Today we are talking with Dr. Mary-Jane Orr about the Grazing: Impact of Utilization project, which looks at two different grazing strategies, 50% utilization and 80% utilization in rotational grazing. This project started in 2022 at MBFI and is still in progress.   Mary-Jane leads a dedicated team at MBFI to advance Manitoba’s beef & forage industry through engaging stakeholders, evaluating on-farm innovation, and extension for sustainability of farmers, the public, and the environment. She deeply values the opportunity to collaborate with producers, researchers, education provi ..read more

James Frey works with Manitoba Agriculture as an Applied Diversification Specialist, based in Roblin.  He collaborates with Parkland Crop Diversification Foundation to conduct small-plot research trials for a broad range of field and forage crops.  Previously, he worked in Northeast Asia with on-farm development projects.  James is always looking for ways to strengthen farm resiliency and is especially interested in crop-livestock systems.  Find him on X (Twitter) at @jamesfrey21, or email him at james.frey@gov.mb.ca. In this episode we are talking with James Frey about the ..read more

Joe Gardiner grew up in the community of Clearwater Manitoba and he feels very fortunate that he and his wife Melanie, call Clearwater home today.  Together with his parents, brother Sheldon and his partner Derek, they run a mixed grain and cattle farm located just off #3 highway in southern Manitoba.   In 2016 Joe had a decision to make.  He was not enjoying the stress and heavy operating cost that comes with conventional farming, and the draw of a 9 to 5 job was becoming ever more attractive.  He had been introduced to soil health principles in university and had sta ..read more

The Tkachyk farm is a third-generation farm that was established in 1907. Together with his wife, Randy enjoys the farming lifestyle.  He had the opportunity to add custom grazing beginning in the early 2000s, with adjacent lands being available to rent and purchase. Being the only operator on the farm, and no extra help, he made the decision to take the hay ground and fence off into paddocks to aid in soil health and better grazing land for the cattle. They keep their cattle out on pasture or hay fields all year, utilizing bale grazing to  improve soil health. Their land can sustain ..read more

Pam de Rocquigny is the chief executive officer of Manitoba Crop Alliance (MCA), a not-for-profit, farmer-led organization. MCA represents over 7,700 farmer-members and strives to continuously improve the competitiveness and profitability of all crops represented by the organization. Pam is responsible for providing vision and leadership in implementing MCA’s strategic direction under the guidance of its board of directors. Prior to her role with MCA, Pam was the General Manager for two Manitoba commodity organizations and worked for the provincial government in the agriculture department. Pam ..read more

Dr. John Campbell graduated from the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph in 1985. After several years of rural veterinary practice, he returned to Guelph to complete a Doctor of Veterinary Science degree in Ruminant Health Management. He has worked as a clinical faculty member on the Ruminant Field Service Practice at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan since 1991. He served as Dept. Head of the Dept. of Large Animal Clinical Sciences from 2011-2017. His primary research interests are in the fields of beef cattle production medicine and disease s ..read more

Dana strives to support inspired thinking and action in agriculture and rural communities. By thinking broadly and deeply about the systems upon which our society depends, Dana sees us better positioning the industry and our communities for the future. Dana’s work with Holistic Management Canada and with the Human Venture Institute has been foundational in developing her passion for supporting people to become resourceful, resilient, responsible and adaptive. Dana’s formal education was in Animal Science, earning a B.Sc. from the U of A but her much-valued informal learning has come from being ..read more

Brenda Ralston is a firm believer that applied research is critically needed today more than ever and that the Colleges are an excellent fit to carry this out in collaboration with Private Industry, Producer Groups, Universities, Government and most importantly the Producers themselves. Her guiding principle for applied research is ultimately if the outcome doesn’t provide a product or practice that the producer can implement in their operation to enhance their efficiency, sustainability or profitability then she is not doing the right research and not supporting the Agriculture Industry to he ..read more

Pam Iwanchysko has been a Livestock Specialist with Manitoba Agriculture in Dauphin, Manitoba for more than 25 years. Pam was raised on a mixed farm north of Dauphin and attended the University of Manitoba where she received her BSc. Degree and then proceeded to attend the University of Saskatchewan to complete her Master’s degree in Ruminant Nutrition.  She is passionate about agriculture and improving grazing systems and is continuing her efforts by playing a key role in reinstating the grazing mentorship program back into Manitoba through the Canadian Forage and Grassland Association ..read more

Marcos Cordeiro is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Animal Science at the University of Manitoba. He holds a PhD in Biosystems Engineering and is registered as a Professional Engineer in Manitoba. He has extensive expertise in agro-environmental modeling, statistical analysis of large datasets (i.e., big data), spatial analyses using geographical information systems (GIS) and remote sensing (RS), and dataset development. His multidisciplinary expertise enabled him to work on relevant research at national scale, such as the recent Water Footprint assessment of the Canadian beef indus ..read more