Annan Area Beef Farmer Wins 2009
Ontario Pasture Award
February
26, 2009 (Toronto) - The sponsors of the Ontario Pasture
Award - the Ontario Cattlemen’s Association (OCA),
MAPLESEED and the Ontario Forage Council (OFC) - are
pleased to announce that Ken and Rosemary Mitchell of
Mitchell Farms (at RR #1 Annan, in Grey County), are the
winners of the 2009 Ontario Pasture Award. The award was
presented today at the OCA Annual General Meeting. For
their environmental and pasture improvements and
management, the Mitchell’s will receive a cash award of
$750 and a bag of forage seed.
Ken and Rosemary farm 700 acres in Grey County,
about 10 miles Northeast of Owen Sound, near Annan.
Their operation consists of 7 farms - 6 of which have
some pasture land. They have about 120 cow/calf pairs
and also breed an additional 40 – 50 of the heifers for
sale or herd replacements. The steer calves are sold as
stockers or finished depending on market
conditions. The Mitchells also
custom feed an additional 50 steers. 300 acres of cash
crops are grown annually with the other 400 acres
devoted to hay and pasture. Three of the farms are less
than 1000 feet from Georgian Bay and have some of the
highest heat units in Grey County. Some of the fields on
these farms have a very productive silt/clay loam and
are prone to erosion, making frequent hay crops,
permanent pasture and grass ways a must. Ken has
participated in the Environmental Farm Plan Program and
has fenced the livestock out of the water ways,
providing fresh water for the livestock either at
suitable controlled access points, or portable water
troughs in further out fields.
Almost all fencing is single strand electric and all
fields are rotationally grazed. The permanent pastures
are fields close to the barns, water sources or
wet/stony fields. Some of the fields have not been
broken in over 50 years and have evolved to a clover,
bluegrass, orchard grass, trefoil mixture. Ken frost
seeds 2lb/acre trefoil seed every 2 or 3 years and
remote pastures get phosphorus/potassium fertilizer
every 4 or 5 years, while closer fields get manure
periodically.
“I believe the intensive rotational pasture system,
combined with clean water that is closely accessible at
all times, has contributed greatly to improved herd
health, improved weight gains and sustains more animals
per acre”, Ken comments.
Gerrit Van Kuelan, Sales Manager with MAPLESEED, thinks
Ken’s application is an excellent example of the
benefits of an intensive rotational pasture system.
Ray Robertson, Manager of the Ontario Forage Council,
says “The Mitchells are very worthy recipients of the
2009 Ontario Pasture Award, because they have been
practicing good stewardship methods that can be a great
example for other farmers wanting to maximize their
pasture yields per acre”.
The deadline for applications for the 2010 Ontario
Pasture Award is November 27/09.
For details, call the Ontario Forage Council at
1-877-892-8663 or visit the
Ontario Forage Council’s Web site at
www.ontarioforagecouncil.com
For Further Information Contact:
Ken Mitchell, Mitchell Farms: (519)
372-6506
Ray Robertson, Ontario Forage Council: 1-877-892-8663
Gerrit Van Kuelen, MAPLESEED: 1-800-461-7645
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