Beef Producers Invited to Participate in Surveys re: Swath Grazing and Feed Testing

Manitoba producers are invited to participate in two separate online research surveys related to their participation in the practices of swath grazing and feed testing.

The first survey is related to swath grazing. The purpose of the swath grazing research is to understand the use of swath grazing and spring residue cleanup by western Canadian cow-calf operations. Producer responses will help promote strategies that will advance the Canadian beef industry. This study is for research purposes only.

Respondents can be both adopters, nonadopters and dis-adopters of swath grazing as they wish to hear how adopters swath graze, why non-adopters choose not to swath graze and why dis-adopters stopped swath grazing. The survey will close when 600 respondents are reached (likely March 31, 2023).

The swath grazing survey research is funded by Alberta’s Results Driven Agriculture Research and is being conducted by researchers at the University of Saskatchewan (Kathy Larson) and Lakeland College (Dr. Obi Durunna). Dr. Durunna is a Livestock Research Scientist at Lakeland College and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Saskatchewan and Larson is a Professional Research Associate at the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Agriculture and Bioresources, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.

The survey link is: https://ca1se.voxco.com/SE/90/Swathgrazin g/

The second survey is related to feed testing. It aims to understand how western Canadian commercial beef cow-calf producers assess feed quality and develop rations with a special focus on the use of feed testing. The knowledge gained will be used for research and extension on feed testing and ration balancing.

This survey is being undertaken by Larson, as well as Dr. Emma Stephens, a bioeconomist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Lethbridge Research Station and 500 participants are being sought from Manitoba, Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. This survey is funded by the Beef Cattle Research Council and the Saskatchewan Agriculture Development Fund.

Sample survey questions include:

• Have you done any lab tests for quality of any of your feed in the last three years?

• On your operation, who is typically responsible for collecting feed samples?

• Do you use a forage probe to collect samples when you test bales for quality?

The link to this survey is: wo8372 (insightrix.com) This survey will close February 28 or sooner if 500 completions are reached.

Anyone with questions about the 2023 survey can contact Larson at kathy.larson@usask.ca or at (306) 966-4025. Stephens can be reached emma.stephens@agr.gc.ca or at (403) 9158409.