Summer 2017 / Volume 09 Issue 02

ORGANIC GRAIN SUPPLY AND DEMAND

Page 4

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT

Page6

YOUNG ORGANIC FARM FAMILIES GROWING OUR NUMBERS

Page7
Summer2017
Mission: To represent and support
Alberta's entire organic industry.
Vision: A strong, sustainable and
united organic community in Alberta.
Editor/Submissions & Advertising
Editor: Debbie Miller
306-642-0216
editor@organicalberta.org
Copy Editor
Brenda Frick
306-260-0663
organic@usask.ca
Graphic Designer
Cari Hartt
587-521-2400
cari.hartt@organicalberta.org
Executive Director
Becky Lipton:
587-521-2400
becky.lipton@organicalberta.org
Board Members
Representatives elected by region:
(N) North (S) South (C) Central
(M) Member at Large
President: Tim Hoven (S):
403-302-2748
timhoven@gmail.com
Vice President: Dawn Boileau (C):
780-218-2430
dawnboileau@gmail.com
Treasurer: Heather Kerschbaumer (N):
780-835--4508
gaseeds@kerbagroup.com
Secretary: Trevor Aleman (S):
403-308-4003
trevor@busybeasmarketgarden.com
Abbie Stein-MacLean (M):
780-984-3068
asteinmaclean@gmail.com
Bernie Ehnes (M):
403-666-2157
behnes@gmail.com
Frank Maddock (M):
780-727-2333
jaspersprings@live.com
Charles Newell (AB repfederal level):
780-809-2247
newellsfarm@gmail.com
Fall 2017 deadline is Friday, September
15th. Please send comments,
suggestions, ads, and/or articles to
editor@organicalberta.org
Volume 09 Issue 02
Executive Director's Report
on growth of the sector, including
supply. There are still companies who
arent expanding into organics because
of lack of supply. Furthermore,
companies are turning to imports when
they need to, but they would rather get
their product from Canada. So, it is
logical that we should supply it.
One other important point to note, is
that those companies that want to get
into organics, are going to do so only
when they are confident there
issufficientand consistent supply. The
result is that demand and supply will
not grow together. Demand will be
Becky Lipton, Executive Director: slow now, and grow slowly with
Organic Alberta increased supply. We may not see the
high prices we saw in 2015 again, but I
In this issue we have tackled an important have traveled across Alberta, Canada,
and sensitive issue head on. How has the US and globally promoting Prairie
increased production affected grain prices, Organic Grain to both conventional and
what is happening with the markets, and organic companies, and the
how have imports affected prices? Grain conversation is always the same; they
prices have generally gone down this past are seeing very large growth on the
year, and although processors and those organic side of their businesses, and
buying feed are happy, there are a number they expect it to continue to grow.
of grumblings on the grain producer side.
But lets also be intentional about what
The Prairie Organic Grain Initiative hired kind of growth we want. As supply of
Stuart McMillan to investigate further. In organic grains have increased in
the article Organic Grain Supply and Alberta, we have attracted new value-
Demand on page 4 you will come to added companies. Grain buyers have
understand how market demand remains built new facilities and transitioned
strong, how imports haven't necessarily existing ones, and more complex
affected prices, and the effect increased processing facilities are being built. We
production has on prices. However, as should be supporting those companies,
Debbie Miller points out in her "Marketing and helping them grow. Their growth is
Checklist" on page 5, we still need to focus our growth, so lets grow together.
Organic Alberta Supporters
Big thank you to the following people and organizations who sent in donations, renewed
their membership, or became new members over the last few months:
Pier & Tiny Brouwer, Rosemary Wotske, Kerry & Lisa Wilson, Daniel & Marilyn Wiebe,
Frank & Shirley Doerksen, Frank & Margaret Dyck, Herman & Maria Friesen, Isaac & Anna
Krahn, Jake Wall, John Derksen, John & Susie Wiebe, Oliver Anderson, Janice Fallows, Peter
& Anna Bueckert, Peter & Irene Mihailuk, Peter & Judy Zacharias, Mark Gibeau,
Steve Snider, The Organic Box, OCIA International-Canada, PHS Organics, Richardson
Milling, XPT Grain, Penergetic Canada.
www.organicalberta.org 2
Summer 2017 Volume 09 Issue 02

