Spring is the busiest time of year in a beef producer’s world.  Pandemic or not, cows must give birth, cow/calf health must be monitored and supported where necessary.  Constant access to fresh water and fresh forage is essential.  Then comes branding, vaccinating and RFID tagging (to comply with Alberta beef traceability and age verification).  Through this the herds are moved by horseback to fresh pasture to ensure grassland health.  If cattle remain on a pasture too long, not only does their nutrition suffer, so too does the health of the soil, the plants and the species that reside in this ecosystem.

In this climate of ours (due to the hard frost and snowy winters) late spring and summer is also the time for ranch improvements, such as water developments, fence line construction/repairs and any projects that safeguard the sensitive riparian (natural water body) areas. 

This year we have been busy cross fencing pastures with electric fence to optimize hillside pasture grazing.  Cows don’t seek out hilltop hikes like many of us do!  But if we can encourage hilltop grazing by piping our natural spring water uphill, and constructing fences along the hillsides we can better utilize our grassland forage.  But even more importantly by allowing more even grazing rainfall moisture infiltration increases, and runoff will therefore decrease.  This occurs by both the cattle foraging, as well as their hoof action.  If old dead grasses are removed and eaten, the soil crust broken and manure is spread as natural fertilizer more moisture is absorbed, and new forage grass will flourish.  This not only benefits the rancher, but also the environment and species that reside here.  Sustainably grazing the native grasslands has been proven to improve soil health and in increase carbon sequestration. 

We are blessed this year with the natural springs running heavier than they have in many years.  We are finding some spring heads that have just popped up where we have never seen them before.  We are also finding natural springs and creeks running so hard they are washing out culvert crossings and/or the area surrounding the water troughs we have previously installed to prevent direct stream contact for the animals.  So maintaining/developing and/or repairing these water sources and crossings is also keeping us very busy!

Multisar, a project consortium made up of Alberta Conservation, Alberta Environments and Parks, Alberta Beef Producers, The Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, Ducks Unlimited have been out this spring and will continue to study our grasslands and species through the summer and into the fall. Multisar partners with landowners to conserve species at risk through habitat stewardship while maintaining viable ranching operations in Alberta’s native grasslands.  These weekly reports have been so interesting, and the biologists claim their species count list may never have been so long!  So far the sighting list includes but not limited to: Sharptailed grouse in their mating ground (a lek), Golden Eagles, American Kestrel, Baltimore Oriole, and Least,  Alder and very rare Cordilleran Flycatchers.  Audio recordings have picked up 4 different bat species and are now recording songbirds, amphibians and owls.  They (along with us ranchers) have also sighted few black bears, a mother moose and her newborn calf, and a couple Grizzlies, along with the usual whitetail and mule deer, and all the elk that call these Foothills home!  We look forward to reviewing the range health and plant species inventory the Agrologists will study and report later this summer, and understand what we can do to further protect this ecosystem we coexist in.

So much going on yet everyday we count our blessings for having the opportunity to live and partner with nature in this beautiful piece of undisturbed land.