environmental stewardship, sustainable practices take centre stage for producers at stampede
the mindset has been: take care of the land, and it will take care of you. the methods, however, have improved
5 minute read
clara blatz was photographed with black angus cow felicity in the nutrien event centre at the calgary stampede on tuesday, july 11, 2023.
gavin young
/
postmedia
while the calgary stampede is now best known for its chuckwagons, rodeo, midway, crazy food and music, agriculture is still very much at the soul of the greatest outdoor show on earth.
the promotion of agriculture both today and in the future, and educating an urban public about sustainable practices and food, are critical parts of the celebration.
alberta agriculture does not just feed canadians, but the world. however, the closest a growing portion of the public gets to a cow is the meat section at a local grocery store.
“there are lots of people that live in the city that have looked into this pen and not even known whether it’s a beef or dairy cow and that’s very important information,” said clara blatz, 19, who raises 80 cattle for show southwest of calgary, utilizing the best genetics she can find to build the best black angus. “they have asked lots of questions about how these cows live and how well they’re taken care of. and it’s changed their views and kind of opened their eyes as to how important and how well we truly do take care of these animals.”
one of the big struggles for many farm families is creating a situation where the next generation is able to financially afford to take over the operations and wants to endure the risks, challenges and stresses.
advertisement
blatz grew up on a farm and is set to go to mount royal university in the fall to study communications. she wants to, one day, work for an organization like alberta beef to help promote the sustainability of cattle ranching while growing her own farm.
‘take care of the land, and it will take care of you’
environmental sustainability has been one of the top priorities on farms for centuries, but it has evolved greatly in the past 25 years.
the mindset has been: take care of the land, and it will take care of you. the methods, however, have improved.
doug wray, whose family has ranched between airdrie and irricana since 1910, now runs 140 cow-calf pairs on about 2,400 acres with his nephew tim wray. on monday, the two families were honoured by alberta beef and ducks unlimited for their environmental stewardship.
twenty-five years ago, they completely changed their operations from mixed farmland to focusing on cattle and regenerative agriculture. essentially, they were returning the farmland to grasslands, which has greatly impacted their beef and returned vitality and biodiversity to the land which had left long ago.
in doing so, they have also built up the carbon sink on the land, which is a critical element to emissions reductions. wray pointed to a recent statement from the un that underscored the importance of meat, eggs and dairy in the diet.
advertisement
“that’s a 180-degree about-turn from their report 15 years ago that livestock were a big cause of global warming because of the methane they’re emitting,” said wray, who has been running the farm since 1972. “taken in totality, the cattle are emitting methane but they’re eating plants that just took carbon out of the air. so it’s now understood it’s a cycle…it’s not adding carbon or methane to the atmosphere. it’s kind of in a steady state, as long as you have a steady amount of livestock in your environment.”
these efficiencies are helping them ride out several rough years due to drought and other challenges. this includes reducing the size of their cow-calf herd from 300, which allows them to put less stress on the pasture rotation.
hope is for innovation to ‘help the farmer farm’
it’s not just the beef sector that is implementing sustainable practices. the efforts go across the entire industry.
canola producers, as well as other farmers in alberta, have long practised zero till, which keeps absorbed carbon as well as nutrients in the soil and reduces their carbon footprint.
the canola plant is also an effective tool in carbon sequestration, pulling carbon down through its roots while the yellow flowers reflect a lot of light back in a process called vital reflect effect and act as a cooling method. crop rotations are also an important process in maintaining nutrient levels.
advertisement
producers have gone to the extreme to ensure they maximize their inputs with costs shooting through the roof.
“the margins are getting tighter and tighter and tighter for our farmers,” said louise labonte, public engagement and promotions co-ordinator for alberta canola producers commission, who was on stampede grounds helping to run the organization’s exhibit. “but with that, we hope innovation comes right behind that… innovation drives new research, new ways of farming and hopefully that helps the farmer farm. our number one goal is to keep farmers farming because we need them. that’s where our food comes from.”
colleen prefontaine, louise labonte and jeanette andrashweski with alberta canola were photographed in the nutrien event centre at the calgary stampede on tuesday, july 11, 2023.
gavin young
/
postmedia
land sustainability important
not all agriculture is being done on a massive scale, but the impacts can still be significant.
karli paterson and her husband clarence started a lambing operation about 30 minutes west of calgary called jumping pound ranch two years ago. they run 100 sheep on 400 acres, and can support up to another 100 on the land.
for clarence, it was an opportunity to return to his roots on his family’s land. karli sees the potential to instill a love of agriculture in their three boys, each under five years old, who can be much more hands-on with the sheep than they could with cattle.
advertisement
their market is much different than beef producers. they are more of a niche in that they sell directly through a butcher in canmore instead of producing for scale at supermarkets, which is key as there is no way they could produce lamb as cheaply as new zealand.
the sheep, however, play an important role in the sustainability of the soil by eating different parts of the grass than cows. they will also put their chickens in the field afterward, which will eat the parasites out of the excrement and put good nutrients back into the ground, improving biodiversity.
sheep farmer karli paterson and her son percy were photographed in the nutrien event centre at the calgary stampede on tuesday, july 11, 2023.
gavin young
/
postmedia
the stampede plays a huge role in the educational process for producers and also the potential growth of their sector, which is beginning to open up with increased immigration, changes in regulations and demands that began during the pandemic.
people are much more interested in knowing where their food comes from.
“there’s been a big shift,” said karli, 35. “that aspect of farm-to-table farming, whether it be your vegetables, your fruits, your meats — and people have started seeking out a more natural way of consuming food.”
twitter: @joshaldrich03
share story