Ukrainian Honey
Cake (Miodowuik)
As part of our celebration of local
family growers (and eaters) this
issues recipe comes from Nadia
Sech, Organic Alberta staffer
Alice Sechs Grandma! Organic
food and family are very
important to all of us at Organic
Alberta. The desire to support the
people we depend on to grow our
food is what attracted us in the
first place, and that passion for
organic food and farmers keeps
us all coming back day after day.
Alices Grandma is an important
role model for Alice. Alice
describes her as a kind, humble,
very tolerant person who
maintains a positive, optimistic
attitude no matter what, and at
the age of 76 still manages to stay 3 cups flour tsp baking soda
on top of all the latest technology! 1 cup honey tsp pure vanilla
2 cups beer 2 tbsp cinnamon
This cake appears at every Sech 5 eggs tsp ground
family event, special occasion, 1 cups sugar cloves
and often just at day to day meals. 2 tsp baking 1 cup oil
It is sweet and spicy at the same powder 2 3 tbsp rum
time. The recipe has travelled
with the Sech family from 1. Mix flour, baking powder,
Ukraine, through Poland and now baking soda. Set aside.
to Canada. One taste and Alice is 2. Beat eggs with sugar. Slowly
home! add honey, then add cinnamon
and cloves. Combine with the
Do you have a family recipe or flour mixture. Add beer and rest
food tradition you would like to of ingredients. Pour into bundt or
share? Wed like to hear about it! tube pan.
Send your recipes and memories 3. Bake 350 degrees for 1 hour
to
Debbie.miller@organicalberta.org

www.organicalberta.org 3
Summer 2017
Organic Grain Supply and Demand
By Debbie Miller,Editor: Organic Alberta
Stuart McMillan (Organic inspector,
consultant and farmer) has been studying
the current situation on organic grain
supply and demand. He shared some of his
findings with us in the May Prairie Organic
Grain Initiative teleconference call.
Although a lack of data makes it difficult to
gather all the necessary information to
answer these supply/demand questions,
Stuart identified three important issues that
speak to where organics is at:
premium to conventional. The 300-400% we
Market Demand
Production Supply
The role of imports and exports within the
North American market.
Market Demand. According to FiBL
(Research Institute of Organic Agriculture),
the USA represents 47% of the global
organic market. Combined with Canadas
4% we have more than half of the global
demand for organic products right here in
North America. The dollar value of the US
market alone is estimated at 35,782 million
Euros (approx. $54,315 million Canadian
dollars) A variety of statistics show that
demand within the US and Canada
continues to grow, even through the
recessions, and is not showing any signs of
slowing down. This demand has been
fueling the switch into organics and driving
the prices weve seen in the past 5 years.
Even with the increased number of
producers, there remains significant
untapped demand. While we are seeing
some large retailers entering the
marketplace, as well as expansions in type
and brands of organic products being
developed, it seems that many large players
cant enter the marketplace at all because
supply is not consistent or reliable enough.
For example, a large brewer wants to
switch over a major line but with their
volumes, there wouldnt be enough organic
soft white wheat and barley for the switch.
Production Supply. Data collected by the
Canada Organic Trade Association shows
increases in organic acres as well as more
farmers going through transition. (Check
out our Spring 2017 issue for the full report).
However, organic is still less than 2% of
total agricultural land and the majority is in
permanent pasture, so it doesnt have a
direct impact on overall commodity supply
or prices. At less than 1% of total grain-
producing land there is lots of room for
growth! The good news is Canadian organic
producers are also improving the quality
and yield of their crops by improving their
management practices, especially soil
fertility.
What is this doing to prices? Although
organic hard red spring wheat prices have
dropped, were still at about a 200%
saw in the past reflected a special
circumstance where supply was severely
limited. Oats are unique in that they are
primarily a North American market, not a
lot of imports and exports. Because they are
mainly grown in the northern Canadian
prairies, the drought in 2015 caused a huge
decrease in yields, which resulted in prices
skyrocketing as high as $9.15/bu for a short
time (conventional oats were $2.75/bu at
the time). High prices in 2015 prompted
producers to plant even more oats in 2016,
there was lots of forward contracting, and
good yields so we finished the year with 10
times the average amount of oats to carry
over. The prospects for any real increases
in oat prices going forward are not great.
Role of Imports and Exports. It is difficult
to determine the impact/role of imports on
the Canadian market because data is almost
non-existent here. Federal HS codes allow
us to look at imports and exports, but we
dont have organic-specific HS codes in
Canada. The US has started gathering this
information, meaning they can look at both
value and volume of imports and exports.
For example, we know that in 2016 73% of
all imported organic products came from
Turkey. Argentina and Romania were next
at 10% each, 4% came from the Netherlands
and Canada was at just 3%. Considering we
are the nearest neighbour it appears we
have lots of room to increase the amount of
product we send south of the border!
We also know that there were million
tonnes of organic corn imported into the US
in 2016. Most of it came from Argentina and
Brazil, with Canada supplying a very small
amount. The April USDA Organic Price
www.organicalberta.org
Volume 09 Issue 02
Report showed a current price for organic
corn at $7.50 to $8/bu, significantly down
from the 5-year average of $12-$13/bu, with
no sign of it changing. So why should we
care about the price of corn in the US?
Because US corn sets the floor price for
every other cereal in the organic
marketplace. For example, that $12-13/bu
barley was because the US had two back to
back droughts, while demands on their
dairy/poultry sector was high, leading to a
shortage and high corn prices. If conditions
go back to normal and the price for US
feed corn returns to $8/bu, they are likely
not going to be willing to pay $12/bu for
Canadian feed barley. According to
McMillan watching the US corn price is
critical to knowing where organic
commodity prices are going within
Canada.
So, what about a crop where we are a
dominant supplier to the US? As part of his
presentation Stuart also looked at durum
wheat. In 2013-14 we were the biggest
supplier of durum to the US. However, by
2016 we had dropped down to 44%, with
Argentina out-competing us and supplying
55% of US durum needs. Should we be
worried? Not necessarily. Canadian organic
durum continued to have a solid value
throughout 2016 and our 2016 durum
harvest was poor quality. However,
Argentine prices are still steady at $10/bu
less than Canadian.
In short, although prices are and will
continue to fluctuate as demand, quality
and our ability to supply certain markets
also fluctuates, and there is no doubt that
we are competing with producers in other
countries to fill those growing markets, we
are also in a very unique position. At less
than 2% of agricultural crop land in
organic, we have the potential to increase
our supply to the point where we may
become a one stop shop, especially for top
quality organic grain. As more companies
see that we can supply all their needs, they
will be more comfortable expanding and
increasing their organic lines, which will
translate into more demand. More than
half the global demand for organic food is
already right here on our doorstep and no
one is better positioned to take advantage
of it than we are.
4
 Summer2017 Volume 09 Issue 02

