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Greetings from the SFC! Winter is a great time to plan spring and summer projects in Saskatchewan. If you're looking to convert acres into forage, or to conserve wetlands or native plants there may be funding available for you.
The Assiniboine Watershed Stewardship Association (AWSA) has a new project known as ASAP (ALUS Saskatchewan Assiniboine Project) which provides funding for these types of stewardship practices. To learn more about this project visit:
www.assiniboinewatershed.com/home/asap.
Ducks Unlimited Canada has teamed up with Crop Production Services to offer incentives to producers in targeted areas. To learn more about this program
click here.
Read on in our February eNews to learn about winter pasturing, forage rejuvenation, Saskatchewan researchers and news-makers.
If you have topics you'd like to have us share in our monthly eNews or on our website, get in touch with us. We'd love to hear from you! Follow us on
Facebook or Twitter
@saskforage to keep up to date on news and events.
Please fe
el free
to forward the eNews on to
others you think may be interested
i
n fora
ge and livestock industry updates -signing up is as
easy
as clicking the 'Join Our Mailing List!' on the left.
Your Forage and Livestock eNews
Editor,
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SFC seeking Executive Director
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The Saskatchewan Forage Council was formed as a cooperative in 1988 and is committed to the growth and development of all aspects of Saskatchewan's forage and grassland industry.
The Executive Director of the Saskatchewan Forage Council is responsible for carrying out the overall vision of the organization based on input and direction from the Board of Directors. This includes setting and meeting annual goals and targets which may be financial, program, and/or management based objectives. This position is on a contract basis. Please submit resumes on or before March 9, 2018.
To learn more about the job duties, responsibilities and work conditions, click here. For more information please contact Tamara Carter at tamaracarter@xplornet.com.
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CFGA Winter 2018 Newsletter
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Looking for more information and news about the forage industry? The Canadian Forage and Grassland Association's Winter Newsletter is now available!
Read about the CFGA Conference, pollinator award winner, flail conditioning, doing business with China, an update about our very own SFC and much more!
Find the link to the newsletter at: http://www.canadianfga.ca/newsletter
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Forage Rejuventation of CWG
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By: Michele Simili da Silva, PhD; Forage Crops and Pasture - Mitacs Post-Doctoral Fellow SFC/WBDC- UofS
Crested wheatgrass is one of the most prevalent introduced perennial grass species in the semi-arid region of the Canadian prairies, occupying thousands of acres throughout southern Saskatchewan. This grass became very popular in the USA and Canada after the extensive re-grassing during the mid-1930's due to its prolific seed production, adaptability to drought and cold conditions, competitiveness and high tolerance to close grazing and severe trampling. However, over the years, as happens with the majority of perennial forage species when not well managed, the stands tend to become unproductive in response to the reduction of soil nutrient availability and the increase of undesirable species and weeds.
Rejuvenation practices such as sod seeding legumes, fertilizing or breaking and re-seeding have been used as an option to address these soil nutrients issues and to re-establish the productivity and quality of forage stands. This is a topic of great value to livestock producers as are thousands of acres of land in southern Saskatchewan that are not reaching their expected potential for production, and yield and costs can vary from one strategy to another affecting the net return and benefit-cost ratio. However, there is limited research information available in this regard.
In order to address this gap on the lack of information and hoping to better assist producers on their decision making process on rejuvenation strategies, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in collaboration with the Western Beef Development Centre and the University of Saskatchewan conducted a review comparing the three rejuvenation strategies applied in previous research studies on rejuvenation of crested wheatgrass stands in southern Saskatchewan. In this review, the authors list the pros and cons of each one of the strategies evaluated and their agronomic and economic aspects.
The economic analyses conducted by Larson et al. 2018 showed that with increasing yield response comes increasing costs and pointed to sod-seeding alfalfa which had the lowest yield and costs as the best strategy for crested wheatgrass rejuvenation based on their benefit-cost ratio. However, the authors highlighted the fact that the rejuvenation strategy position when ranked is dependent on the forage value changes over time once it has a direct impact on the net returns. They also reinforced the importance of the producer's evaluations in order to put in place the strategy that is best suited to each scenario thus reducing the risks.
The full review including the description of the methodology used to the economic analyses will be available in electronic version titled "Economic analysis of crested wheatgrass pasture rejuvenation methods in Southwest Saskatchewan"- AAFC Technical bulletin to be posted soon at www.publications.gc.ca.
