BC Farm Practices & Climate Change Adaptation Management- Intensive Grazing project funding provided by Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada and BC Ministry of Agriculture Funding for this project was provided by Growing Forward, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative. other project partners BCAC/ARDCorp project manager Emily MacNair author & photographer Allen Dobb graphic design with additional thanks Rocketday Arts We would like to thank the many Ministry of Agriculture agrologists and specialists who supported this project with their knowledge and expertise, and provided important review and input on the documents in this series. We gratefully acknowledge published July 2013 by the agricultural producers who participated in this the British Columbia project for welcoming us to their farms and ranches, Agriculture & Food for sharing their valuable time and experience, and Climate Action Initiative for providing the illustrative examples of adaptive farm practices. The BC Agriculture & Food Climate Action Initiative was established by the BC Agriculture Council in 2008, and is Opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily led by an advisory committee of agricultural producers, food those of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the BC Ministry processors and representatives from various government agencies. of Agriculture and the BC Agriculture Council. The Initiative has been supported by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC with funding provided by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the BC Ministry of Agriculture. www.BCAgClimateAction.ca Farm Practices & Climate Change Adaptation Series This series of six reports potential, and the limitations, of selected practices on a broader scale. In some cases, the numerical evaluates selected farm practices ratings are expressed as a range, to reflect variation in for their potential to reduce conditions across regions and cropping systems. risk or increase resilience in a The practice evaluations are informed by background changing climate. research and input from agriculture producers around the province about their current use of practices. The practices selected are well known in Each document includes: a practice introduction, contemporary and conservation-based agriculture. key findings, an evaluation of suitability to help to While they are not new practices, better address climate change risks, and technical practice understanding of their potential relationship to background related to adaptation. The documents climate change may expand or alter the roles these conclude with practice application examples from practices play in various farming systems. various regions of the province. More detailed information about the overall project may be found Climate change will not only shift average at: www.bcagclimateaction.ca/adapt/farm-practices temperatures across the province, it will alter precipitation and hydrology patterns and increase the Like farming systems, practice applications are frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. location specific and change over time. Continued The projected changes and anticipated impacts for adaptation and holistic integrated practice agricultural systems are considered in the practice implementation will be required as climate evaluations. More details regarding climate change conditions change. The effectiveness of most and impacts for various production systems in five practices for mitigating climate and weather related BC regions may be found in the BC Agriculture Risk & risks will vary over a range of conditions. Ultimately, Opportunity Assessment at: www.bcagclimateaction.ca/ if practice adoption can reduce vulnerability and adapt/risk-opportunity risk overall, it has some effectiveness in supporting adaptation. Farming systems are dynamic, complex, and specific to the local environments in which they operate. This This document is not intended to serve as a stand- makes the analysis of farm practices on a provincial alone technical guide. Rather, it is hoped that this level particularly challenging. The approach taken for evaluation supports dialogue — among producers, this series, is to explore the application of practices agricultural organizations and key government regionally and across a range of cropping systems and agencies — about how these and other practices farm-scales. While the ratings are subjective and may may apply in a changing climate, and how to address not reflect suitability for a particular farm, the ratings information or resource gaps to support further and associated discussion help to identify both the adoption and adaptation. Contents 1 Introduction 9 Management-Intensive What Does Management-Intensive Grazing Grazing Background Involve? Information Current Adoption in BC The Soil, Plant, Animal & Climate Relationships Human Resources & Economics 3 Key Findings Grazing Management Continuum Areas for Further Adaptation Research & Support Rotational Grazing, Continuous Grazing & Management Grazing Parameters & Guidelines 5 Evaluation: Adaptation Management-Intensive Grazing & the & Management- Process of Adaptation Intensive Grazing Some Benefits & Payoffs of Management- Intensive Grazing Multi-Criteria Evaluation Costs & Trade-Offs of Management- Effectiveness Intensive Grazing Economic Efficiency Climate Considerations & Management- Flexibility Intensive Grazing Adaptability Institutional compatibility 18 Management-Intensive Adoptability Grazing Examples Independent Benefits Management-Intensive Grazing (Cariboo region) Management-Intensive Grazing (Peace River region) 22 Endnotes Introduction razing management is the practice the goals and objectives of the production system, of manipulating grazing to achieve and the environmental constraints where it is being an objective or a set of objectives. Often applied (see MiG Background Information, page Gthe aim is to balance livestock production with 10). With its focus on the plant-soil-animal-climate available forage resources at a sustainable level. As relationship, MiG has potential to help farmers and the technical disciplines of rangeland and pasture ranchers improve ecosystem functioning, which science have advanced, a number of approaches should moderate some of the impacts associated with have been developed to help livestock producers climate change. For example, producing more plant implement grazing management on their farms and biomass and cover in pastures reduces runoff and ranches. Management-intensive grazing (MiG) is one makes precipitation more effective, while reducing of those approaches. the risk of erosion. In addition to a more resilient enviroment, the management and the adaptive MiG is a systems-based approach to grazing capabilities of producers should also be increased land utilization which emphasizes the manager’s with the adoption and practice of MiG. understanding of the plant-soil-animal-climate interface as the basis for management decision.1 MiG may result in different levels of management depending on What Does Management-Intensive Grazing Involve? MiG integrates grazing management parameters, Related Practices including stocking density, stocking rate, stocking period, and rest period, into operational planning → Irrigation and application. Like holistic management — another → Pasture mapping and GIS adaptive grazing managment approach — it considers the entire resource base of a farm or ranch, including → Riparian area management the human, sociocultural and economic dimensions, → Shelterbelts and buffers and is based on ecosystem building blocks like the water and nutrient cycles.2 → Nutrient management → Water development MiG regulates grazing parameters of stock density and time (grazing or stocking period), by decreasing → Swath-grazing pasture size and reducing the grazing (stocking) → Winter feeding period in any given pasture unit. Through careful monitoring and observation, over-grazing of individual plants is prevented, and growing season BC Farm Practices & Climate Change Adaptation series : Management-Intensive Grazing 1 rest allows plant regrowth and recovery before being Current Adoption in BC grazed a second time within the same grazing period. Where there is adequate growing season moisture, Livestock grazing is a common practice in all regions grasses can be kept in a vegetative stage for a longer of the the province. The Statistics Canada Census time, increasing palatibility and animal nutrition. of Agriculture asks farmers whether they apply Although more intensive grazing management can be rotational grazing as a land use practice; however, accomplished with close herding, advances in electric this does not reveal how rotational grazing is being fence technology have allowed livestock producers to applied (Figure 1). Rotational grazing only means intensify grazing practices in a cost-effective way. that a range or pasture unit is sub-divided, and that the sub-units are then grazed in succession. Simple MiG can be applied across a wide range of rotational grazing can be accomplished with a environments and landscapes, although it is most single sub-division, yet this could potentially be an often associated with grazing under irrigation and in unbeneficial practice if the stocking density and the areas where growing season moisture allows plant length of the grazing period are not properly adjusted regrowth. Examples of what are generally thought to match forage production. Producers that practice of as MiG systems are perhaps less common in MiG would likely report rotational