Rick Neilson
Cattleman Neil Dennis, from Wawota, Sask., was in Rainy River District on Friday and Saturday.
On Friday evening, he gave a presentation to about 30 farmers on the merits of holistic resource management, and specifically about high stock density.
When Dennis is talking high density, he’s talking 800 cattle on half-an-acre. That works out to 1.3 million pounds of beef per acre.
Dennis practices what he calls deep massaging the land. He rolls out large bales of hay and allows the animals to forage, getting total coverage with hooves and manure.
When the vegetation is completely obliterated, the soil is given a long recovery period of at least 120 days. The deep massage treatment greatly accelerates the rejuvenation of the land.
Dennis’ presentation was peppered with humour. His passion for his novel approach to grazing, and his care for the land, came through strongly. The slide presentation of his farm showed innovation and creativity.
He cautioned his audience not to do their whole farm, suggesting that perhaps they start with 10 acres and learn as they go.
Dennis also was available to do on-farm consultations, and Pine River Ranch owner Amos Brielmann took advantage of the opportunity. He’s now looking forward to putting some of the advice into practice.
“This is a different way of thinking because we always think that if we have a heavy calf, we did really good on that animal,” Brielmann said after his consultation with Dennis.
“It’s just the way we look at it, but it doesn’t matter if we gain 2.2 pounds or 1.8 pounds per animal per day,” he stressed. “What matters is how many pounds per acre we produce.”
Brielmann explained that just like people in a buffet line running short on food, deep massaging causes cattle to not be selective and they eat what is in front of them.
When animals graze selectively, they actually promote the less palatable species because those species recover and regrow more quickly.
Heavier grazing tends to promote the growth of all forage species.
Brielmann believes that with our rainfall and clay soils, Rainy River District has much higher potential for growing cattle than there is on the Prairies.
“We can produce a yearling on one-and-a-half acres,” he noted. “It has to be a good grazer to do that on the Prairies.
“There could be an industry developed bringing cattle in and custom grazing,” he suggested.
Dennis has been increasing his animal days per acre every year for several years, and said he doesn’t know when he will find the maximum density.
He uses most of his 1,200 acres for pasture and buys hay instead of producing it. He is proud of the way his system is building soil, capturing carbon, and promoting wildlife.
When it’s pointed out that his land is gaining at the loss of fertility and soil from other farms, he whispered they don’t realize that yet.
That awareness is changing, though. Dennis’ neighbour, who trades hay for pasture services, recently requested the hay be fed on his own land instead of on Dennis’ farm.
Meanwhile, Brielmann has not yet told his son, Timo, that his summer job will be to move the cattle six or eight times a day.
Jeff Hyatt, the Rainy River Cattlemen’s Association newly-appointed research intern, was responsible for getting Dennis to the area.
The Friday evening presentation was sponsored by the RRCA, with partial funding from the Rainy River Future Development Corp.
“Amos Brielmann suggested it, I set it up, and [ag co-ordinator] Jeannette Cawston did the advertising,” noted Hyatt, a Devlin resident who recently graduated from the University of Guelph with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture.
He will be spending the next year working for the RRCA.
“I have a number of projects,” said Hyatt. “I’ll be doing work with stocker cattle, Rainy River ear tags, grazing projects, and on border protocols—trying to help move the cattle industry forward in the area.”
Hyatt is working out of the Emo research station until it shuts down for the season. After that, he will be at the ag office in Emo.
Dennis, meanwhile, predicted that after his visit, the district will have a farmer or two doing community service—suggesting those who begin experimenting with his unconventional approach to grazing will be providing coffee shop fodder.