Marketing Checklist
By Debbie Miller, Editor: Organic Alberta
All markets can be fickle, and organic
markets are no exception. Many things,
such as weather, are outside of the
control of either farmers or buyers.
However, there are a few things that
Alberta organic farmers can do to help
weather the ups and downs of the organic
marketplace:
Know your cost of production. Do you
need $13 barley or can you cover your
bills on $8 barley? If not, is there another
crop that would fit into your rotation and
bring a better return?
Dont put all your eggs in one basket.
Diversity is key not only to building
healthy soil and a well-rounded farming
operation, it is also an excellent
protection against unanticipated
disasters, whether they come in the form
of weather or pest issues or falling
markets. My father-in-law always grew
both hard red spring and durum wheat
in case the price or quality of one was
poor he would have the other to fall back
on. For the same reason, he always had
cows and field crops.
shatter because of too many trips through
an auger or deteriorate through improper
storage. Check out pivotandgrow.com for
some great resources.
Work together to grow the supply. Yes,
this does sound counter-intuitive. There has
been an increase in production over the
past couple years, and this has led to
reduced prices. If prices are dropping why
would we want more supply? However, for
the most part, that increase is still not
enough to fulfill the market demand and
there are still some companies who are not
expanding because of a lack of supply.
When we dont have the supply to meet and
maintain our current markets, it is easier
for other countries to come in and fill the
gaps.
Companies will look to wherever they can
to find the product they need at a
competitive price and if they can get
everything they need from one source that
is much easier for them. We need to grow
our supply and quality so that we are that
one source. When we have a relatively
small group supplying a large market it is
tempting to become protectionist and not
want to let anyone else in on our good
thing. However, to do that is to risk losing
it all.
through our everyday food choices. It
could mean spending a little bit more for
some things, which may mean cutting back
on something else but these are the
choices we want our customers to make
and we should do no less. By purchasing
local organic food, we are not only doing
what is best for our health and the
environment, we are helping to keep more
local families on the farm. It doesnt get
any better than that!
Market Prices
OrganicBiz is theonline source of news
and information specifically tailored to
the needs of farmers practicing organic
agriculture, and farmers considering
organic practices. OrganicBiz gathers
and posts monthly price information at
organicbiz.ca/category/markets/. The
following prices are from Late June.
Crop Price: Bushel (Tonne) Premium
Spot Prices: Western Canada
Wheat - Red Spring $16.50 ($606) 216%
Wheat - Feed $8.50 ($312) 199%
Barley - Malt $11 ($505) 244%
Barley - Feed $6.25 ($287) 195%

