Prairie Land and Water Resources

COMMUNITY PASTURES

Early farmers were using marginal lands for crop production with poor results. Something had to be done to take these lands out of crop production - permanently. The provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, passed enabling legislation to permit lands unsuitable for cereal crop production to be transferred to the federal government for development by Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration (PFRA) into community pastures. The province concerned selected the area and obtained control of the land, which was then leased to the Government of Canada for PFRA to construct, maintain and operate the required community pasture facilities. In that way, land that was uneconomical to farm, or subject to drought and soil drifting, was removed from cultivation and protected under a permanent cover. Livestock grazing on this land would provide the needed economic benefit. The first step to the construction of community pastures was to fence the land. Farmers and others on relief were paid to dig post holes and string wire by hand. Then, where necessary drought-resistant grass was sown directly into the weeds in an effort to restore perennial cover to the land. In addition, native grass lands were rested so as to improve their condition. By 1939, these efforts resulted in some 11,000 cattle being grazed on more than 200,000 ha of PFRA community pastures.

As these marginal lands were converted into pastures and made productive for grazing purposes, farmers in surrounding districts were encouraged to increase their livestock numbers and develop complementary winter feed supplies. Since the program began in 1937, over 900,000 hectares or 2,200,000 acres of marginal land has been developed as pastures by PFRA. Pasture improvements such as re-seeding, irrigation, livestock water development, brush clearing, cross fencing larger fields, and other soil and water conservation measures were implemented to increase forage production and make better use of the rangelands. As a result, the average carrying capacity has been more than doubled on many community pastures during the years they have been in operation. In addition to the nearly 300,000 acres that have been re- seeded since the inception of this program, many more thousands of acres were allowed to re- vegetate naturally to native species through rest and proper grazing management.

Consistent with the demand for livestock production on the prairies, PFRA has provided grazing for over 65 years and continues to manage this valuable resource for this and future generations. PFRA manages the largest area and number of community pastures. Today, PFRA operates 87 community pastures units across the Prairies; 24 in Manitoba, 62 in Saskatchewan and one in Alberta. The total area of PFRA community pastures is about 930,000 hectares or 2.2 million acres. Of this amount, nearly 85 percent is native range.

Pastures 1939 1999

Number of pastures 35 87

Number of acres 814,000 2,300,000

Number of hectares 330,000 930,000

Livestock on pastures 12,000 220,000

Rates for cattle $0.35/month $0.35/day

Miles of fence 1,859 6,823

Kilometres of fence 2,974 10.916

Pastures	1939	1999
Number of pastures	35	87
Number of acres	814,000	2,300,000
Number of hectares	330,000	930,000
Livestock on pastures	12,000	220,000
Rates for cattle	$0.35/month	$0.35/day
Miles of fence	1,859	6,823
Kilometres of fence	2,974	10.916

Pasture Operations

The pasture program is operated on a partial cost recovery basis. Most have a full-time manager, employed by the federal government. In order to provide efficient service and reliable stockmen, pasture managers and their families live on the pasture they are responsible for. Each pasture unit has an elected advisory committee made up of pasture patrons who act on behalf of all the patrons for that pasture. One of the main functions of the advisory committees is to review the allocation of grazing privileges on each pasture, and to recommend changes to PFRA if needed. Grazing privileges are allocated in the late fall of each year according to the following criteria:

Bona fide farmer / rancher status
Past patronage; and
Size and type of farming operation.

Several services are provided in community pastures during the grazing season for the convenience of farmers. These include dehorning, castration, inoculation, and branding. A breeding service is also offered by the federal government in all pastures through the use of federally owned bulls or by the rental of privately owned bulls. The use of good quality bulls in the community pastures has greatly improved the quality of individual beef cattle herds.

In the allocation process breeding stock are given preference over non breeding stock. Pasture patrons are consulted on the breeds of bulls to be used, insect and disease control, and other routine matters affecting pasture operations at the local level. Annual stocking rates of each pasture are established by PFRA. The patrons arrange for livestock insurance themselves

The PFRA pastures are managed for two objectives: conservation of the resource and cattle grazing. Each pasture is unique and must be managed according to the local conditions. Some modification of standard range management procedures is necessary to meet particular requirements of some pastures located in some of the more northern areas. For example, leaving at least 50 percent of the current growth as carry-over on prairie pastures provides a buffer for periodic droughts. PFRA continually monitors the range conditions of it's pastures to ensure they are in a healthy and productive state so that they can provide the maximum benefits to the public as well as providing grazing for local farmers.

Pasture Improvement

Brush encroachment onto grasslands on PFRA pastures in the Parklands is the most significant threat to carrying capacity. The dominance of brush (primarily the poplar species) is not a natural landscape for this area. Prior to European settlement of the Canadian prairies wild fires and bison maintained this area as a grassland with dispersed groves of trees. The elimination of these two natural forces resulted in a rapid increase in trees on the landscape. It is estimated that brush covers over 110,000 acres on PFRA pastures and is expanding onto over 5000 acres more land per year. PFRA is currently working toward the goal of maintaining brush cover at its current level, and preventing further expansion. Keeping current levels of brush allows for a mix of grassland and forest which has many positive benefits for wildlife and bio-diversity. The 33 pastures with brush encroachment concerns have been evaluated for amount and location of brush cover. Individual brush management plans for each pasture will be an integrated approach which will include all or some of the following control measures: prescribed burning, selective herbicide application, controlled grazing, mowing, bark scraping and rolling/chopping.

The provision of adequate water facilities on pastures is considered a prerequisite in pasture development. PFRA therefore constructs stock watering sites, such as dugouts, small dams and well installations, wherever they are needed to complement the pasture operation. Many thousands of these structures have been built since the community pasture program began. This has resulted in increased carrying capacities, maintains herd health and better livestock distribution on the range.

Nine irrigation projects have been built on community pastures in the drier regions of southwestern Saskatchewan. About half of the more than 4,000 acres now served with water for irrigation, are used for grazing and the remainder are used for producing hay and feed grain. Canals, dykes, and water control structures are maintained by pasture personnel, who are also responsible for the operation of the projects.

Public Benefits

PFRA pastures are large unfragmented blocks of native prairie grassland, which provides excellent habitat for wildlife. It is estimated that over 50 species at risk can be found on pastures together with the grazing livestock. Examples of some species at risk that are found on community pastures include the burrowing owl, sage grouse, swift fox, loggerhead strike and ferruginous hawk. In addition, numerous plants species that call the community pastures home are also on endangered species at risk lists. These include: the western spider wort, tiny cryptanthe, slender mouse eared cress and the hairy prairie clover.

Bio-diversity is another important aspect of the PFRA Community Pastures evidenced by the PFRA pastures being selected as part of: Saskatchewan Representative Network; Manitoba Protected Areas Initiative (currently under negotiation); numerous grazing management and water control projects located on PFRA pastures in cooperation with groups such as Ducks Unlimited Canada, Sharp-tails Plus, and other research and educational institutions.

There is a growing interest in the PFRA native rangelands as the general public becomes more aware of the value of these large contiguous blocks of lands. The public is recognizing that:

through the use of livestock the natural grazing of bison can be simulated;
by controlling the invasion of brush and trees the natural open grasslands can be retained in the Parkland regions and
consuming a portion of this renewable resource annually the natural environmental and wildlife processes that were occurring before European settlers arrived are still taking place.

The long term Federal Government control of this land base has provided a stable land use policy and effectively reversed the trend towards annual cultivation of these marginal soils. Now under permanent cover and controlled livestock grazing, this land base is agriculturally productive and has become a sanctuary for the occurrence of the natural areas in the Prairie Provinces.