Whether up north in last summer’s ash or down south in the dust, winter feeding is nearing its end, and the need for a grazing plan is mounting. Year over year, producer efforts to balance grazing and growth will hopefully result in profitable calf crops as well as healthy grasslands.

Mindy Anderson spoke at the America’s Grasslands Conference in Kearney, Nebraska, about the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Foundation's efforts to start a conservation easement program.

Canada’s federal government ended its Community Pasture Program in 2012, which had provided grazing for 220,000 cattle owned by 2,500 producers in the Prairie provinces. Months after the announcements, the involved governments initiated a plan to transition federal pastures to patron operation.

The calendar never lies. While it may feel like New Year’s celebrations have scarcely fizzled, the calf crop is on the ground, the winter feed supply is dwindling, and patches of green grass are beckoning.

As the year transitions from winter to spring, producers are ready to stop feeding hay, and the livestock are eyeballing the “weakest link” in the fences to get to the green grass.

It was a phone call that I didn’t want to receive. On a pleasant evening in June, a neighbor rancher – someone I’ve known for many years – phoned to ask my advice about some baleage.

As the summer months progress, the forage quality for grazing cattle begins to change rapidly for much of the western U.S. Cattle performance is dependent on the consumption of digestible nutrients; thus, forage quality and availability are essential for grazing-based systems.