Episodes

What do you do when grass, which is often considered a finite resource, is limited by drought and cold weather? In this episode, we discuss management practices that you can use to extend the growing season and avoid feeding expensive bales of hay earlier than necessary. Ben Stuart, who runs two successful farming operations (one in Saskatchewan and the other in Hardisty, Alberta), uses stockpile grazing to extend the grazing season on his farms. But if the grass isn’t growing, how do you stock...

In a drought, you’re probably more focused on the lack of water falling from the sky than the water table beneath your feet. We’re talking about the groundwater that contributes to the wells and wetlands that have various uses on ranches, from watering cattle to creating critical habitats for wildlife to providing water to do the dishes with. Making sure that the groundwater gets a chance to replenish during a wet year is a great little savings account for your ranch, your neighbors and your com...

Have you ever given any thought to what the perfect cow would be for the conditions we experience in Alberta? Between the punishing winter temperatures, frequent droughts and the occasional flood, perhaps the ideal cow would be a cross between a wooly mammoth and a camel with gills. All jokes aside, we know how stressful a drought can be for a producer. In this episode, we’re joined by Dr. Susan Marcus of Lakeland College to talk about selecting and managing cattle traits so that your operation...

Welcome back to the Rural Routes to Climate Solutions podcast’s Getting Through Drought series, which looks at the best management practices cow-calf producers in Alberta can use to build up the resiliency of their ranch against drought. For the remainder of the series, we’ll mainly be focusing on grazing management and adjusting grazing during a drought. To start things off, ranchers Blusette and Mark Campbell, out in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan joined us to share some of what they’ve learned ab...

Sometimes the public’s perception of agriculture doesn’t quite fit the reality. For many, when thinking about agriculture, the farmer is often tall, broad – and let’s be honest – masculine. With the number of female farm operators increasing, you’ve got to wonder if this outdated image is about to change. You may be wondering why we’re doing an episode on women in agriculture, and how that relates to land stewardship. Well, you can’t have land stewardship without land stewards. With women makin...

In recent years, mycorrhizal fungi have become a hot topic, especially when talking about soil health. You may be wondering how fungi can improve and foster soil health. Well, mycorrhizal fungi are vast networks of nutrient exchange between plants and other microscopic critters you can find in the soil. Fortunately, the management practices for maintaining this conduit of nutrient exchange tend to be the same ones we’d use in good pasture management. Can this vast network under our feet help o...

Riparian areas can be a value-added project of the wetlands on your land if you choose to leave your wetlands intact. The wetland itself is great for maintaining the water table and can become an important source of water for your cattle. The value added to a wetland that can be found in a riparian area is seemingly endless: water filtration, food for wild game, habitat for native pollinators and forage if you find yourself in a dry year. In this episode, you’ll be hearing from Art Goerzen of ...

You could argue that compared to other livestock, cattle are pretty simple to feed – get them grazing during the growing season and feed them bales in the winter. However, this relatively simple feeding system begins to fall apart when you get hit by drought; forage isn’t growing in your pasture and the price of hay goes through the roof. During a dry year, you might want to look into alternatives to hay that can help your cattle get the baseline nutrition they need and get you and your ranch th...

If you manage them properly, riparian areas can be a savings account that you can tap into during a dry year. There are plenty of good reasons for fencing off and protecting bodies of water on your land, like giving biodiversity a boost or keeping water clean for livestock. Not to mention how handy that strip of greenery adjacent to a wetland can be when your pasture isn’t growing or recovering the way you need it to. In this episode, we’re joined by Duane Movald of Movald Ranches, to learn mor...

When it comes to soil amendments, charcoal is probably not the first thing that comes to mind. But if you really think about it, charcoal is carbon that’s been locked up in the same way that coal is carbon, perfectly sequestered. There’s a catch though – you can’t burn it. But if we can’t burn it, how do we activate the carbon in biochar? In this episode, Rob Lavoie of AirTerra helps us understand how to unlock that carbon and feed those hungry little soil microbes that feed us. Highlights: 2...

Welcome to another episode in our Getting Through Drought series. If you live in Alberta and raise cattle, odds are you will try every possible way to keep that spring melt, or heavy rain, on your land. While you may throw in a shelter belt or an eco buffer, we hope that you’re also giving your pasture adequate rest and recovery so moisture can soak into the soil. Here in Alberta, a tried and true method of ensuring that water doesn’t go wandering off is the dugout. In this episode, Norine Amb...

Welcome to the launch of an exciting new series called Getting Through Drought. It’s safe to say that when it comes to droughts in Alberta, it’s less a matter of if and more a question of when. So, in this series we are exploring the best management practices that cow calf operators in Alberta can use to prepare for the next drought, whenever that may be. There are very few things that can mess up your grazing plans like a drought. Perhaps you had plans of implementing rotational grazing, or g...

