Source: Beef Farmers of Ontario
The Beef Farmers of Ontario (BFO), Mapleseed and the Ontario Forage Council, sponsors of the Ontario Mapleseed Pasture Award, announced Jeff Pollard of Pollard Farms located in Stratton, Ontario, as the recipient of the 2020 award for his environmental improvements and exceptional pasture management. Pollard was recognized at the BFO Annual General Meeting held in Toronto earlier this week.
Pollard Farms operate close to 1,500 acres, 900 of which are dedicated to grazing cattle. These grazed pastures are split between 820 acres of rotationally strip-grazed paddocks and 80 acres of continuously grazed pasture. Cattle are moved daily to ensure Pollard can extend his grazing season throughout the year. Rotational grazing cattle allows the pastures to be continuously fertilized and reseeded without the need for commercial fertilizers or equipment.
Pollard’s pastures consist of numerous grass and legume species including, but not limited to timothy, tall fescue, red clover, alsike clover, bird’s foot trefoil and alfalfa, as well as many other native species, which thrive in these pastures and depending on the year and weather conditions. The farm’s waterline provides fresh water to all of the pastures, allowing for all of the riparian areas and rough terrain to be fenced off.
Pollard is also working to plant over 10,000 evergreen trees within these land parcels.
“This year’s recipient is a great manager, and a producer who is highly regarded by his peers,” says Scott Fisher, Western Ontario Sales Manager with Mapleseed.
“Pollard Farms is a worthy recipient of the 2020 Mapleseed Pasture Award,” says Ray Robertson, Manager of the Ontario Forage Council. “It’s great to recognize an outstanding beef operation in North-Western Ontario.”
The Mapleseed Pasture Award is a way of encouraging producers to implement pasture management strategies that maximize production per acre, and is an excellent opportunity to recognize individual producers who are doing an outstanding job. Pollard was rewarded with $500 and a 25-kilogram bag of Mapleseed forage mix for his outstanding efforts.
The application deadline for the 2021 Mapleseed Pasture Award is November 30th, 2020
