Munro of Alberta Agriculture and Food.
The Cow/Calf Operations and Greenhouse Gases guide identifies certain management practices and strategies that address greenhouse gas emissions reduction and/or carbon sequestration in a cow/calf operation. The guide’s sections are arranged by practices, like ‘Incorporate legumes into tame pasture’ or ‘Chop, grind or pellet low quality feeds’, so producers can quickly find the information they want. And each section has a note about current research to help producers keep up to date on new findings.
The publication will be available online at www.agric.gov.ab.ca or from Koehler-Munro (780-427-3628; kerrianne.koehler-munro@gov.ab.ca). |
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