Karin
Well-known member
Just came back last night from attending a field day at the Mattheis research ranch in S. Alberta. Fun day, but it was hot (~34ºC for a high). Not surprising for being on the prairies in July.
There was a good turn out of I think around 100 people for tours and talks of current research projects going on at the ranch. I was a part of the soil scientist group in the morning talking with people about the soil on the ranch, and helped dig a couple soil pits to show the horizons and differences between soil in lower elevations versus one about 6 feet higher. We also performed some texture, colour and acid testing (for calcitrates: No reaction on the A and B horizons, but in the C horizon there was quite a bit of bubbling going on, which was demonstrated to the crowd). Plenty of questions about soil attributes and moisture levels as well as correlations between the dark brown chernozemic soil (brown chernozem on the higher elevations) and the plant community and species presence on the ranch lands, which I was able to give a talk about as well both because I had helped with previous plant ID research last year on Mattheis (as well as plant ID for a graduate student just a month ago) and know a bit about differences in plant communities on both a macro- and micro-environment level.
We had a smaller pit at the top of the hill that showed a lighter soil and more rocks than the one in the valley. I was able to point out that the differences between the two pits was evidenced by the change in plant species composition: Cicer milkvetch, western wheatgrass, brome grass, crested wheatgrass and some kentucky bluegrass, with less speargrass (needle and thread) and june grass in the lower areas compared with the hill tops which not only had more june- and spear grasses, but also pincushion cacti (and I told the crowd I've also seen prickly pear), blue grama, and some sand grass. Western wheatgrass wasn't as prevalent because of moisture constraints that were exhibited on the hill tops.
Other graduate students talked about other studies they were doing. One was working on looking at invasive smooth brome both on this ranch and another one further north and how that affects native stands of other plants, especially other grasses and forbs. Another grad student was talking about pollinator and grazing studies on cicer milkvetch, and I had helped her last year get started on that research with placing cages and doing clipping and stem counts and such. There was also talks about the grassland ecology and the "goods and services" attributed to keeping native grassland intact, from grazing to managing existing wetlands created by Ducks Unlimited.
I was also able to go for the afternoon tour (after a tasty BBQ beef lunch back at the headquarters) on a residual feed intake study on the commercial Hereford herd that is being custom grazed on that ranch, as well as affects of rig mats on the plant community, soil and and soil microbial community.
The RFI study was interesting because it was one of the first that was testing how cattle would be feed efficient on a managed/continuous rangeland grazing system versus other studies that have been done on a drylot environment. The RFI study in itself is already complex with two grad students splitting it into two different parts: 1) Production end: analyzing body condition scores, possible molecular effects of either the cow herself or the rumen microbes on how feed efficient she can be, effects on growth of calves and replacement heifers, etc. and 2) Behavioural studies on grazing behaviour of the cows and how that may correlate with how feed efficient they may be on pasture (done using radio collars that collects data on their movements and activities, and a step counter that counts how much cows move around a day. It may not sound that interesting, but it's pretty neat from a animal behavioural scientist's POV). When I mention its complexities, I mean that they could do similar studies in other environments (like in the foothills, aspen parkland, mixed boreal areas), and with other breeds other than the commercial Hereford herd that has some Angus influence. Not only that but the most important point and question that seemed to be made by the grad students was the question of whether the selection for low versus high RFI in cows on range is selecting against the low versus high RFI efficiency levels that feedlots are looking for when finishing cattle, or are is the selection correlating with that looked for in conventional finishing operations?
The last study with the rig mats was really neat. The fact that the mats work in alleviating soil compaction was quite interesting, as demonstrated by a soil compaction metre being plunged into the soil where a rig mat once was (and a big 30 t loader was used to drive over it again and again, not sure how many times), versus the path on the soil where there was no mat. Where the rig mat was: Easy to push in the compaction probe. Where no rig mats where and where the loader had travelled, it was hard to push in. And this was on an area that was mostly sand underneath, where sand dunes had finally stabilized some 4,000 years ago and covered in grassland vegetation. They also looked at the effects of the plants when the rig mats were removed, and it was equally fascinating: The rig mats kept moisture underneath so that when they were taken off, the plants could come back with more vigour and more green than the surrounding vegetation. Of course they also looked at how plants would recover from being denied from sunlight from 6 weeks to 24.
It was a good day yesterday, and I quite enjoyed it. I didn't get enough pictures to share, but the information was quite interesting to hear about.
The Mattheis ranch is also the first ranch that has been put under a conservation easement where the funds from such an easement go right into the research done on the ranch. This is the first agreement that the Alberta government has done in Alberta since Alberta first became a province.
