Absenteeism also a problem | Producers urged to monitor livestock
A growing number of livestock neglect cases in Saskatchewan are linked to farmer absenteeism and the adoption of low-cost feeding practices, says the Saskatchewan SPCA.
SPCA manager Kaley Pugh said swath grazing and bale grazing can be effective ways to reduce the costs associated with livestock production.
But producers who use those techniques still need to monitor their animals and properly manage their systems.
“We do see some concerns with people that are trying to use some of those lower cost feeding systems — swath grazing, bale grazing and things like that — who are not supplying the management that needs to go along with those systems,” Pugh said.
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“Those systems are great if they’re well managed ,but that doesn’t mean just kicking the animals out and coming back in the spring and hoping that everything is fine. If people are using the systems but they’re doing it poorly, then that’s a problem with the producers, not a problem with the system itself.”
Pugh said the Saskatchewan SPCA has seen an alarming increase in the number and severity of livestock neglect cases reported this winter.
Some cases involve absentee livestock owners who leave their farms for much of the winter.
In other cases, absenteeism is not a factor.
Some livestock producers who are trying to reduce feeding costs turn their animals out and hope they will be able to get sufficient feed from bales or swaths that are buried under several feet of snow.
In rare cases, cattle are put on pasture year round and left to fend for themselves.
“A number of the cattle cases that we’ve seen this year are ones where people have just tried to leave their cattle on pasture or on swath grazing and it just hasn’t worked out — the animals weren’t getting the nutrition they needed,” Pugh said.
“Swath grazing when there’s that much snow and it’s crusted over … it just doesn’t work.”
Pugh said the number of cases involving undernourished and neglected livestock has not slowed in the past month.
Higher than normal snow pack in many areas is a contributing factor.
“Unfortunately, the number of (livestock cases) really hasn’t slowed down,” she said.
“With the delayed thaw and lots of snow, we’ve still been seeing a lot of livestock cases, so that’s certainly a disturbing trend for us.”
