Doug Wray doesn’t think forages get the credit they deserve.
Wray, chair of the newly created Alberta Forage Industry Network, estimates 89 percent of the feed used to raise calves from birth to slaughter on his Irricana, Alta., ranch come from forages.
“It (the forage industry) needs someone to speak up and raise its profile and point out the true value of it in the environment and economy,” he said.
“Forages are underappreciated.”
The new group’s goal is to raise the awareness of forages within the province, especially as an important source of food for livestock and for its vital role in building a healthy environment.
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“We’re not out there asking for favours but promoting its real value,” Wray said.
Forages are the primary feed in the cattle industry, yet most of the research for livestock feed is in barley research.
“The reality is most forages disappear down the throat of bovines with no cash transactions,” Wray said.
With little money for a budget, the group hopes to distribute most of its information on its website at www.albertaforages.ca.
It will also host discussion boards that give members an opportunity to discuss and collaborate on emerging issues and provide links to forage research and extension.
Using Statistics Canada figures, the group estimates it will represent 30,000 individuals involved in Alberta forage production from pasture, hay and turf grass.
The network hopes to raise money by selling memberships to producers and industries interested in forages. Eventually it would like to create a study that puts a true value on the forage industry.
“People just don’t realize how big it is and how important it is,” Wray said.
Grant Lastiwka, forage program manager with the Agricultural Research and Extension Council of Alberta, said the forage network is long overdue. Forage research and information used to be scattered among researchers, commodity groups and local producer groups.