With fertilizer prices hitting $1,000 a ton, it’s no surprise that cover crops are a hot topic. It makes sense that non-synthetic inputs like cover crops are becoming more and more appealing to producers. There’s many benefits to cover crops – including feeding livestock and pollinators, improving water filtration, suppressing weeds, building soil carbon and improving soil biology. In this episode, we’re joined by Kevin Elmy, of Cover Crops Canada, to discuss the ins and outs of cover crops. A ...

We’re celebrating a pretty cool milestone – 50 podcast episodes! This episode is all about reflecting on the past and anticipating the future. We’ve covered so many great topics and had the most amazing speakers join us. While we can’t highlight or cover it all in our “podcast tour”, we picked ones that impacted the podcast’s trajectory. Since it took us 5 years to reach this milestone, we also wanted to look into the future and predict where regenerative agriculture in Alberta would be in the ...

Most of us are familiar with the Canadian Agricultural Partnership or CAP. It is the funding agreement between the federal government and provinces and territories supporting many programs and services for the agriculture sector. CAP is coming to an end this year and right now a new Agricultural Policy Framework (APF) is being negotiated. In fact, federal, provincial and territorial ministers are meeting on July 20th, 2022 to hammer out the next five year APF. So we got to wondering, what shoul...

In our first two episodes of this series, we looked at farming and ranching at the Kainai First Nation, located in Southern Alberta. If you’ve had a chance to listen, you may have noticed a theme – the importance of the Iinnii (buffalo). In this episode, knowledge holder Dr. Leroy Little Bear shares his work to restore the Iinnii. Little Bear sheds light on why this work is important, not only for the land but for the people and their connection with songs, ceremonies and stories centred around ...

Cattle ranching on the Blood Reserve can be a very rewarding experience and endeavour, however, it does come with challenges in today’s changing times. In this episode, Blackfoot knowledge keeper and cattle producer Mike Bruised Head shares his early beginnings as a cattle producer and how his understanding of Blackfoot ways of knowing has contributed to his practice. Mike sheds light on how he has noticed the impacts of climate change and how he has adapted to the changing environment. He also ...

Three Alberta agricultural producers discuss what the ‘regenerative mindset’ is and why it is important for those transitioning to regenerative agriculture. This episode features Daryl Chubb, Tim Wray and Sheldon Atwood. Highlights: Coming soon… Alberta agricultural producers mentioned in this episode: Tim Wray of WR Grazing (Irricana). Read about Tim’s story on our Farmer’s Blog. Sheldon Atwood of Western Ranchlands Corporation (Tomahawk). More info. Daryl Chubb (Irricana). More info. Usef...

Feedlot manager and proponent of holistic management and regenerative agriculture Andrea Stroeve-Sawa shares low-stress livestock handling tips we can use to have constructive conversations about the livestock and the environment issue. Even if we don’t agree with the other person. Andrea also shares what it was like for her to sit down and have that exact conversation with a vegan. While being filmed too! The Bridging the Echo Chambers project is a Food Water Wellness Foundation project that d...

Filmmaker and communications strategist Sarah Wray discusses communications techniques we can use to have constructive conversations about the livestock and the environment issue. Even if we don’t agree with the other person. The Bridging the Echo Chambers project is a Food Water Wellness Foundation project that delves into the debate about the impacts of livestock on the environment and how we can facilitate healthy and constructive conversations between people who have different views and opi...

Author and leadership advisor David Irvine discusses the strategies we can use to have constructive conversations about the livestock and environment issue. Even if we don’t agree with the other person. The Bridging the Echo Chambers project is a Food Water Wellness Foundation project that delves into the debate about the impacts of livestock on the environment and how we can facilitate healthy and constructive conversations between people who have different views and opinions. Useful Links: ...

The thrilling conclusion of our exploration of post-secondary research and regenerative agriculture with Jason Bradley of Olds College. Useful Links: Rural Routes to Climate Solutions Regenerative Agriculture Lab Want to learn more? Our Farmer’s Blog is a great go-to source for stories of producers in Alberta who are going the extra mile with their management practices for the land, food and their communities.

Take a deep dive with Jason Bradley of Olds College into post-secondary agriculture research and how research can assist the acceleration of regen ag in Alberta. Useful Links: Rural Routes to Climate Solutions Regenerative Agriculture Lab Want to learn more? Our Farmer’s Blog is a great go-to source for stories of producers in Alberta who are going the extra mile with their management practices for the land, food and their communities.

Kainai First Nation members Cyrus and Roy Weasel Fat share their success story of farming and ranching on the Blood Reserve in southern Alberta. The father and son team discuss some of the challenges of farming on the reserve and how they built a successful small business and educational outlet for the community. Useful Links: Rural Routes to Climate Solutions Siksikaitsitapi Agriculture Project Want to learn more? Our Farmer’s Blog is a great go-to source for stories of producers in Alberta...