In many cattle ranchers’ minds, there’s no such thing as a good gopher.
However, custom grazier Steven Kenyon, who practises regenerative agriculture on his Alberta operation, sees them as neither friend nor foe.
“They’re part of the system,” he said in an interview during a pasture tour organized by the Canadian Forage and Grassland Association in conjunction with Ag in Motion. “Any critter in your environment needs to be a part of the system.”
For Kenyon, too many gophers — or any pest — are a sign that the system is out of balance. “You need to find out what’s causing it and rebalance the ecosystem.”
However, it’s not about wiping out the gophers, which aerate the soil and provide other biological services. It’s about bringing the populations back to a more sustainable level.
One approach is to encourage natural predators.
Greener Pastures Ranching Ltd. Is a custom grazing business in Alberta. Kenyon’s family manages approximately 3,500 acres of leased land and runs around 1,400 head of cattle each year, along with some sheep, pigs and chickens.
The video at top is his suggestion for rebalancing the equation.
