AgNow | June 2026

n THE CARILLON STEINBACH, MAN. C8

n www.thecarillon.com THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2026 Agriculture Now

Community pastures shift into gear for the summer CONNOR MCDOWELL BRANDON SUN Langford Community Pasture manager Patrick Robinson, left, tallies the number of cattle he just received from a farmer and stored in a pen. He confirms the number with Art Cochrane, who also took his own count of the dozens of cattle. Customers who leave their cattle at the pasture for the season pay 95 cents per adult cattle per day, and a flat rate of $60 per calf.

drop off bulls with their female herds for the season, having their cattle bred on the pas- tures. The association is led by the people who use the service. It is a financially self-sustain- ing, not-for-profit organization governed by a board of livestock producers who are patrons. The organization is supported by the leader- ship of the Manitoba Beef Producers and the Manitoba Government, according to the asso- ciation’s website. A patron, Scott Baron, dropped off his 2,000-pound Charolais bull named “Gangster” in late May, along with about 80 more cattle. He told the Sun the main reason he uses the pasture is because he doesn’t have enough land to graze all his cattle on his farm for the year. It’s also convenient, like a cow “summer vacation,” where he trusts his animals will be in good hands while they graze and breed. The majority of farmers are within an hour’s drive time, Robinson said. He said the main reason patrons drop cattle off for the season is because they lack land to support their herd in a full season of grazing. Grazing is the most cost-effective way to feed cattle, he said; if a farmer chose to feed their herd hay all year long, for example, “they’d go broke.” Ahead of the season, Robinson spent weeks preparing water infrastructure that is used to supply drinking stations for cattle, as well as repairing fences, he said.

by CONNOR MCDOWELL Local Journalism Initiative

The cattle “summer vacation” period opened at the Langford Community Pasture last week, prompting hundreds of animals to be dropped off by their owners to graze for the summer season. Pasture manager Patrick Robinson received roughly 160 cattle on the morning of May 27 at the pasture, which is tucked roughly four kilometres down two dirt roads off Highway 5 south of Neepawa. The 17C breezy morning turned to a sweaty 30C in the early afternoon before multiple semi-loads of cattle had been accounted for, organized and released to graze. The work at the corral included branding as well as tagging some cattle, herding them and counting them before releasing the animals out to the fields, where they will be stewarded until October. Robinson enlisted help from two riders, Art Cochrane and Ernie Vandersteen. The community pasture expects to host about 1,200 cattle this year, Robinson told the Brandon Sun . The pastures fill up typically; he said roughly 550 cattle were refused last year because there was no space left. The pasture is part of the Association of Manitoba Community Pastures, one of 19 managed by the association, according to the

CONNOR MCDOWELL BRANDON SUN Robinson counts the number of cattle just received from a customer. The number determines how much the customer pays per day, at a rate of 95 cents per head. It also sets a baseline so that the customer knows at the end of the year whether any cattle have been lost to predators.

website. A total of roughly 40,000 cattle utilize the farmer-led project each year, staff said. The service allows farmers to drop their

cattle off to graze for the season. Farmers are charged 95 cents per adult cattle per day, and $60 per calf for the whole season. Farmers also

CONNOR MCDOWELL BRANDON SUN Robinson brands a 2,000 pound bull Charolais cow. The pasture manager, as well as his team of riders, need to be able to identify the bull from a distance at the community pasture in order to track his behaviour and health.

CONNOR MCDOWELL BRANDON SUN Ernie Vandersteen removes a tick from his dog, Blue, while waiting for cattle to arrive in the morning at the Langford Community Pasture.

CONNOR MCDOWELL BRANDON SUN Ernie Vandersteen, left, and Art Cochrane watch over the first load of cattle to arrive on May 27 at the pasture. The two men helped intake roughly 160 cattle that day, and release the animals out onto pastures to graze. The two help part-time to steward cattle at the community pasture, which runs from May to October.

CONNOR MCDOWELL BRANDON SUN A customer of the community pasture drops off roughly 41 calves, marking the first shipment to arrive for the morning at Langford Community Pasture last week. The cattle wind through a corral before finding a pen to stay while the pasture manager counts the total and prepares them for exit onto pasture.