Portable windbreaks offer a simple, efficient way to help cattle adjust to wintertime pasture feeding
Cattle producer Earl Scott of Crossfield, Alberta does not mince words about the value of portable windbreaks. "To me they're the easiest thing going for feeding cattle," he says. "I don't know why more people don't use them."
In simple terms, a portable windbreak is like a shelterbelt that can be moved around. And like shelterbelts, portable windbreaks minimize soil erosion and protect cattle from the weather, helping the animals make the adjustment to the rigors of winter pasture feeding. It's this that has made them key components in many grazing strategies.
They're also an example of a relatively simple, inexpensive environmental improvement supported by the Canada-Alberta Farm Stewardship Program (CAFSP). CAFSP offers up to $50,000 to farmers and ranchers who develop Environmental Farm Plans (EFPs) for a broad range of on-farm environmental improvements, including many relating to winter grazing.
Until last year, Scott wintered his cattle in the corrals around his farmstead site. After receiving CAFSP support for several wintering site management projects last winter, he started winter grazing cattle on 60 acres of rented land plus 100 acres of his own land east of his farmstead. He plans to swath graze cattle on his own land starting in the winter of 2007/08, with his four portable windbreaks helping the cattle adjust to the change.
At $880 apiece, Scott says his windbreaks are a little more expensive than many others but are also better built. "They have a 12 ft base and are about 10 ft tall, so I've never had to worry about them blowing over," he says. "Having a strong base is pretty important – I've seen windbreaks with less than a 12 ft base blow over."
They're also easy to move. "All I have to do is drive up in the tractor with the grapple fork and hook the pipe at the top of the windbreak, lift them up and move them around."
There are several ways to position windbreaks around the grazing area. Scott prefers placing them in a "u" shape positioned to protect against the prevailing wind. "When I first bought them I set them up in a straight line, but I changed to the 'u' shape and that's the one that seems to work best for me."
The first step towards receiving CAFSP funding is developing an EFP. Scott says he found that a simple process. "Although I wasn't too sure of the program at first, I found the EFP workshops were among the best courses I've ever taken," says Scott. "To me, most of it was just common sense."
For more information on EFP workshops across Alberta, visit the Alberta Environmental Farm Plan Company Web site at www.albertaEFP.com. More information on CAFSP is available by calling 1-800-667-8567.
This article is reprintable with credit to AEFP as follows "Reprinted courtesy of the Alberta Environmental Farm Plan Company; www.albertaEFP.com".
