RED DEER – Flexibility is the key to grazing in a drought, says the manager of a custom grazing operation.
It’s not uncommon for the Cherhill Ranch, east of Edmonton, to completely change herds three or four times a year to match their land’s stocking rate and forage supply, said Nolan Regier.
Instead of stocking cattle throughout the year, the ranch has the flexibility to limit the number and kinds of cattle it places on the grass.
The 6,000-acre ranch can graze a variety of cattle throughout the year, bringing early calving cows on grass early in the season before switching to late calving cows. Steers can come early and leave in August to catch the higher priced calf market before the fall run.
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“We have the ability to stock and restock with very little negative consequences,” Regier told the Western Canadian Grazing Conference.
With three main herds ranging from 500 to 1,200 head, the animals are not scattered throughout the ranch in small bunches. Once dry weather hit this summer, the cattle were grouped in a single herd to help manage the grass better, he said.
The other key to custom graze livestock is to own little. The ranch owns just over 50 percent of its land and little of the machinery. What it does have is old and has no depreciation loss. Little money is spent on fuel for machinery or chemicals. Regier is the only full-time employee with other help hired as needed.
“We try to keep as little as we can invested in overhead. If you own your own machinery, you need somebody to run it,” said Regier, who added money is made in custom grazing by not spending it.
If Cherhill ranch has invested $500 and a neighbour has invested $1,000 because of more equipment, the Cherhill Ranch is automatically ahead because of lower expenses, he said.
Regier said it’s also important to have a business plan with goals and direction, and to stick to it.
“Without a plan it’s very easy to do activities. Without a plan it’s very difficult to make the business plan work.”