Focus on improving the quality of your We are encouraged to see that the number Rye - Milling $7.50 ($295) 300%
products. The Prairie Organic Grain of organic farmers in Alberta is growing,
Oats $5 - $5.50 ($324 - $357) 162% - 208%
Initiative has been hearing from buyers and that so many young families are
that there are issues with the quality of moving into organics. This bodes very well Flax - Brown $35 - $36 ($1378 - $1417) 290% - 318%

some of the grain coming out of the for the future of organics in Alberta, and
Peas - Yellow $17 ($625) 203%
prairies. They have responded by co- especially for our ability to not only meet
hosting workshops, field days, and but grow our markets. New Crop: Western Canada

assembling resources to give producers Wheat - Red Spring $16 ($588) 213%
tools to improve their soil and the quality Walk the Talk. We need to support each
other by asking for and purchasing local Oats $5.75 - $6 ($373 - $389) 193% - 247%
of their crops. Also pay attention to
yourpost-harvest handling and storage. organic products as much as possible. Don't Flax - Brown $34 ($1388) 296%
Once you have successfully harvested a settle for less. We have an important role to
play in growing the organic marketplace Peas - Yellow $16 ($588) 210%
good quality crop you dont want it to

Organic Market Opportunities

Classified Ads
Growerss International is buying all varieties ofwheat,durum,barley,oats, flax, spelt, peas, mustard and lentils. Call one of our buyers
today! Mark Gimby: 306-652-4529, Braden Neuls: 306-227-8872.
F.W. Cobs Company is buying organic grains, including wheat, barley, peas rye, screenings, and more. We buy FOB the farm, delivered to
Loreburn, SK or loaded rail. Call 888-531-4888 ext. 7 or 8.
Are you looking for a consistent supply oforganicsoybean meal? Shafer Commodities can assist you with all of your organic needs, we are
also buying HRS, durum, flax, barley & peas 403-328-5066.
Wanted: Finished certified organic grain and grass fed beef. For Sale: Certified organic alfalfa seed, feeder hogs, and milking cows. Also
Freezer pork, lamb and beef. Contact Peter Lundgard at Nature's Way Farm 780-338-2934.
Trade and Export Canada is buying all grades of organic grains. Call 1-306-433-4700.

