Provincial grazing tour a hit with producers

by Larry Fischer

There were 140 people from Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta who attended the Manitoba Provincial Grazing Tour, held in the Central Plains area on July 23 & 24, 2008.

Along with participating sponsors, the tour is jointly funded and organized by staff of Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives and the Manitoba Forage Council.

The Tour started off at 7-L Livestock Ranch at Lakeland where Wayne and Colleen Gardiner talked about the changes they have made to their operation since taking a holistic management course two years ago. Displays included a calf table, maternity pen, wire reels, fencing supplies, and Feed Rite products. An Ultrasound demonstration was performed on a finished steer by Ben Fox (Dauphin) who explained how the process works.

The next stop was the A8 Ranch near the west shore of Lake Manitoba. Tom & Michelle Teichroeb talked about the management of their 300 cow-calf pair operation. Jane Thornton, Range and Pasture Specialist with Manitoba Agriculture Food and Rural Initiatives, spoke about Tom’s management of a very poisonous weed (Water Hemlock) that grows on his land.

Marilena Kowalchuk of Managing the Waters Edge, discussed Tom’s riparian project where he has fenced off Lake Manitoba from his ranch. Ducks Unlimited representative Robin Hamilton spoke about the Big Grass Marsh DU project which began in 1939 – the first one in Canada. Our bag lunch on the lake shore was cut short due to rain.
The three buses then traveled through the Big Grass Marsh en route to Lyle McKay’s farm in the Glenella area where there are two projects – Sharp Tails Plus and Native Pasture Improvement. Lyle has three different applications of brush control – dragging, scraping, and spraying.

The group headed over to Larry Fischer’s place near Plumas, but a downpour prevented us from touring his pasture, so we went to the Plumas Community Hall. Presentations were given about local projects and initiatives, and Ben Fox reviewed and explained the ultrasound results from the morning’s scan at 7-L Ranch. A scrumptious meal of grass fed beef was enjoyed and the rain let up enough for participants to take in three outdoor demonstrations:

Gallagher Weigh System with Wil Rex; Kelln Solar Water Pumping System by Carl Dreidger; and Kane Veterinary Grounding System for Electric Fence with Grant Howse.
Everyone was interested when the buses passed by the Horse and Buggy Mennonite community situated south of Plumas, en route to Portage la Prairie, where the group stayed overnight at the Canad Inn.

The next morning, participants divided into smaller groups to take in tours of the Simplot Canada potato plant, Food Development Centre, Jefferies Nurseries, and Mayfair Farms fruit and vegetable farm. Lunch was served at Island Park in Portage la Prairie and Ian Wishart, President of Keystone Agricultural Producers spoke to the group about the Alternative Land Use Services (ALUS) and other issues.

Once back on the buses, they travelled to Whitemud River Farms (Hugh & Robert Blair) at Woodside, where Hugh showed us their bale grazing site, discussed their management strategy and held an interactive discussion. Larry Fischer, Farm Production Advisor with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives performed a Brix demonstration which determines the sugar level in grass.

To wrap up the tour, the group headed over to Steele Bridge Farms at Gladstone where Randy and Shelley Bjornson talked about their custom grazing operation. They purchase a custom mineral blend to balance the nutrient deficiencies based on feed tests of their pasture grass.

Evaluations were completed and everyone was happy to board the buses again where pizza was served on the bus ride home.