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Evaluation of a New Fibrolytic Enzyme in the TMR on Dairy Cow Performance
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Study Update from Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture Strategic Research Chair in Feed R&D Program (Professor Dr. Peiqiang Yu)
Recently an annual dairy producers and dairy industry meeting, organized by SaskMilk, Ministry of Agriculture, and the University of Saskatchewan, (Seventh Annual Dairy Information Day) was successfully held on January 25, 2018 at Brian King Centre, in Warman, SK . Dairy producers, the feed industry, nutritionists, and researchers came together to share research findings and recommendations in recent research.
During this meeting, one of the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture Strategic Research Chair in Feed R&D Programs project (Professor Dr. Peiqiang Yu) was presented by his team member, PhD student, Basim Refat. The presentation title was "Evaluation of a new fibrolytic enzyme in the TMR on dairy cow performance". This program is being carried out in collaboration with several researchers (ex. Dave Christensen, John McKinnon, Aaron Beattie), dairy industry nutritionists (ex. Leland Furh) and SaskMilk industry (ex. Jack Ford).
The objective of this project was to evaluate the effects of supplementing a new fibrolytic enzyme product applied directly to barley silage- based diet fed to dairy cows during mid-lactation on milk yield, milk composition, nutrient intake and digestibility, predicted energy and feeding behaviour.
Read the full article here.
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MBFI tackles the ins and outs of winter pasturing
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By: Alexis Stockford, Manitoba Cooperator, December 2017
Beef producers should all consider some type of extended grazing, even if it only adds a few weeks to the season.
That's according to Manitoba Agriculture livestock extension Shawn Cabak, one of the speakers at the latest producer-focused workshop from Manitoba Beef and Forage Initiatives near Brookdale.
Attendees took home the pros and cons of winter grazing and winter watering options Dec. 7.
"There's a number of different extended grazing practices that a producer can consider, whether it's stockpiled storage, grazing a second-cut hayfield, corn grazing, swath grazing, bale grazing. It depends what kind of resources they have and what they're interested in," Cabak said. "They all work for different producers and some producers practise a number of different extended grazing options."
Winter feed costs are the largest expense for most beef producers and the more cattle can forage, the less feed must be provided, winter grazing advocates say. Others have pointed to fertility and nutrient benefits or a drop in manure-hauling costs as benefits. Winter grazing sites have exhibited nutrient jumps, since cattle drop manure and urine in the field.
That reasoning makes marginal land a prime candidate for winter grazing, Cabak said, since the farmer will see more benefit than on already well-nourished soil.
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Website Modernization
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Saskatchewan Forage Seed Development Commission (SFSDC)
By: Ray McVicar, executive director
The Saskatchewan Forage Seed Development Commission (SFSDC) is a grower-led organization with the mandate to improve the forage seed industry for producers in Saskatchewan. We have a research and technology transfer focus and we strive to help growers become more profitable.
Since its
inception
in 2011, the website has seen over 5
2
,000 hits to obtain information on our Board, Purpose, News, Research, Marketing, Production, Events and Industry Links.
Past SFSDC annual reports and newsletters are also available on the website. For example, the latest news on the Forage Seed Information Session and SFSDC Annual General Meeting on January 11, 2018 is posted on the website.
With the proliferation of the use of mobile devices on the farm, the website need
ed
to be upgraded.
The revised website
provides a
modern
fresh
look, is
more user friendly
,
and allows easy access
for
mobile devices.
The new version is capable of supporting videos, a photo gallery and other media such as twitter and facebook.
Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture provided funds for the upgrade through their Industry Organization Development Fund. Prairie Orchid Media Inc. in Saskatoon completed the revision.
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U of S Range Team takes first place
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The U of S Range Team won first place at the Undergraduate Range Management Exam in Sparks, Nev., University Communications, Feb 2, 2018
Co-ordinated by the Society for Range Management, the exam provides an opportunity for undergraduate students to demonstrate higher order learning skills and synthesis knowledge of the art and science of rangeland management. Individuals and teams are both eligible to compete.
The U of S team is comprised of 15 students from the College of Agriculture and Bioresources, with various majors and backgrounds. They meet to study and prepare for the exam-on top of their regular course loads, assignments and exams. The team even engaged in a variety of fundraising activities to secure the trip.
Learn more here.
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Maintaining Momentum
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The forage seed we rely on to provide nutrition through our cold winters and lots of forage during our short growing season takes a lot of hard work and knowledge to develop. Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC) Science Director Dr. Reynold Bergen had an article that recently appeared in Canadian Cattlemen magazine's December 2017 issue looking at this process.
