Just because there is snow on the ground in most parts of Western Canada doesn’t mean it isn’t a good time to be thinking about next year’s grazing season, say grazing and forage management specialists.

Two successful grazing and forage management workshops and conferences in Manitoba and Alberta in early December show producers are eager to learn more about improved grazing, pasture and forage management techniques.

“It’s a good time to be reviewing and planning your grazing systems,” says Duane McCartney, a forage and pasture management specialist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s (AAFC) Lacombe Research Centre. “If producers haven’t already, they may want to consider the economic and production benefits of rotational grazing.”

The rotation can be as simple or as complex as weather or management will allow, but in most cases avoiding a season-long, continuous grazing plan has both environmental and economic advantages, says McCartney.

“A rotational grazing system can produce two main benefits,” he adds. “It helps the grass stay healthy and productive and in turn can improve feed efficiency and lead to improved beef weight gains.”

One recent Manitoba study, for example, evaluating rotational grazing at five sites over two years showed a 2.5 times increase in forage production under rotational grazing versus a continuous grazing system.

Keeping forage growing and vegetative also means improved feed quality for grazing livestock. While that should translate into improved weight gains, one benefit that’s seldom recognized is the reduction in methane production in the animal’s rumen.

“The methane is not just a greenhouse gas,” says Dr. Karin Wittenberg, a professor in animal science with the University of Manitoba. “It’s lost feed energy that could have been used to produce meat or milk. On average about two to 12 percent of total feed energy consumed by cattle can be lost as methane gas. In other terms that is like losing one out of every 10 to 20 round hay bales.”

Ruminant livestock, such as beef and dairy cattle, produce methane as part of the normal digestive process. Methane gas is produced as a byproduct of the fermentation of feedstuffs in the rumen. Most of this methane is emitted from the mouth and nose through eructation and respiration.

“Identifying feeding practices that reduce this methane production by cattle will improve feed utilization and address environmental concerns,” says Wittenberg. “In general, when animal production efficiencies are improved (through proper nutrition, management, reproduction or genetic selection of animals), the amount of feed required to maintain an animal is reduced as more feed energy is diverted to production. This means a drop in the methane per unit of meat or milk produced. If fewer animals can be maintained in the herd with improved productivity, then the total amount of methane produced from the overall herd can also be lowered.”

Key benefits and other management points of rotational grazing are covered in two new features now appearing on the Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Program for Canadian Agriculture (GHGMP) website. Go to the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) website at www.cattle.ca  and follow the links under “Stewardship.” An important goal of the GHGMP is to raise awareness of a wide range of production and management practices that benefit beef productivity and the environment. The GHGMP is administered by the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association.

The objective of rotation grazing is to improve harvest efficiency, and get more efficient use of the forage by livestock while managing plant energy reserves in a way that won’t deplete plant energy, says Dr. Paul McCaughey, a pasture scientist with AAFC’s Brandon Research Centre.

“The key is to keep the grass vigorous and growing and in a vegetative state,” he adds. “The grazing plan needs to ensure the forages have time to put down root reserves before the end of the growing season. Plants that are continuously grazed will be less vigorous, less productive and may eventually die out.”

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For more information contact:
Duane McCartney
Grazing and Pasture Management Specialist
AAFC – Lacombe Research Centre
Phone: (403) 782-8104
Email: mccartneyd@agr.gc.ca

Dr. Paul McCaughey
Pasture Scientist
AAFC – Brandon Research Centre
Phone: (204) 726-7650 ext. 215
Email: pmccaughey@agr.gc.ca

Dr. Karin Wittenberg
Professor, Animal Science
University of Manitoba
Phone: (204) 474-9139
Email: km_wittenberg@umanitoba.ca 

Pat Walker,
Beef Project Co-ordinator
Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Program
Calgary, AB
Phone: (403) 601-8991