There was a good turn out of I think around 100 people for tours and talks of current research projects going on at the ranch. I was a part of the soil scientist group in the morning talking with people about the soil on the ranch, and helped dig a couple soil pits to show the horizons and differences between soil in lower elevations versus one about 6 feet higher. We also performed some texture, colour and acid testing (for calcitrates: No reaction on the A and B horizons, but in the C horizon there was quite a bit of bubbling going on, which was demonstrated to the crowd). Plenty of questions about soil attributes and moisture levels as well as correlations between the dark brown chernozemic soil (brown chernozem on the higher elevations) and the plant community and species presence on the ranch lands, which I was able to give a talk about as well both because I had helped with previous plant ID research last year on Mattheis (as well as plant ID for a graduate student just a month ago) and know a bit about differences in plant communities on both a macro- and micro-environment level.
We had a smaller pit at the top of the hill that showed a lighter soil and more rocks than the one in the valley. I was able to point out that the differences between the two pits was evidenced by the change in plant species composition: Cicer milkvetch, western wheatgrass, brome grass, crested wheatgrass and some kentucky bluegrass, with less speargrass (needle and thread) and june grass in the lower areas compared with the hill tops which not only had more june- and spear grasses, but also pincushion cacti (and I told the crowd I've also seen prickly pear), blue grama, and some sand grass. Western wheatgrass wasn't as prevalent because of moisture constraints that were exhibited on the hill tops.
Other graduate students talked about other studies they were doing. One was working on looking at invasive smooth brome both on this ranch and another one further north and how that affects native stands of other plants, especially other grasses and forbs. Another grad student was talking about pollinator and grazing studies on cicer milkvetch, and I had helped her last year get started on that research with placing cages and doing clipping and stem counts and such. There was also talks about the grassland ecology and the "goods and services" attributed to keeping native grassland intact, from grazing to managing existing wetlands created by Ducks Unlimited.
I was also able to go for the afternoon tour (after a tasty BBQ beef lunch back at the headquarters) on a residual feed intake study on the commercial Hereford herd that is being custom grazed on that ranch, as well as affects of rig mats on the plant community, soil and and soil microbial community.
The RFI study was interesting because it was one of the first that was testing how cattle would be feed efficient on a managed/continuous rangeland grazing system versus other studies that have been done on a drylot environment. The RFI study in itself is already complex with two grad students splitting it into two different parts: 1) Production end: analyzing body condition scores, possible molecular effects of either the cow herself or the rumen microbes on how feed efficient she can be, effects on growth of calves and replacement heifers, etc. and 2) Behavioural studies on grazing behaviour of the cows and how that may correlate with how feed efficient they may be on pasture (done using radio collars that collects data on their movements and activities, and a step counter that counts how much cows move around a day. It may not sound that interesting, but it's pretty neat from a animal behavioural scientist's POV). When I mention its complexities, I mean that they could do similar studies in other environments (like in the foothills, aspen parkland, mixed boreal areas), and with other breeds other than the commercial Hereford herd that has some Angus influence. Not only that but the most important point and question that seemed to be made by the grad students was the question of whether the selection for low versus high RFI in cows on range is selecting against the low versus high RFI efficiency levels that feedlots are looking for when finishing cattle, or are is the selection correlating with that looked for in conventional finishing operations?
The last study with the rig mats was really neat. The fact that the mats work in alleviating soil compaction was quite interesting, as demonstrated by a soil compaction metre being plunged into the soil where a rig mat once was (and a big 30 t loader was used to drive over it again and again, not sure how many times), versus the path on the soil where there was no mat. Where the rig mat was: Easy to push in the compaction probe. Where no rig mats where and where the loader had travelled, it was hard to push in. And this was on an area that was mostly sand underneath, where sand dunes had finally stabilized some 4,000 years ago and covered in grassland vegetation. They also looked at the effects of the plants when the rig mats were removed, and it was equally fascinating: The rig mats kept moisture underneath so that when they were taken off, the plants could come back with more vigour and more green than the surrounding vegetation. Of course they also looked at how plants would recover from being denied from sunlight from 6 weeks to 24.
It was a good day yesterday, and I quite enjoyed it. I didn't get enough pictures to share, but the information was quite interesting to hear about.
The Mattheis ranch is also the first ranch that has been put under a conservation easement where the funds from such an easement go right into the research done on the ranch. This is the first agreement that the Alberta government has done in Alberta since Alberta first became a province.
