VILNA, Alta. – Perry and Sue Phillips’ farm could be a model for a grazing conference.
They’ve blocked off access to Bonnie Lake to prevent cattle from eroding the banks, fenced off low lying marshy areas to allow grazing only after freezeup, stockpiled grass for late fall and spring grazing and piped water throughout the pasture to increase the productivity of their land.
After four years of organizing a grazing conference and working as a regional co-ordinator for the provincial environmental farm plan program, Perry has implemented what he learned from the experts.
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When the couple moved from a family ranch in northern Alberta to grain land in the north that had no fences or grassland, they had a clean slate to design their cattle operation.
They had to implement their grazing plan in stages because of finances and two years of drought.
“Most changes are in response to a need or a lack of something,” said Sue, who explained how they started with little more than family donations and a beginning farm loan.
This spring they seeded one rented quarter and three of their own to permanent pasture. Most of the land was seeded to meadow brome and later interseeded with a variety of legumes after the weeds were under control.
From the myriad of grazing conferences Perry attended, he learned the value of good records. Using a computer spread sheet, he has three years of data on the number of animal unit days each field can sustain.
“We have a pretty good system of keeping track of the amount of product from each field,” said Perry.
He got help to design his tracking system from the
Alberta environmentally sustainable agriculture program.
“It’s key to being able to know how long is the grazing season.”
There is even data on the 25 acres of fenced low land that is only grazed in the late fall. The detailed records help Perry know when to pull cattle off a pasture and allow the grass to regrow in time to use it again in late fall.
“We know when to stop grazing for optimum stockpiling,” said Perry.
He intends to keep their 80 head of cows grazing pasture until well into December and save money on winter feed.
With a few more changes, Perry hopes to extend the grazing season even more. Looking back, he shakes his head at previous bad habits when producers started feeding hay in September.
Spreading the knowledge of how to reduce feed costs and protect the environment is one of the reasons Perry organized the first grassroots cattle conference in Vilna four years ago. As a director on the local agricultural society, he felt it was important to bring in agricultural speakers. After two years, the conference was moved to nearby St. Paul, which has more facilities to accommodate the increased attendance and speakers.
In 2004, the Phillips were given an environmental stewardship award because of the protection of the wetland areas on their farm and other improvements.
Since they began farming they’ve switched from February calving to summer calving, and sold most of their machinery. A baler in the yard is waiting to be sold and Perry is contemplating selling the bale processor. If that’s sold, the only equipment left will be a tractor.
“We’ve started to resist that temptation of having a full line of machinery,” he said.
Part of the logic behind shedding their haying equipment was a realization that with Perry working off the farm, they had little time to chase around the country looking for hay and straw to bale.
For the first time they’ve sold their calves to Highland Feeders natural beef program. Under that program the animal’s production records and guarantee of no antibiotics follows the calves.
Before children, Sue was more active in the farm. Between running the kids to activities, she dabbles in painting, sewing and jewelry as well as working as a part-time pharmacy technician and operating a small sign business.
“The dynamics of farm and business changed when we had kids,” said Sue. “I do what I can.”
Perry and Sue have taken advantage of the Canadian Agricultural Skills Service program, which helps farmers go back to school to diversify their skills so they can stay on the farm. Perry is taking an adult education certificate at the University of Alberta and Sue is taking an arts and culture management program at Grant MacEwan Community College in Edmonton.
“We’re setting ourselves up with alternative things to do with our careers,” said Perry, who believes it’s more important to protect the environment for the future than who gets the land.
