“Right now, we’ve been on the stockpiled grass of our home section for the last two weeks. So, it’s basically saved me $10 grand for spending six.” – TOD WALLACE, MAFRI Everyone socks away enough hay to get cattle through the winter. But how many stockpile a bit of extra grass with the goal of
Turning Straw Into Gold
Big Timber On Manitoba Prairie
Building a farm workshop these days is as easy as picking up the phone. But David Pogson and his brother Barry decided to take the cheaper, more labour-intensive – and they would argue – more fun route. With a homemade sawmill, an apron-winch equipped tractor and a neighbour with a stand of 80-foot hybrid poplars
More Money In Sheep, Says ALP
“If you’re getting as good of productivity as you should, your lambs in the first year can pay back the cost of the ewes.” – MARGARET COOK Cattle producers are routinely told that the reason they face such dismal prices for their beef is Canadians can’t eat all the beef they produce. With anywhere from
Sheep And Coyotes Don’t Mix
While the economics of sheep production may seem alluring for some cattle and hog producers, the reality is driving at least one producer out of the business. Edie Mowat, who raised 300 ewes near Brandon with her son Greg after her husband Glenn died four years ago, decided this fall to exit the industry. The
Money Grows On Trees
By actively managing about 100 acres of hardwood forest, David Pogson figures he and his brother Barry’s sawmill sideline might eventually account for about one-third of their farm income within a decade. Out of the seven-acre plot from which they are doing a managed harvest, they have already removed 30 cords of firewood in the
Bill C-391 Wins Free Vote Nod
Aprivate member’s bill aimed at scrapping the long-gun registry passed a critical vote in the House of Commons last week, but local gun sellers and owners aren’t breaking out the champagne just yet. Travis Vandaele, owner of Jo-Brook Firearms in Brandon, noted that before Bill C-391 becomes law, it will still have to survive more
T – for Nov. 12, 2009
he behaviourist approach to ranching has won many converts in the United States. One of them, Ray Banister, used the philosophy to develop a new grazing strategy on his 7,200-acre Montana ranch, after 40 years of rotational grazing. Called “boom-bust” management, Banister uses intense periods of grazing followed by two growing seasons of rest. This
Use Brains, Not Fossil Fuel
Abetter understanding of grazing animal behaviour could make ranching profitable again, according to Fred Provenza, a professor from Utah State University. “I’m not a person who hates fossil fuels, I like them. But we’ve used them as a crutch,” said Provenza. “It’s been great, but it’s costly to do that. So, we have to think
R. M. Abandons Fort Ellice Development
– Philip Fafard “We’ve told our lawyers to please just settle whatever costs have been added up and we’re done, we’re out. It’s been a traumatic four years” Citing costs, the R. M. of Ellice and the village of St. Lazare have pulled the plug on plans to build a tourist attraction around the site
AITC Showcases Modern Cowboy Life
About 150 Grade 10 students from as far away as Elkhorn and MacGregor and as near as Sioux Valley got a glimpse of the cattle industry from multiple angles on the sidelines of the Wheat City Stampede last week. Passing through 12 interactive stations manned by volunteers, the teenagers listened to presentations on beef cattle
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
