Manitoba Beef Producers (MBP) welcomes news that the Manitoba government is allowing cattle producers to graze cattle and to cut hay on certain Crown land not normally accessible for these purposes.
“The dry conditions of the past couple of years have created challenging conditions for beef producers in terms of the amount of grazing days available on their pastures and the volume and quality of hay they have been able to harvest,” explained MBP President Tom Teichroeb. “We had identified these concerns to the Manitoba government on behalf of our producers. This announcement will provide an important option for producers who require additional feed options and we thank the government for making this available.”
According to the provincial government’s announcement, administration of the use of the available land and permits will be handled through the Agricultural Crown Lands Leasing program. Producers must remove their livestock when the naturally existing forage is exhausted or by October 31. November 15 is the deadline to remove hay.
“The province is also asking crop producers to think about making their crop residue available to livestock producers and I know there are many beef producers who would welcome those kinds of conversations,” added Teichroeb. “We will continue to engage with the government about the effects of the dry conditions and possible strategies to help producers deal with these situations, such as water supply challenges.”
