Illustration by Chris Jordison
John Aitken will tell you right away. "Sprague's Pipit are rather shy creatures. I have heard them. They are most often found in this pasture we have right on the edge of Thunder Creek. But you pretty much have to flush them out to see them. They tend to call when that happens."
In fact, if they get flushed out, territorial males have a flight display that may last up to 3 hours, the longest known flight display of all avian species. Sprague's Pipit are endemic to the North American grasslands and since John James Audubon named the species in 1843, it has undergone severe population decline associated with the loss of prairies from cultivation, overgrazing, and invasion by exotic plant species. Aitken is now quietly doing his share of work to ensure that the Sprague's Pipit has a fitting home on his range.
John Aitken raises cattle in the Eyebrow area. He is one of these folks who have known for years about the value of native prairie -- willing to seize any opportunity coming his way that would enable him to help. He is a previous Native Prairie Steward who has had some good experiences with burrowing owl habitat preservation.
"Burrowing owls are a lot easier to see. I just wish I had more native prairie on my land -- I'm just making the most out of what I have."
Last year, he worked with Jody Oliver, a Range Agrologist with the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority, to set up a demonstration project that qualified under the Sprague's Pipit Habitat Enhancement Fund.
Aitken's domain is a 2000-acre assortment of hayland and pasture where he grazes cattle. Like most graziers, he's always looking to use his resources as efficiently as possible.
"Logic dictates that the best way of doing that is to graze your tame forages, cool season grasses in the early spring and summer and delay grazing on the warm season grasses or native pastures until mid to late summer and even into the fall. This allows your warm season grasses to grow and the birds to get through their reproductive cycle before you disturb these pastures."
The main challenge for John Aitken was his reliance on surface water to ensure his cattle had enough to drink, especially by the end of the summer and when water can get a little scarce.
"We implemented a water development/pipeline project on one square section of native prairie -- 640 acres. We fenced out a couple of parcels of tame grass, and we ran a plastic pipe right from the well in our yard to a distance three miles long."
He basically ploughed his way 16 inches deep and buried a one-and-a-half-inch polyethylene pipe into the ground.
For the first mile, the line runs through tame forage. Aitken put in one tap there, but he could add more if he needed them.
During the course of the second mile, the line crosses the road and accesses another tame forage pasture. Again, he put in a tap there.
The third mile of pipeline runs through native prairie with a couple of tame forage areas that are now fenced out and separated from the native grasses.
"The way we set it up allows us to limit grazing to the tame grasses early in the grazing season. The pipeline allows the animals to drink without having to tramp across the native prairie to access water. We have these big troughs that we move from tap to tap and pasture to pasture. The troughs make easy for the cattle to choose which water source to use. This allows the native grasses complete rest in the early stages of growth and zero disturbance before allowing access in late summer."
The system Aitken has implemented is a model of efficiency.
He now has a functional rotational grazing system that gives native grasses the break they need to take full advantage of their growth cycle.
Secondly, his cattle get to drink good clean water that is piped through. The better the water, the better his cattle will do. Aitken expects increased performance in his animals as they grow better, bigger and with fewer health problems. Foot rot is always a concern where animals stand in surface water for any length of time. Now this won't be as much of a problem. Plus he now has an insurance policy against his surface water drying up.
Thirdly, his new fence will lead to more efficient production practices for his entire operation in the short term. By better utilizing any available forage and even out any previously over and under utilized areas of pasture and improve his overall pasture management program.
Like anything else, there are always a few glitches along the way. With pipelines, one must remember to blow the lines out before winter. Last fall, Aitken discovered the joy of blowing his lines out in the middle of a snowstorm.
"You want to keep your system operational as late as possible, but you want to avoid line breaks due to frost because finding the leak can ruin your day. When it comes to blowing a pipeline, timing is everything."
As he slaved away putting his new grazing system in place, John Aitken has heard a few doubtful voices from the sceptics gallery. But that didn't deter him from staying on track with his program.
"Of course, you're going to hear a variety of comments from people who swear that the best policy of all is to see your dugouts full of water. There are certainly reassurances there, but times are changing."
What is really changing is the way producers look at the way land and resources are used.
"We realize now the complexity of the activities that go on in our pastures. We graze our animals there, but there are other creatures that need the same space for their life cycle as well. We need to share this space with them and if we have a system in place that helps us do that, the carrying-capacity of our pastures is just going to get better for all those who share them."
Words of wisdom from a cattle producer who looks at the big picture.
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