www.organicalberta.org 5
Summer 2017
Basic Principles
of Holistic Management
Photo by Sandy Black
By Blain Hjertaas, speaker at the joint
Organic Alberta/Holistic Management
conference in Lacombe
This is a revised version of an article that originally
appeared in Summer 2017 issue of the BC Organic
Grower, Volume 20, Issue 3.
Holistic Management is a decision-making
system that helps to create happy people and plant. These minerals are generally not
healthy profits by making decisions that are
sociologically, environmentally, and
economically sound.
Although it teaches us the basic principles of
regenerative agriculture, how each of us uses fungi and the fungi feeds the plant, and is
these principles is what makes holistic
management so unique. We each use our
own creativity to make it work in our
situation.
Principle #1: Solar Capture
We need sunlight in order to send energy to
the soil. It is free and non-limiting. There are from producing enzymes required to
only three things we can do to increase solar being food for the predators which in
capture: we can make solar panels larger,
put more panels up, and leave them turned
on longer. On the farm we need to look at
inter cropping, winter crops, poly cropping,
etc to increase our harvest of solar energy.
Plant spacing and diversity will largely
determine the size and density of the leaves
and in turn how much solar capture is
available. We have the potential to capture
solar energy from snowmelt to snow arrival
(in Saskatchewan, thats approximately 220
to 250 days). Most annual cropping systems
capture solar energy for 70 days of the year.
If we are not capturing energy, our soil
health is declining.
Principle #2: Water Cycle
To make crops grow we need moisture. We
cant control how much or when it rains but
we do have total control as to whether the
rainfall iseffective (goes into the soil) or not
effective (runs off). To make the water cycle
effective we need to keep our
land covered in litter (green
or dead plant material). This
absorbs the physical effect of
the raindrops and allows
them to enter the soil slowly.
You can think of the litter
layer like the skin on your
body. If you have a major
burn the consequences can
be catastrophic. Litter
provides a similar role for
the earth. It keeps it warmer
in cool times and cooler in
warm times.One of our goals should be to
capture every raindrop where it falls.
Principle #3: Mineral Cycle
To have a functioning mineral cycle we
need active biology. This occurs when
sunlight sends sugar down the roots to
become root exudates, which feed the
bacteria and fungi. In return for the
sugar, the fungi get minerals for the
available to the plant; however the
mycorrhizal fungi can remove minerals
from the soil particles and transport it
directly to the plant. This is a synergistic
relationship where the plant feeds the
how nutrient dense food is produced. To
have an effective functioning mineral
cycle in place, we need to feed the
workers below the ground (solar
capture)and keep them warm and moist
(litter layer and effective water cycle).
The bacteria provide many diverse roles
turn releases nitrogen for the plants. It is
wonderfullycomplex. All we need to do
as managers is to foster and enhance
plant cover and it will continue to get
better. All of the living and dying of these
billions of organisms is what ultimately
sequesters carbon.
Principle #4 Community Dynamics
Diversity is wonderful: the more the
better. It is not limited to what you plant;
diversity is also found in birds, insects,
people, animals, and wild plants. There
are synergies between species we do not
fully understand. The challenge becomes
how do we grow diverse crops that we
can harvest mechanically. Poly cropping
and inter cropping are becoming new
words to farmers as they learn how to put
different types of crops together in their
rotations to harvest the power of this
diversity.
www.organicalberta.org
Volume 09 Issue 02
How these four principles come together
on your farm is up to your particular
situation and your creativity. As the
principles are enhanced good things
begin to happen. For example, carbon
sequestration begins in the soil. 1 gram
of carbon holds 8 grams of water.
