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Wheatland County's Range Program | |
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From the Fall 2005 Issue of Alberta Conservation Connection | |
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Photo: Delaney Anderson
The Wheatland County Range Program evolved from input and leadership by local producers, and continues to be managed through a producer-led committee. “Before we initiated the program, we decided to develop a survey and interview producers in our county to help understand exactly what their needs were,” explains Mike Sauve, Watershed Coordinator. “We used the information and knowledge gained by the survey to implement our Range Program.”
The results of the survey helped identify some of the problems producers were facing in their pastures. These included issues surrounding general productivity, weed management, water and riparian management. “We also used the survey as a teaching tool to introduce some of the concepts of good grazing management to producers,” says Sauve.
One of the problems identified by several producers was weed problems and weed control, particularly in pastures that were inaccessible by tractors and conventional sprayers. “We modeled a solution after the Clearwater County’s program in the north of making a boomless pasture sprayer available for rent to producers.”
The survey also showed that few producers were adopting rotational grazing strategies as part of their pasture management. “We started offering producers the opportunity to participate in a Pasture Health Assessment Workshop, which we’ve now been offering annually for the past three years,” says Sauve. “This has been very successful, and provides producers with a tool for measuring the health and productivity of their pastures.” A new project initiative under Wheatland County’s Range program this year is a grazing project that includes various partners: MD of Rocky View, Foothills Forage Association and Cows and Fish Program.
Although Wheatland County’s Range Program was originally managed separately from their Watershed Program, the two programs are now managed together under their AESA program. “Both the Range Program and the Watershed Program are managed by a producer-led committee, which provides direction into our programs,” explains Sauve. “Now that they are managed together we can work on joint projects that work for both water and range issues, creating greater efficiencies.” One example is an upcoming summer tour that will profile both water management and range management strategies.
Sauve explains that trying to measure success is a challenge, especially in terms of watershed and range management where changes are very slow. “We take success as producers getting involved with programs and workshops, and having new producers participate that we previously hadn’t worked with.” Sauve is also planning to conduct another survey in a few years.
There have been a lot of positive comments from producers about their successes, particularly with using the pasture sprayer to address weed problems, and the Pasture Health Assessment as a tool to improve their management. “The key to success is to offer programs and events that will provide value to producers,” says Sauve. “This is especially important in the environment we’re in right now in both the livestock and grain industries. Producers aren’t likely to spend time or money in things that don’t necessarily improve their bottom line or operation.”
For more information, contact:
Mike Sauve at (403) 934-3321 or email: mike.sauve@wheatlandcounty.ca |
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For more information about the content of this document, contact Deb Sutton.
This information published to the web on May 25, 2006.
Last Reviewed/Revised on May 25, 2008.
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