This is a recording of a live webinar that took place on July 14, 2022.
Whether you are a livestock owner looking to optimize your grazing and forages, or you are a producer looking to host someone else’s livestock on your land, this webinar contained some useful information for both scenarios.
Clayton discussed soil health and fertility, cover crop grazing, beneficial species mixes for soil diversity and health while also providing healthy energy dense forages for the livestock, tips for extending the grazing season, different livestock and their nutritional requirements or preferences (sheep, cattle etc.) etc.
He also briefly discussed custom grazing arrangements; whether you are looking to graze someone else’s livestock on your land, or you are thinking about providing custom grazing services of your own, we heard some information or tips on what an agreement between the landowner and the livestock owner should look like, what types of information or clauses it should contain, and more.
SaskOrganics staff provided an introduction and demo of the Manitoba Grazing Exchange platform.
Guest Speaker:
Clayton Robins, Producer, Nuffield Scholar
Clayton operates a mixed family farm in Rivers, Manitoba with a primary focus on beef production at the present time: cow/calf, back-grounding, and custom grazing. Sheep production was included for about 30 years until recently. He graduated University of Manitoba in 1989 with a BSc in Agriculture and went on to spend over 20 years with AAFC Research Branch in Brandon studying beef and forage production: including extending the grazing season, forage-based finishing, greenhouse gas mitigation, modeling, cultivar development, and energetic efficiencies. He spent several years working on Ag industry development as a member of numerous boards and committees, including terms as Chair.
Clayton was awarded one of the 2013 Nuffield Canada Scholarships and toured the world to study the potential for “energy-dense” forages in the Canadian beef production model.
The Robins’ Family Farm received the Little Saskatchewan River Conservation District conservation award in 2017, and has received its 125-year recognition.