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Better Farming Ontario magazine is published 11 times per year. After each edition is published, we share featured articles online.


Beef Farmers awards recognize farmers in Grey and Bruce Counties

Thursday, February 20, 2014

by JIM ALGIE

Neighbouring cattle farmers in Grey and Bruce Counties have won prestigious environmental awards presented during this year’s Beef Farmers of Ontario annual meeting.

Veterinarian Dr. Peter Kotzeff of Chesley received the annual, Royal Bank, Environmental Stewardship Award, Wednesday, for his work protecting watercourses within his Bruce County pasture farms. Chatsworth-area farmers Brenda Robertson and Neil Showers won the 2014 pasture award sponsored by the Ontario Forage Council and Lindsay-based Mapleseed for the effective use of rotational grazing on their 100-acre farm.

Robertson and Showers farm near Kotzeff’s home farm, Kotzeff said in an interview, Wednesday. The awards both recognize practical challenges in grazing cattle near sensitive wooded areas or wetlands.

“I was honoured just to be considered for this award,” Kotzeff said. A mainly large animal consultant and principal of North Heritage Animal Hospital, Kotzeff practices veterinary medicine with his daughter, Sasha Kotzeff, from clinics in Owen Sound and Chesley. He also manages livestock and cash cropping operations on 1,800 acres of land in east-central Bruce County, including 700 acres in forages.

The award recognizes Kotzeff’s leadership in preserving riparian properties which are part of his operation, a Beef Farmers of Ontario statement says. Preservation techniques include alternate water sources for cattle and the fencing of waterways to prevent surface water contamination, the statement says.

Kotzeff pastures between 500 and 1,000 cattle annually, depending on market and pasture conditions. His land holdings include three miles of Saugeen River shoreline as well as woodland, smaller permanent and intermittent streams and wetlands.

Kotzeff has permanently fenced 150 acres of woodland and rotates cattle through approximately 30 acres of glade pasture. Where feasible, he has fenced both sides of treed, stone fencerows to maintain habitat and wildlife corridors.

“We’re starting to realize that food production and sustainable agriculture and carrying for our land and our water are important considerations,” Kotzeff said in an interview.

“This is going to be a big issue long term,” he said, referring to the challenge of “producing food in a sustainable way.” It’s particularly a challenge as cash crop activity finds its way into environmentally sensitive areas, he said.

On sites ranging in size from 50 to 300 acres, Kotzeff operates intensive grazing in individual paddocks with the minimum goal of 45-day rest periods for pasture. Water is provided to each paddock with a variety of pond or well-sourced systems.

Similarly, this year’s pasture award winners use intensive, rotational grazing with cattle being moved daily from paddock to paddock. Showers and Roberston operate a 100-acre farm, 60 acres in pasture, 30 acres in hay, a BFO statement says. Their annual goal is to pasture between 72 and 80 cattle.

The pasture area is divided into four 15-acre fields which are further divided into smaller paddocks using temporary, electric fencing. Woodland areas are fenced from grazing areas to protect the trees.

The same spring water used for their farm home supplies cattle through a permanent water line system.

“Another advantage of a daily rotation of the steers from paddock to paddock is the ability to monitor the health of animals on a daily basis,” Robertson is quoted to say in the BFO statement.

The Showers-Robertson operation provides a good example for producers trying to cope with recent commodity price changes, Ontario Forage Council manager Ray Robertson said in the statement.

Mapleseed sales manager Barry Robinson said the Showers-Robertson pasture management system “is a model that can be utilized on any commercial beef operation." BF

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