MEACHAM, Sask.-Forage clubs are filling a void left by the elimination of regional agrologists in Saskatchewan.
Tim Korol, who helped found the Meacham Hills Forage Club in the 1990s, said the group provides a valuable exchange of information for its 20 core members.
The information is specific to the region, with the club conducting field scale trials as opposed to plot sized ones. Its goals include increasing local forage production, making better use of what is grown in the area and educating farmers.
The district agricultural representative helped form and support the club in its early days, said Korol, who conceded maintaining the club has been more challenging without that support.
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The club once had as many as 45 members. Since its inception, the region has seen an increase in forage production and a keener awareness of the agrology surrounding forages, said Korol, who noted the area was among the first in Saskatchewan to try swath grazing.
“Before, people put forages on poor land and did not look at it as a money making crop,” he said.
The club regularly conducts field tours and explores topics such as watersheds, holistic management, environmental farm plans, foot-and-mouth disease, farm debt and soil conservation.
Share knowledge
Members meet regularly to share stories of their challenges on the farm. They have experimented with growing corn and have conducted field trials on fertilizers, allowing one or two producers to try them out.
“The more we found out, the more we wanted to know,” Korol said.
The demand for more information now includes a call for more sophisticated measurements, something that requires more than volunteer help.
Korol said the club has attempted to secure government funding, but he felt the government doesn’t recognize the benefits of independent agrology services for farmers that agricultural representatives once provided.
Club president Ron Nowoselski said the members are now offered the name of a contact person who they can turn to for information and support.
About 50 producers recently toured and assessed two of Nowoselski’s tame pastures near Meacham during the Saskatchewan Pasture School in June.
He said the club has helped him gain new information and share his ideas with others.
Nowoselski avoids moving cattle in the morning because the grass is dewy and could cause bloating. He keeps a good mix of grasses in his pastures to improve digestibility.
He has 20 paddocks on 640 acres for his 150 head cow-calf operation and relies on electric fencing to contain the animals. He switched to forage from grain over the past decade and moves cattle from paddock to paddock every five days.
“I want the cows taking one bite off, not two or three,” said Nowoselski, who estimated each cow gets about six acres of grazing space over the season.
