New program: Maintaining forage health using sheep and goats

A new accreditation program that aims to teach sheep and goat producers best practices for grazing forages is nearly complete, thanks to a partnership with Lakeland College, the Alberta Lamb Producers (ALP) and the Alberta Goat Association (AGA) with funding from Alberta Environment and Parks Rangeland Sustainability program.

Alberta has a thriving sheep industry, ranked third in Canada for sheep and lamb inventories. Over 1,550 producers produce quality lamb in the province.

Sheep and goat production presents land stewards with a unique opportunity – not only do they graze areas that cattle cannot access, but they also consume plants that cattle find unpalatable. This does lead to some issues with grazing conditions that must be managed, including areas with solar farms, invasive weeds, forests, powerline cut blocks, as well sheep and goats being used for inner city vegetation control and to graze low-quality marginal lands.

There are few resources available to producers who continue to seek new opportunities to improve land stewardship, better understand grazing animal management, and address these common and uncommon conditions their flocks or herds may be impacted by. Increased demand for alternatives to pesticide spraying to control vegetation has also added to this issue.

This new Vegetation Management Accreditation program seeks to rectify this by providing herd managers and producers with the details they need to graze sheep or goats and maintain forage health successfully.

When complete, the program will include modules on grazing principles, grazing tame and native forages, stockmanship and animal welfare, building a business plan, and unique grazing.

The project began in the summer of 2022 when Samuel Reive, an Olds College student, was hired by ALP to develop the initial modules. In the summer of 2023, University of Saskatchewan student Katrina Gallan and Thompson Rivers University masters student Cassy Doolaege built out the remaining modules, quizzes, and exams. This past summer, Lakeland alumna and current University of Alberta agriculture student Aspen McTaggart worked with a select group of producers to trial the course, interview stakeholders and get feedback. Currently, Vaughn Zimmer, bachelor of agriculture technology student intern, is putting the finishing touches on the course, conducting a curriculum assessment with MITACS funding, and promoting it for the 2025 launch.

To learn when the program launches, contact admin@ablamb.ca.