Increase carbon storage, and your farm
becomes better able to withstand
drought or extreme wet conditions. As
carbon increases along with solar
capture more life can live below ground.
This life below ground increases the
nutrient density of the food which is
critical for our health. Our requirement
for purchased inputs declines and yields
go up which certainly helps profitability.
Society as a whole will benefit by more
nutrient dense food, less infrastructure
damage in severe weather events, and
carbon being removed from the
atmosphere. On my operation in South
Eastern Saskatchewan, I have been
monitoring soil carbon levels since 2011.
I am averaging 22.88 tonnes of CO2
sequestered per hectare per year on a
grazing operation. Each Canadian has a
carbon footprint of 18.9
tonnes/person/year. Every hectare I
operate more than sequesters one
Canadians carbon footprint.
Regenerative farms provide tremendous
value in ecological goods and services to
all of society that we are not recognized
for. On my 1,000 acre operation at a
value of $20/ton for CO2, my
sequestration value is worth $175,000
per year to society. More water holding
and more nutrient dense food and better
diversity with endangered grassland
birds returningwhat value is
encompassed there that cannot be
quantified?
Holistic Management helps you to make
better decisions to achieve the goals that
you have for yourself and your family.
Along the way your operation should
become more profitable and your
ecosystem more resilient.
Blain Hjertaas is a Certified Holistic Educator
with Holistic Management International. He has
15 years of practical experience using Holistic
Management techniques running a 1000 acre
grass operation in Saskatchewan, where they
also raise lamb, custom graze cows, and
poultry. Blain offers consultations and
education on Holistic Management, how the
environment functions and how our actions will
ultimately influence the ecosystem.
6
Summer 2017
Young Organic Farm Families
Growing Our Numbers
By Debbie Miller,Editor: Organic Alberta
The numbers are in and they confirm
what we at Organic Alberta have been
suspecting all along. There has been a
massive increase in the number of
certified organic operations over the last
few years. In fact, it is a 48% increase!
After years of holding our own,
fluctuating between 342 and 366 from
2009 to 2014, we are checking in at 540
Organic Alberta operations for 2016!
Much of this growth is happening in the
Mackenzie County region where we are
seeing a lot of new and young farmers
turning to organics. While most of the
increase is made up of producers, we
were also very pleased to see that the
number of organic processors in the
province has increased by 10 since 2014
up to 92.
To go with this increase in numbers, we
are also seeing a shift in demographics at
our recent events. Gone are the days
when our conferences were filled with
grey hairs; they are being replaced by
young, enthusiastic producers, many with
young children in tow.
The 2017 joint Organic Alberta/Holistic
Management conference in Lacombe last
Volume 09 Issue 02
February attracted 445 participants, up
100% from the 222 who attended in 2016.
The over 55 crowd was outnumbered with
63% of attendees under the age of 54. And
what were these participants most
interested in learning about? Top marks
went to Regenerative Agriculture, Fatty
Acid Profiles, Growing Resilient Farms,
Carbon Sequestration and Carbon
Farming, and of course, Weed
Management and Marketing. The trade
show and networking opportunities were
also very much appreciated and enjoyed.
The young trend continued with our
conference in La Crete. Of the 139 who
attended the weekend meetings, just 17%
had been farming organically more than
10 years. 43% had been organic for less
than 10 years, 29% were in transition and
17% were interested conventional
farmers.
This all bodes well for the future of
agriculture in Alberta, and especially
organic agriculture. A strong organic
community makes it easier for us to
continue to promote Prairie organic
products, maintaining and growing the
reputation and market share we currently
have. Congratulations and welcome to all
our new organic colleagues!
www.organicalberta.org 7
Summer 2017 Volume 09 Issue 02

