January 24, 2007:
Managing the number of animals or the number of days animals are on pasture based on pasture production is a Beneficial Management Practice (BMP) under the EFP program. For Edgerton, Alberta cow/calf producer Greg Pugh, the decision to better manage stocking rates was the result of the drought of 2002.
"Essentially, we decided that we needed to manage the grass in our pastures better, and one of the first things we did was reduce our stocking rates. Today, we run an average of 10-20 acres per cow on native grass and about 10 acres per cow on tame grass depending on the age of the stand. When we do run larger numbers of cows, we'll run a group on a given quarter for a few days and rotate them to another quarter."
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Article development courtesy of The Alberta Environmental Farm Plan Company