Upcoming Winter Grazing Tour To Feature "Whole Buncher"

Source: Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food

The grazing tours that are coming up on December 14 and 15, 2005, in Alameda and Grenfell, respectively, are likely to be well-attended once again, according to Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food Livestock Development Specialist Lorne Klein.

"These tours are a chance for cattle producers to take a first-hand look at winter grazing as an option," he says. "At the Alameda location, for instance, we will look at bale grazing and bale processing on pasture, while at the Grenfell site, corn grazing and chaff grazing will be observed."

Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food stages the tours in partnership with the Western Beef Development Centre, the Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Program for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the Saskatchewan Soil Conservation Association, Brett-Young Seeds and AJ Manufacturing.

"AJ Manufacturing will be showing its Whole Buncher as part of the activities. This is a clever variation of a giant pitchfork attached to the back of a combine that collects both chaff and straw and dumps it throughout the field. The piles are then used for feed. It is a relatively new concept and provides a crop residue option that wasn't there before," explains Klein, "and it supports winter grazing as a practice."

Whether it is swath-grazing annuals or feeding cows on pasture in general that is being considered by producers, these tours aim to provide ideas for alternative winter feeding systems on annual cropland.

On both days, the program begins at 11:00 a.m. with presentations on 16 options for winter grazing using crop residues, annuals, seeded perennials and native rangeland.

The field tour will depart at noon, after the presentations. Participants are asked to bring their own lunches as a noon meal will not be provided. Coffee will be available before and during the presentations, and Klein asks people to be prepared to use their own vehicles for the tour.

For more information, contact:

Lorne Klein
Livestock Development Specialist
Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food
Phone: (306) 848-2382