Join us for a fun and informative day learning about multi-species rotational grazing practices you can use on your farm. Beneficial management practices like cover crops and well-managed grazing can help to build soil, sequester carbon, improve pastures, increase crop yields and create a diversified ecosystem where plants and animals can thrive. We will start with the basics so beginners are welcome but more experienced grazers who are interested in optimizing their systems and improving their management practices will also benefit from this program.

Rotational grazing is a set of techniques used to control the time aspect of grazing that typically leads to overgrazing in a continuous grazing system. Livestock are moved into a defined area, typically called a paddock, where they have access to graze the plants in that area. They are then rotated to a new paddock while grazed plants have a chance to recover. The livestock are not moved back to that paddock again until the plants there have fully recovered. In this field day, we will discuss the key tools that you need to ensure a successful rotational grazing program:

– Continuous movement
– Portable infrastructure
– Balance between grazing and rest
– Correct stocking rate & stocking density
– Appropriate species/breed

In addition to classroom learning, there will be hands on workshop stations and demonstrations on building, maintaining and troubleshooting electric fence infrastructure including:

– Permanent high tensile fencing
– Tying knots
– Installing insulators
– Grounding, energizers and troubleshooting
– Portable electric fences and rotational grazing infrastructure

Farm tour including:
– Moving cattle & poultry in a rotational grazing system
– Fencing for pigs
– Managing mineral & feed
– Housing infrastructure
– Cover crops

We invite farmers to join us and hear from our speakers, tour Fresh Valley Farms, see a variety of integrated livestock systems and learn about their rotational grazing program. Farmers will be able to meet other farmers in the area and learn about different operations. This will be an opportunity to hear from industry specialists, fellow farmers, and the owner/operator of our host farm.

Lunch tickets will be available to purchase in advance.

Click here to register.

About the Farm

Nestled against a mountain backdrop in Spallumcheen BC, Fresh Valley Farms is a Certified Organic farm made up of two quarter sections where Steve Meggait and Annelise Grube-Cavers raise certified organic beef, chicken, turkey, and heritage pork on pasture.

Farming with nature is an important part of how nutrient-dense, pasture-raised meats are produced on this farm while maintaining habitats for wild fauna, and improving plant diversity. This means frequently rotating animals through the pasture, preventing

over-grazing, and ensuring that pigs and cattle have access to a range of space, including shady wooded areas in summer, and shelter against rain or snow in the cooler months.

The farm uses all-natural, regenerative systems, with an emphasis on animal welfare. Steve and Annelise are committed to being responsible stewards of the land, fostering biodiversity and extensive habitats throughout the farm, and in conjunction with raising pasture-raised livestock. All of the animals at Fresh Valley Farms have ample access to

pasture, and areas to forage, explore, and exercise their natural behaviours whether that be rooting, scratching, or moving together as a herd.

Speakers

Steve Meggait

Steve is a grazing mentor with the Farm Resilience Mentorship (FaRM) Program and a fourth generation farmer in Armstrong BC operating Fresh Valley Farms, a Certified Organic diversified livestock farm. 100 years from when his great-grandfather purchased the farmstead the tools they use to manage the farm have changed significantly. Steve has practiced rotational grazing for the last ten years with a focus on multi-purpose land-use: where fields are cropped for forage, and pastured in the same season. He uses diversified cover crops, and mixes annuals into perennial pastures.

Always with a mind to improve soil health and enhance the biodiversity of the farmscape, Steve has seen the benefits of improved land management from greater holding capacity on pastures, to enhanced animal welfare and herd health, to customer appreciation of the final product. In addition to farming, Steve, and his partner, Annelise, own and operate a licensed poultry abattoir, have a Farmgate Plus license for pork slaughter, and have a farm butcher who cuts all of the red meat produced on the farm.

Steve is active on and off the farm when it comes to food policy and agriculture: he currently sits on both the regional and local agricultural advisory committees, and is one of the founders and the current vice-president of the Small Scale Meat Producers Association.

Axel Boris

Axle Boris the founder and President of FenceFast Ltd grew up on a cattle ranch in British Columbia’s Northern Interior. After having spent several summers working for his father custom fencing as a youth years later in 1998 he started his own fencing business in the BC interior. Being impressed with how electric fences consistently kept out a wide variety of animals and were a cost effective option for customers; Axle became a dealer for Gallagher Animal Management in 2000. FenceFast Ltd has developed to become an industry leader specializing in Livestock, Wildlife, Bear and Predator Management permanent and portable fence structures. As well selling and supplying products and fencing solutions to customers across Canada.

Julia Smith

Julia is a grazing mentor with the Farm Resilience Mentorship (FaRM) Program. She has been raising a wide range of livestock including cattle, sheep, poultry and pigs over the past 12 years. Grazing sheep and working to preserve critically endangered Red Wattle hogs keeps her busy these days at Blue Sky Ranch in Nlaka’pamux Territory near Merritt, BC. She is a founding member and Past-President of the Small-Scale Meat Producers Association where she now serves as Executive Director and Project Manager. She was Vice-President of the National Farmers Union and she continues to be active on the livestock committee.

Bradford Backs

Bradford Backs is the Gallagher Animal Management Territory Manager of British Columbia. Bradford will feature upcoming products and offer hands-on support to demonstrate the use of current products and how they can help manage grazing. Bradford will be there to help answer any questions you may have about electric fencing as well as weighing and EID (tag readers). Bradford has his own small ranch in Alberta with a few horses and a small herd of cattle where he practices rotational grazing using electric fencing.