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
Comments
How much did it cost the taxpayer with no land to help these wonderful folk win their awards?
How many government taxpayer funded programs did you tap into to win these awards?
If you did it in your own-then kudos to you.
If I had to pay for it -then kudos to me. (taxpayer)
Agree with previous comment. If he did it all on his own, he can take a bow. If he used tax-payer funding then he's just another bum.
They are the ones that get the peoples money to do the projects in the first place , the big guys. I tried to get money and always told it ran out or you done the project to early or to late. People that has other high paying job and has a farm on the side which is paid for by the high paying job is not a true blood farmer and likely have hired hands doing most of the work either at their business or on their farm when they are at one place or the other.
I find it most disturbing that these negative comments about how the resipients of these awards achieved their results. The public is greatly influenced by the various save the world groups, but still want their modern transit systems funded by all tax payers! But complain that a business trying to find the means to be environmentally conscious and make a living should not be able to use the offered assistance. We can not have it both ways. If you the public want to save what is believed vital environmental lands then you have to be prepared to subsidize the farming community whether a small farmer or large farmer thank you for letting me voice my thoughts.
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