Maintaining Momentum
Dr. Reynold Bergen, Canadian Cattlemen, December 2017
Canada's pasture and rangelands have drier, colder, and shorter growing seasons than many other beef producing areas in the world. The forage varieties that perform best in Canada are generally the ones that have been bred, selected and developed to germinate, grow, survive and thrive here. Forage varieties developed in foreign countries are sometimes marketed in Canada, but they weren't developed under our climate and may not perform as well as home-grown varieties.
A total of 144 new perennial forage cultivars (grasses and legumes) were developed in Canada and registered between 1932 and 2017. Although private or not-for-profit companies often sell these seeds, these companies rarely did the actual breeding and development work. Nearly all (98%) of these 144 cultivars were developed by public (government and university) breeding programs. It is critically important that universities and governments continue these breeding programs, because when a program stops it takes years to rebuild its momentum.
Here are a few examples. Only 8 new perennial forage varieties were registered during the 1930's; forage breeding programs that had lost manpower and momentum due to World Ware 1 were still rebuilding when World War 2 started. Only 3 new perennial forage varieties were registered during the 1940's. Many more recruits were drafted and sent overseas during World War 2, and some forage breeders who remained in Canada were reassigned to develop grasses that could reinforce and stabilize air force landing strips. World War 2 ended in 1945, but only 4 new Canadian perennial forage varieties were released during the 1950's, and only 15 during the 1960's. Forage breeding programs never really regained their momentum until the 1970's, when 24 new varieties were released, and maintained their momentum through the 1980's (23 new varieties), 1990's (28), and 2000's (25). Fourteen new perennial forage varieties have been registered since 2010.
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Saskatchewan Cattlemen's Association (SCA) YouTube videos
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The SCA YouTube Channel features videos from ranchers, researchers and the beef industry. Watch these videos to see Saskatchewan rancher explain their grazing and watering systems.
Chris Springer 90 & 120 Grazing
Watch at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfUhhVlA2x0
Rob Wunder Watering System
Watch at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqI1b3CXFN4
Did you know that both Chris Springer and Rob Wunder were featured producers during the 2017 Saskatchewan Pasture Tour (SPT)?
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Saskatchewan Forage Council Featured Project...
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"Some trends were noted at all sites with respect to establishment success, however the location of the sites throughout Saskatchewan is a useful reference for producers wishing to determine which forage species may be more likely to succeed in their own region. Both smooth brome and meadow brome established reliablyat sites throughout the province, demonstrating one reason for the popularity of this forage grass. Alfalfa also performed well in most locations and displayed higher yields than other forage species, although there was no one variety that
stood out across all locations.
The project was supported by the Agricultural Demonstration of Practices and Technologies (ADOPT) initiative under the Canada-Saskatchewan Growing Forward 2 bi-lateral agreement.
To view the final project report,
click here.
To view the Saskatchewan Forage Council's completed projects, click here.
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Upcoming Events
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Saskatchewan Young Ag-Entrepreneurs Conference
February 23-25
Saskatoon, SK
This annual conference is held in conjunction with the 2018 CYFF Annual Young Farmers Conference. Optional on-site farms tours are also available on Feb 16.
To learn more visit:
http://www.saskyoungag.ca/index.php/events.html
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Prairie Organics:Think Whole Farm
February 23-25, 2018
Brandon, MB
Conference highlights include two days featuring leading-edge producers and researchers. Free pre-conference tours and free trade show.
To learn more or register click here.
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Take This Farm and Love It!
February 15-16, 2018
Meadow Lake, SK
This Stockman Grassfarmer business school is instucted by Joel Salatin and Steve Kenyon. Topics include: What is your business? Who is your business? Where is the money? How to make it all work? Spaces are limited, register today! Presented by the Beaver River AEGP.
For more information or to register contact Alicia Adamson at 306.240.8857 or
aegp.alicia@gmail.com or Tracy Salisbury at 306.841.8263 or
aegp.tracy@gmail.com. Learn more
here.
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Let's Talk about - Stock Water
February 28, 2018
Pangman, SK
Let's talk about stock water - how does salinity and drought affect you? Hosted by the Moose Jaw River Watershed Stewards, this event discusses soil salinity management, water quality for beef cattle, pasture management in dry conditions, and more. Event runs from 1-5PM.
For more info, view the poster
here or contact Chad Paice at 306.691.3399 or email
mjriver.envtech@mjriver.ca.
