Farmers can cut hay and allow cattle to graze into November
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Cattle producers in Manitoba will have access to more grazing land as dry conditions impact hay supplies.
On Friday, Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler announced farmers will be allowed to cut hay and let animals graze on Crown land not usually designated for livestock.
“By providing producers with additional options, such as access to Crown land, we are easing the burden on farmers who are seeing low yields on forage crops,” he said in a statement Friday.
Producers must apply for permits through the Agricultural Crown Lands Leasing Program. Approved applications will allow livestock to graze until “naturally existing forage is exhausted,” or by Oct. 31.
Farmers must remove baled hay from the Crown lands by Nov. 15.
Producers are pleased with the government’s decision.
“This decision is critical for us and there’s no such thing as too soon when it comes to allowing this temporary grazing,” Jim Lintott, a producer from Dugald, Man., told Farms.com today.
“For those who can access it, it’s going to make a huge difference.”
Lintott “noticed a difference” in his pastures last July that carried through the winter.
Typically, his cattle wouldn’t eat any stored feed until about Dec. 5. But changing pasture conditions meant he had to include the feed earlier.
“We fed them (stored feed) for about nine months when we would usually only do that for six months,” he said. “Six full months is about 180 days and we fed the cows for 270 days. We’ve been on feed now for almost all of August and have had only 40 days of full grazing this year.”
If conditions don’t improve or feed remains unavailable, producers may have to sell their livestock at lower prices.
This will pressure feedlots to come up with enough feed themselves to satisfy their herds, Lintott said.
“Feedlots only have so much capacity,” he said. “Everybody is limited with what they can do. Finding grain won’t be an issue but it’s having to find enough fibre to go with it to make a proper ration.”