EDMONTON – When Elden McLachlan looked into his crystal ball he saw money floating out of his pocket to pay for grazing cattle on provincial pastures.
This year the Fairview, Alta., farmer and 51 other members of the Whitemud Grazing Reserve took over the administration of the pasture to help ease the transition when the government cuts off its pasture enhancement grant in two years.
It’s the first year in the history of provincial pastures, which began in the early 1930s, that one of the 32 grazing reserves in Alberta has not been run by government administrators. The province will keep a hand in the operation to protect the public resource.
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“Looking into the future, the enhancement funds were going to run out and the up-front costs would be tremendous,” said McLachlan, president of the grazing reserve.
“We wanted to build a reserve.”
By taking over the daily management of the 11,000 acre pasture they want to have $60,000 in reserve when the government fund is eliminated.
Surplus started
They charged patrons the same $10.85 fee for each Animal Unit Month that the government had established. By lowering costs of operating the pasture, they built up a surplus while not raising the fees. This year they netted a $25,000 surplus.
In two years, patrons will be charged an additional $3 per Animal Unit Month fee for the maintenance of the pasture. With money in reserve, the pasture patrons won’t have to fork out additional fees at the beginning of the season, said McLachlan.
With upcoming changes, McLachlan and other members lobbied the government to be allowed to look after the daily operations of their own grazing reserve.
It took all of last winter to draw up a budget and decide how they would manage the reserve. On April 1, they took over its operation.
“There is a tremendous cost savings to the patrons and the province,” McLachlan said.
The daily management of the cattle has been contracted out.
“It’s a good teamwork deal now,” he said.
