Cattle mill in the knee-deep grasslands within the Grey-Dufferin Community Pasture in mid-June 2025. Photo: Beef Farmers of Ontario

Ontario cattle groups pioneer community pastures through first-ever public land lease agreements

New leasing model in Lambton County transforms conservation lands into sustainable grazing pastures with long-term environmental and farm sector benefits.

Lambton Cattlemen’s Association and Grey-Dufferin Community Pasture veer off the beaten path into conservation authority and municipal land leases to develop new community pastures within the St. Clair River Conservation Authority and Dufferin County.


Beef cattle grazing in belly deep pastureland, wearing collars with orange circular receivers that alert them to virutal fencing.

Province invests in community grazing pastures

Ontario’s growing community pastures will receive up to $5 million to boost the resilience and productivity of community grazing land. The funding was announced at the Ontario Forage Expo near Paisley June 26. The forage expo was put on by the Ontario Forage Council which will administer the community pastures program. Why it matters: Community […] Read more



Katlin Lang is co-founder of FarmSimple Solutions, a company that provides a water trough sensor for remote watering system.
 Photo: John Greig

At Ag in Motion: Water trough monitoring made easier

Glacier FarmMedia – Imagine being able to run to the lake without worrying about water trough levels for grazing cattle. That’s the scenario that drove Katlin and his brother Dustin Lang, of Vibank, Sask., to found a company to provide a water trough monitoring system. Designed for troughs that are connected to solar systems out […] Read more

Smoke rises from a wildfire near Wildwood, Alta., about 100 km west of Edmonton, on May 5, 2023. (Photo: Alberta Wildfire/Handout via Reuters)

Alberta ‘crossing fingers’ for rain amid wildfires

CN mainline traffic west of Edmonton suspended

Reuters — Firefighters were counting on rain and cooler weather forecast for Monday to help them quell a dramatic start to Alberta’s wildfire season. The province declared a state of emergency on Saturday in response to wildfires in northern and central regions that have displaced nearly 30,000 people and prompted energy producers to shut in […] Read more


Tom Aikins explains how his operation works during the Beef Farmers of Ontario annual dinner Feb. 22 in Toronto.

Rotational grazing system earns BFO pasture award

Young farmer followed his dream, started beef operation on rented land

Tom Aikins is humble about receiving the 2023 Beef Farmers of Ontario Mapleseed Pasture Award. “They decided they wanted to give me this,” said the first-generation farmer from Ravenna, Grey County, during the BFO dinner following its annual meeting last month. “I don’t really know why. I’m not reinventing the wheel, but we’re raising cattle […] Read more

File photo of a cow grazing near Leader, Sask., about 85 km south of Kindersley. (James_Gabbert/iStock/Getty Images)

Saskatchewan holds Crown grazing rents at last year’s levels

Also, leaseholders on drought-downgraded land eligible for rate cut

Cattle producers leasing Crown land for grazing in Saskatchewan won’t see a rate hike this year and may be eligible for a significant rate cut. The provincial government announced Wednesday it has frozen the rates charged to producers who lease Crown grazing land in 2023 at their 2022 level. The freeze will apply to all […] Read more