Grazing School Overview

A huge part of attending Grazing School is the networking opportunity it presents for both producers and trades-people. Many of the attendees are innovative ranchers who are more than willing to share their new farm practices with fellow ranchers. As well, the trade representatives are on hand to provide information about their new products and to address any concerns producers have.

Grazing school is held in late November or early December each year and as per the theme of the conference – features a high-profile key-note speaker with break-out sessions over the two-day period. This is always a first-rate conference loaded with interesting, informative topics delivered by excellent speakers from within Canada and the United States.

Another exciting event held at the conference is our Annual Fundraising Auction which helps to support the numerous MFC activities. Donations for term leased equipment, product vouchers and farm products are sure to please everyone

2011 Grazing School Proceedings

2011 Grazing School Proceedings Manual

2010 Grazing School Proceedings

2010 Grazing School Proceedings Manual

2009 Grazing School Proceedings

2009 Grazing School Proceedings (8 MB file)

2008 Grazing School Proceedings

Download the Speaker files below.

2007 Grazing School Proceedings

1. Overview  & Sponsors.

2. Speaker Profiles.

3. Joel Salatin, Building a Local Feed System that works, Steve Kenyon, No risk Ranching, Grazing Management on the other side of the Fence.

4. Joel Salatin, Farming Beyond the Farm, Dwayne Summach, Understanding Weed Growth and Physiology.

5. Clayton Robbins, The Johnston Farm.

6. Marie Tenuta, What really happens under the green grass? 7MB file

7. Neil Boyd, Alternative Ways of Feeding, Arnold Mattson, Survival of the Fittest

8. Mohammed Khakbazan, Cropping Systems with Increased Energy & Water use.

9. Kim Ominski, Hog Manure & Grassland Pasture, The good, the bad and the unknown.

10. Producer Panel; McElroy, McKinnett, Cavers, Greaves, Les Kletke, Adding Value to your Commercial Operation.

11. Temple Grandin, If you eat, you are a change agent.

2006 Grazing School Proceedings

1. Producer Panel
2. Overview of Speakers
3. Producing Forage Fed Beef, Anibal Pordomingo, Marketing Opportunities for Forage Fed Beef, Brian Kelly, Getting the Most of Your Native Pasture, Kevin Sedivec.
4. Seeding Cropland into Forages, Bruce Chern, Keys to Forage Productivity, Gary Lacefield, Grazing Alfalfa, Gary Lacefield, Managing the Water’s Edge, Marilena Kowalchuk and Wes Pancratz.
5. Managing the Water’s Edge continued, Integration of Livestock into a zero-till cropping program,Gabe Brown, Native Pasture Improvement Project (Brush Control Methods in Manitoba), Bill Gardiner and Sarah Keen-Chanel, Manitoba Rural Adapatation Council Overview, Terry Hayward.

2005 Grazing School Proceedings

1. Overview, Intensive Grass Management, Kit Pharo
2. Intensive Grazing, Grant Lastiwa, Water Resources and Pasture Performance, Doug Viera
3. Direct Marketing, Randy Tkachuk, Value Chains, Randy Baldwin, Weaning Strategies, Joe Stooky
4. Planning for the Future, Elaine Froese, Right Genetics, Gerald Fry, Native Species Establishment, Alan Iwaasa
5. CLA’s in Beef, Shannon Scott, Winter Site Management, Dale Timmerman, Forage Species Selection, Jane Thornton
6. Doing the Right Thing, Producer Panel, Burning for Management, Ron Moss, BSE Survival, Glen Crawley, Holistic Management, Don Campbell

2004 Grazing School Proceedings

1. Overview, Exploring International Markets, Ben Thorlakson, Grassland Farming, Duane McCartney
2. Extended Grazing, Don Green, Grazing Arithmetic, Sandy Russell, Freedom 75 for Cattle, Melinda German, Capturing More Raindrops, Gene Goven
3. Growing Grass, Ben Bartlett, Making Money with Grass Calves, Larry Fischer, Renovating Pastures, Glenn Friesen, Successful Grazing Systems, Hugh Blair
4. Bloat Control, Tim McCallister
5. State of the Industry, Dennis Laycraft, Root of the Matter, Martin Entz, Reduce Gas Inputs, Karin Wittenberg, Making a Living, Neil Dennis, Novel Ideas, Ben Bartlett

2002 Grazing School Proceedings

1. Overview, More than a Matter of Taste, Grass-Legume Pastures, Paul Peterson
2. Pasture Productivity, Vern Baron, Sheep Requirements, Janet McNally, Integrating Ecology and Production, Barry Irving, Pasture Renovation, Paul Peterson, Leafy Spurge Scourge, Timothy Faller, Financial Strategies, Harlan Hughes
3. Beef Value Chains, Jerry Bouma, Opportunities in Organic Market, David Shettler/Helene Bouvier, Using Futures and Options, Gerald Klassen, Strategic Alliances in Beef, Bernie Kotelko, Replacement Dairy Heifers on a Beef Farm, Tom Droppo/Jack Reeb, New Era, Owen McCauley

2001 Grazing School Proceedings

1. Overview, Secrets for Increasing Profit, Cows and Fish, Lorne Fitch, Grazing on the Range, Chris Nykoluk, Show me the Money, Dave Pratt, Controlled Grazing, Jim Bauer
2. Marketing and Producing Grass Finished Beef, Gary Davis, Practical Pasture Facilities, Larry Fischer, Using Multiple Species Grazing, Brian Greaves, Grocery List for Cattle, Rogher Cohen, Emerging Diseases, Terry Whiting, IntegratedCrop Grazing Systems, Martin Entz, Profitability of Forages, Paul McCaughey, Grazing Class 2 Soils, Glen Crawley, Improving Land & Profitability, Mike/Myna Cryderman, Strategies to Improve Pasture Productivity, Gary Bowes, Feeding Cows on Snowballs, Janice Bruynooghe, Keeping the Grass Greener, Don Green, Comparing Biomass Removal, Carolyn MacKendrick

2000 Grazing School Proceedings

1. Overview, Next Steps in Grazing, Woody Lane, Managing Your Farm, Harlan Hughes, Optimizing Profit, Grant Lastiwa, Extending the Grazing Season, Duane McCartney, Grazing Systems, Brant Kirychuk
2. Selecting Forage Species, Don Green, Opportunities, Duane Thompson, Marketing Strategies, Wyett Swanson, Marketing Cattle off Grass, My Total Farm Plan, Wyett Swanson, Reducing Unit Cost of Production, Harlan Hughes, Dollars and Sense of Cattle, Scott Atkins, Effective Fly Control, Terry Galloway, Multiple Speices Grazing, Delaying the Calving Season, John Popp, Practical Watering Systems, Ray Bittner

1999 Grazing School Proceedings

1. Overview, Grain to Grass, Allan Nation, Grazing Management, Jim Gerrish, Grazing Management, Paul McCaughey
2. Maximizing Production on Native Pasture, Llewellyn Manske, Opportunities to Extend the Grazing Season, Lorne Klein, Profits in Stockers, Robert Krentz, Forage – is it really the Green Gold? Brian Kurbis/Larry Martin, Avoiding Health Problems on Pasture, Allan Preston
3. Multiple Species, Peter Schroeder, Working Towards a Manageable Herd, Dylan Biggs, Twice-Over Grazing, Laurie Davison, Alternate Grazing Possibilities, Elaine/Ken Pare, A Banker’s Perspective, Reg Speers

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