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Farming Saline Soils
February 28, 2018
Annaheim, SK
Featured presentations include field surveys for variable rate and drainage mapping, economics of farming saline land, healing saline soils with forages and effects on crop systems. Registration is $20 and includes lunch.
For more info,
click here or contact CRVWA at 306.752.1270 or
drwatershedaegp@gmail.com
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Workshop for Crop and Livestock Producers to Improve Soil Health
March 1, 2018
Unity, SK
Save the date for this workshop for crop and livestock producers. Event runs from 11AM-3:30PM. Itinerary includes soil health principles and practical approach to management and tools to measure, fertilizer and the 4R's if nutrient stewardship, examples of multi-cropping and more. Cost is $20 per producer. Hosted by NSRBC. Please register by Feb 26/18.
For more info or to register contact Annette Smith at 306.441.4066. View the poster
here.
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Soils and Crops 2018
March 6-7, 2018
Saskatoon, SK
Registration is now open for this annual two day workshop organized by the Certified Crop Advisory Board and the Departments of Plant Sciences and Soil Science in the College of Agriculture and Bioresources. Plan to attend one day or two.
For more information,
visit the website. To register,
click here.
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March 6-8, 2018
Moose Jaw, SK
Greener Pastures Ranching presents this business management school that will take you into the design and planning of a year-round grazing system. Course tuition in $750/Farm Unit (plus GST), which allows two members of your farm to attend.
To learn more, phone Steve Kenyon at 780.307.6500 or email
skenyon@greenerpasturesranching.com.
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March 10, 2018
Regina, SK
This Native Prairie Speaker Series in-person presentation will take place at Cabela's in Regina on March 10 at 2PM. Hear Lori Johnson from the Saskatchewan Burrowing Owl Interpretive Centre at this free presentation. Live owl will be on site as well!
View the poster
here.
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Greener Pastures Business Systems
March 12-13, 2018
Brandon, MB
Greener Pastures Ranching presents this follow up to the business management school. A basic understanding of excel is required. Course tuition in $750/Farm Unit (plus GST), which allows two members of your farm to attend.
To learn more, phone Steve Kenyon at 780.307.6500 or email
skenyon@greenerpasturesranching.com.
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Under our feet
March 23, 2018
Saskatoon, SK
SaskOrganics presents the latest research on soil health and weed management by Saskatchewan researchers and farmers. Event includes speakers, producer panel and trade show.
To learn more and purchase ticket,
click here.
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Native Prairie Speaker Series - March
March 28, 2018
via Webinar
The March Series from SK-PCAP is titled: Enhancing Bird Habitat in a Semi-Urban Setting, presented by Renny Grilz, Meewasin Valley Authority. More info to come soon!
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Saskatchewan Forage Council Membership
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Be Sure Your Voice in the Forage Industry Counts!
- Incorporated under The Co-operatives Act, a membership fee for the SFC is a one-time cost of $25.00;
- The SFC has worked in the province on behalf of ALL forage industry stakeholders (and that's a very extensive and diverse group) for more than 20 years;
- If you are involved with production, management, protection, harvesting, storage, utilization or marketing of forage products, the SFC wants your involvement and input;
- The SFC is committed to placing a focus and awareness on the importance of forages in our province.
The SFC at a glance...
With a mandate to enhance the province's forage and grassland industry, the Saskatchewan Forage Council (SFC) strives to partner with all sectors of the industry - producers, industry organizations and companies, government and university.
Formed in 1988, our objectives are focused on the development and dissemination of information related to the production and utilization of all forage resources, prioritization of forage research and collaboration with governments to develop and implement effective policies and programs as they relate to forage production and marketing.
To learn more about becoming a member
Click Here
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Forage and Livestock eNews
is published by the Saskatchewan Forage Council (SFC). Opinions and information are provided by the authors and publication does not imply endorsement by the SFC.
Financial support for the Forage and Livestock eNews
has been provided in part by one of our partners,
the Saskatchewan Forage Seed Development Commission.
We welcome questions about article submission or to find out more about sponsorship,
please contact the Saskatchewan Forage Council at:
Phone: 306.329.3116
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The Saskatchewan Forage Council Gratefully Acknowledges
funding
for our
'Facilitating Forage Initiatives in Saskatchewan'
project
through the
Saskatchewan Cattlemen's Association
Industry Development Fund:
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The Saskatchewan Forage Council recognizes our Annual Supporters:
Silver Sponsors:
Bronze Sponsors:
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