Effects of rotational grazing implementation at the Thunder Bay Community Pasture on soil and forage health

This project is about creating dynamic maps of cattle movement over pasture foraging patches that will be characterized by forage plant composition, cover, and nutrition and takes place at the Thunder Bay Community Pasture (TBCP). The project is intended to test how the costs of implementing rotational grazing on the TBCP can be minimized by working with principles of cow-calf pair cohesion to manage the placement of “leader” cows in paddocks, and to make recommendations on how average summer daily gains for the cattle on the pasture can be increased along with increasing soil health, forage plant diversity and pasture utilization. The results will be matched to Ontario’s pasture utilization targets, which are currently being defined by OMAFRA, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Faculty Supervisor:

Brian McLaren

Student:

Partner:

Huazhong Agriculture University

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Agriculture and Food; Natural Resources

University:

Lakehead University

Program: