Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives

Sheep Grazing Demonstration - Northwest Region
 

(Sponsored by Manitoba Agriculture and Food and the Manitoba Sheep Association) (Funded by Manitoba Rural Adaptation Council)

 

Introduction

The Allen farm is located in Bield, Manitoba (near Roblin). There is approximately 30 acres of hayland, consisting of brome, timothy and alfalfa. They started with 200 ewes of varying breeds and have expanded to 350 ewes. The Allens are in the process of determining which is the most suitable sheep breed for their system that involves six months of grazing and six months of confined feeding.

Grazing system

The Allens use rotational grazing to get the most out of their pasture system. Manitoba Agriculture and Food has drawn up a pasture plan (Figure 1), consisting of a five-paddock rotational grazing system. Currently, the Allens are using a four-paddock system, but are adding the final paddock in 2002.

When designing a rotational grazing system, the number and design of your paddocks may be determined by:

• Existing fences
• Topography
• Access to water
• Access to a central location

As this operation already had some fencing in place, the paddock system was designed to incorporate the existing fences. A paddock should be designed so that the forage species are similar, so as to reduce selective grazing. Different slopes should be separated into different paddocks and this factor plays a role at this site. South-facing slopes get more sun and may be ready to graze earlier than north-facing slopes. This pasture system has one lower, flatter paddock to the east, one paddock containing the south-facing slope and two paddocks at the higher elevations.

The Allens use a leader/follower grazing system, where the heifers graze ahead of the sheep because of their higher nutrient requirements.

The Allens have a high-capacity well in their yard, so using this existing water system is the simplest and cheapest method of providing water to their sheep on pasture. Water is piped from the well to a trough watering system that is located in the treed section. The troughs have a float-valve to permit the maximum flow of water into the troughs. An alleyway running along the fenceline allows access to the watering area from all the paddocks.

The Allens bring the sheep into the yard overnight for predator control. So far, there have been no predator problems.

Sheep and pasture measurements
 

A group of sheep were weighed and body condition scored, prior to pasture. There are grazing cages located in three of the paddocks. In 2001, they were sampled three times throughout the season to determine pasture yield and quality. Results from June and July indicate good, consistent forage quality. The soil was sampled at the beginning of the season, indicating adequate fertility for the pasture. The Allens did not fertilize this pasture, but the former owner had distributed hog manure on this pasture.

What we hope to find . . .

This project will provide us with livestock gains on pasture, pasture yield and pasture quality. With this information, we can better understand stocking rates for sheep, pasture trends over the summer and the potential productivity to the landbase from a sheep/pasture system.

For more information about this project:

Contact Annette Nicholas, Forage Specialist with Manitoba Agriculture and Food at (204) 937-2158.

Funding for this project was provided by: