Measuring the productivity and ecological benefits of grasslands is trickier than keeping track of canola yields, but Manitoba producers now have a tool for assessing range and pasture health.
The Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association’s Range and Pasture Health Assessment Workbook is based on a similar tool in Alberta. The environment and parks department in that province created a set of questions to gauge pasture performance and whether the pasture is performing key functions:
- maintenance of soil stability
- net primary production
- capture and release of water
- nutrient and energy cycling
- functional diversity of plant species
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The Manitoba assessment tool produces a health score and producers can use it to compare themselves to other farmers, or shoot for a higher number.
“The health score gives an idea of how much improvement in range and pasture health and function may be possible with modifications to land management practices,” said Kerry LaForge, a range and forage biologist with Agriculture Canada in Swift Current, Sask.
Saskatchewan Environment has a similar workbook: the Saskatchewan Grassland Range Health Assessment.
The Manitoba worksheet asks questions about the plant community on the pasture, the amount of soil erosion and the presence of invasive species.
For information, visitt www.mfga.net/range-pasture-workbook.
