Craig Kaartinen removes electric wire and portable posts after letting the herd into the fresh paddock so that he can create another paddock. | Charlene Kaartinen photo
Craig Kaartinen, who farms near Eriksdale, Man., recently moved his cattle to their next paddock.
The cattle are grazing on a lush mixture of young quackgrass and native pasture grasses.
The region has received 350 millimetres of rain in the past month, so pasture is plentiful.
It’s a welcome change from the drought that had baked the farm for the previous three summers. | Charlene Kaartinen photos
The cattle are happy to have been let into the fresh paddock. Note the difference in grass height between the two paddocks. Kaartinen checks each animal as they enter the paddock, looking for foot rot or possible health concerns, while also making sure to do a head count on the bulls. | Charlene Kaartinen photoCraig Kaartinen uses a remote fault finder to turn the electricity back on and check to ensure there is correct voltage on the wire and no faults. Mosquitoes have been terrible this year, which explains how he is dressed. | Charlene Kaartinen photoCraig Kaartinen has customized his all-terrain vehicle with two short poles jutting out from the front, which act as wire deflectors, allowing him to drive over the electric wires in the field without having to take them down to cross. | Charlene Kaartinen photoCows patiently wait for Kaartinen to move the de-energized electric wire/pig tail posts, which creates an opening for them to get into the fresh paddock. They respect the wire and won’t cross until it is fully pulled back. | Charlene Kaartinen photo
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