The Rural Voice, 1985-09, Page 56FARM NEWS
Open House at ARDA Community Pasture
"I don't
that."
"It wouldn't
money."
"Cattle have to gain
that looks like that."
"O000h. It looks just like spring."
These were the remarks of four
farmers upon entering one of the
fields at the Grey-Dufferin ARDA
Community Pasture Farm open
house held in August. The solid stand
of yellow -flowering Bird's -foot
Trefoil added much to the lush
pasture where the cattle were grazing.
The animals spend two weeks on each
pasture section.
The trefoil, planted May 12, 1985
on natural sod which wasn't plowed,
came up well this spring, says Ainsy
Jack, pasture manager. The land is
not well drained but the trefoil has
matured nicely with 0-20-30 fertilizer
applied 200 pounds per acre.
Each year in March, local farmers
see why I couldn't do
cost near the
on pasture
receive applications to send steers to
this community pasture as part of a
program funded jointly by the federal
and provincial governments. Applica-
tions are sorted and by mid-May
steers are brought to these pastures
near Dundalk. The cattle are pastured
from May 20 to September. Farmers
are charged 30 cents a pound for
gain plus a $10 entry fee per animal to
cover treatment, handling costs, and
weight gain.
The government-owned experimen-
tal farm is also home for demonstra-
tion plots of new grasses, fertilizer
trials, and an innovative trial with
cattle sponsored partially by Elanco.
Information about pasture manage-
ment gathered both here and at Bruce
Community Pasture helps to provide
cattlemen with working ideas for
their own pasture land.
There are currently 530 cattle on
the Grey-Dufferin Community
Pasture, Jack estimates. A few suf-
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54 THE RURAL VOICE
fered from pneumonia the first cou-
ple of weeks, but the cattle are
healthy and there has been only one
loss, Jack says. That animal's death
was attributed to bloat. Jack has sent
only two cattle home. One fell off a
truck on the way to the pasture and
appeared to be injured, and a second
steer was sent home when it broke a
foot bone.
The major health problems are
foot rot and pink eye, according to
Jack. Although one animal went
blind as a result of severe pink eye,
Jack doesn't treat this problem unless
the steer is being treated for
something else at the same time.
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for the Royal
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Agricultural Winter Fair as part of
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