With the winter extension season upon us, the
Regional Services Branch of the Saskatchewan Ministry of
Agriculture has a number of events planned across the
province. Regional Livestock, Forage, Crop and Farm Business
Management specialists are organizing workshops
and seminars on a range of educational topics.
In early January there will be a Direct Marketing
Cattle course in Saskatoon with a videoconference option in
Watrous.
Horse seminars will be taking place in Humboldt,
Tisdale and Prince Albert in February. The agenda will
include: understanding confirmation of feet and legs on your
horse and the impacts they have on a sound animal, nutrition,
common ailments, preventative medicine and
vaccination
programs.
In early February, watch for the Go Straight to the
Farm workshop being held in Humboldt, featuring speakers who
have found success with direct marketing on their farms.
The Watrous Regional Office will be hosting a crop
information seminar in early March. This seminar will help
producers plan for the upcoming field season and provide an
opportunity to get together with crop specialists and fellow
producers.
The Regional Farm Business Management specialists
will offer a number of exciting workshops across Saskatchewan.
Targets for Success is a one-day workshop for producers who
want to better understand the profitability and costs of their
farming or ranching operation.
The Succession Planning Workshop is a one-day course that
provides valuable information to help you make decisions
specific to your family and farm. Taking Stock Workshops
are being planned for Wynyard in early December and for
Davidson in January. This half-day workshop will examine how
you can use progressive farm business management practices in
your farm business.
There will also be other extension events coming
soon. If you are a producer or a group of producers and have
an idea for an event that you would like to see offered in
your area, contact a Regional Office near you.
I hope you are enjoying a bit of a break
from the bitterly cold weather that much of the province
experienced earlier in December. If snow
conditions remain as they are for at least part of the
winter, it could ease the drain on hay stacks as
producers may be able to utilize stockpiled grass,
swath grazing or other extensive feeding methods for
longer periods of time. Many of the producers
that stopped by the SFC booth during Agribition
last month seemed to be interested in vegetation for
saline areas on their land. In this issue of the
Forage and Livestock eNews, you will find
information on a factsheet highlighting this
topic available through the SFC, as well
as research being conducted at the Swift Current
Research Station on a new variety of salt tolerant
wheatgrass. You will also find information on
upcoming winter meetings being offered through the
Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture on a variety of
topics. 
The
factsheet entitled "Revegetation of Saline Soils using Salt
Tolerant Grasses" covers a number of topics related to
reclamation of saline soils including a description of
saline soils, how saline soils impact plant growth as well as
relative salinity tolerance of various grasses. This
information can help you determine the level of salinity on
your land and forage species that are suited to the growing
conditions. For example, in areas that are mildly
saline, crested wheatgrass and alfalfa may be suitable forages
while in severely saline areas these forages would not be
suitable.
Small
plot trials were seeded in 2006 and researches will be
evaluating agronomic performance, longevity, palatability and
forage quality of this grass in comparison to smooth
bromegrass. Initial results from the 2008 grazing
seasons suggest that palatability is good, as dry matter
intakes of AC Saltlander have been greater than 2
lbs/animal/day. Dr Iwaasa suggests that this is
encouraging as there have been concerns about the palatability
of green wheatgrass by grazing livestock in the past.
This trial will continued through 2009 and fully summarized
results will be available sometime in 2010.