Business Model Canvas:

Organic Fruit & Vegetable Grower

www.organicalberta.org 8
Summer 2017
Business Model Canvas:
Organic Fruit & Vegetable Grower
ByCari Hartt: Communications
Coordinator, Organic Alberta
The business model canvas, displayed on
page 8, is a one-page plan that helps you
easily visualize your overall operation. Its
a simple starting point that helps you
structure your thoughts and bring
together aspects of your business to feed
into your value proposition. It helps you
fail fast and recover even faster by
allowing you to easily pivot and readjust
pieces of your business model. We have
created a sample canvas for an organic
fruit and vegetable farm to illustrate
howthis method can benefit you in the
planning stages of your business.
The canvas is broken into nine basic
building blocks, which you fill out to
describe your overall plan. To begin,
customer segments are the people or
organizations for which your business
creates value, like young families and
single professionals. Your value
propositions are the bundle of products
and services that create value for each
customer segment. For example, young
families are generally busy and looking
to save time, and this business model
provides the value of time by selling
canned and preserved fruits and
vegetables. Channels describe the
touchpoints through which you interact
with your customers, like newsletters or
advertisements. Revenue streams make
clear how and through which pricing
mechanisms your business model is
capturing value, like a cookbook full of
recipes utilizing organic fruits and
vegetables. The left side of the canvas
describes theinfrastructure you need to
create, deliver, and capture value. Key
resources are the assets which are
indispensable to your business model,
and are required for your success, like a
www.organicalberta.org
Volume 09 Issue 02
farm and skilled labour. Key activities
are things you need in order to perform
well, like a contingency plan in the case
of crop failure. Since you wont own all
key resources yourself, nor will you
perform all key activities, they key
partners are those who can help you
leverage your business model, such as
farmers' market associations that work
to support local farmers. Finally, once
you understand your business models
infrastructure, you will have a better
understanding of its cost structure and
what costs will be incurred to operate,
such as equipment purchasing and
maintenance, and certification fees.
The canvas allows you to invent,
describe, discuss, design, and challenge
your business model, all in one image.
To learn more about the business model
canvas, visit www.strategyzer.com
9
 Summer 2017
5 Tips to Developing a Grazing System in Sync with Nature
By Bryan Weech
This is a revised version of an article that appeared
in the Foothills Forage and Grazing Association
Newsletter
By 2050, the planets population is
estimated to grow from the current 7
billion to more than 9 billion, while the
amount of agricultural land is expected
to shrink. Simply put, this means well
need to produce more food with less
resources in order to feed the world. For
the beef industry to continue to be part
of the solution, it must develop
production systems that are more in line
to nature.
Beef can play an important role in
providing the world a nutrient-dense
food that is also sustainable. However, to
accomplish this, a beef production
system must take advantage of key
components that can make it more
sustainable, which can be defined as the
ability to produce beef in sync with
nature.
Ranching in harmony with nature is one
of the key strategies for decreasing the
impacts while increasing the profitability
and sustainability of beef production.
Grazing management is key, and is the
single greatest sustainability advantage
beef production has to offer, which is the
ability of cattle to self-harvest a self
renewing feed source, grass.
The ability of the beef production system
to turn grass, a resource unpalatable to
humans, into a nutrient-dense food is a
unique competitive advantage that is yet
to be fully appreciated. For example, it
isnt a topic within the sustainability
discussion occurring among stakeholders
looking for solutions to feeding a
growing population while also tackling
climate change. Beef can do both because
of two unique natural processes at the
heart of beef production and grazing.
The first of these is photosynthesis, an
amazing process within a plant (such as
grass) that turns water and carbon
dioxide (CO2) that the plant takes in from
the air, into oxygen (O2), which the plant
releases back into the air
andcarbohydrate(sugar) which the
plant uses to supply its energy needs.
Second, and just as amazing, are the
intertwined relationships between soil
nutrients, soil microbes and plant roots.
Soil isnt just a medium to support plants.
Healthy soil is made up of highly complex
symbiotic relationships between plants,
microbes and sources of nutrients.
Whats more, a healthy soil ecosystem is
one of earths primary carbon sinks.
These are truly miraculous processes that
make grazing possible, and give beef
production a unique sustainability and
competitive advantage.
Here are five tips to develop a sustainable
grazing and forage system that is in sync
with nature:
1. Calvewhen the grass is green
Calving in harmony with green grass
minimizes hay feeding, and can increase
weaning rate and general herd health. In
practical terms, this generally means
calving around the same time as the local
populations of wild ruminants such as
deer, elk or antelope.
2. Extend the grazing season to
decrease or eliminate feeding of
purchased and harvested feeds
This takes advantage of cattles ability to
self-harvest grass, a renewable
feedstuff. This can be done by filling
forage gaps with grazable forages and by
applying changes in grazing
management, resulting in a tremendous
positive effect on the bottom line.
3. Develop a cowherd that is capable of
high reproduction efficiency on a
forage-based system
Todays cattle genetics are not all the
same, and the genetics currently found in
many cowherds are not capable of
producing a marketable calf year after
year within a high forage based system.
Changing cowherd genetics to match a
management strategy that is in sync with
nature is a critical consideration.
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Volume 09 Issue 02
4. Use holistic grazing tools to
improve efficiency
Improving grazing management by
applying the principles of adaptive
holistic grazing leads to greater ranch
sustainability and economic viability.
Most leading ranches usearotational
grazingsystem where grass is grazed
only when its ready. Utilizing a
rotational grazing program that mimics
the movements of the historic herds of
herbivories is key to ranching in
harmony with nature.
5. Stop using your grandfather's
forages; we have better genetics
available
Modern forage genetics provide
varieties of grass that are much better
able to endure management intensive
grazing, with better yields, higher
nutritional levels, and improved
persistence. Stop using your
grandfathers forages many of the
grass varieties used in forage system
today are 50- to 70-year-old genetics,
even though much better varieties are
available.
Grazing systems in sync with nature
rely on providing cattle within a high
forage system, which should include
high quality forages to maintain
efficient production. Ranching in
harmony with nature requires a
heightened reliance on well managed
grazing to fill the nutritional needs of
the cowherd. The basis for the
sustainability of the entire beef
production system, is the capacity to
harvest grass, a renewable source of
feed, and turn it into a nutrient dense
food. A ranch can contribute to the beef
industrys sustainability by improving it
grazing management to be more in sync
with nature.
Weech is a consultant and adviser on
sustainable agricultural projects. Contact
him: bryanweech@gmail.com. Source:
http://www.beefmagazine.com/pasture/5-tips-
develop-grazing-system-sync-nature
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