Planting the seeds for a sustainable future - City of Kamloops

Ranchers in Kamloops depend on Crown rangeland. Crown range is typically usedfrom May to October with private lands supplying the forage requirements for theremainder of the year.Rangeland is often damaged by unmanaged activities. Plants are typically injuredor killed by severe trampling; overuse by both wildlife and livestock; andunauthorized use by all-terrain vehicles, pedal bikes, and off-road vehicles. Theresulting damage severely limits the range from performing important ecologicalfunctions such as holding the soil and water in place. Human disturbance alsoprovides an ideal site for weed invasion. Weeds such as toadflax, leafy spurge,knapweed, houndstongue, orange-flowered hawkweed, and Canada thistle are alla serious menace to the health of BC rangelands.With good range management, cattle grazing is compatible with many of theseother uses and, in some cases, can improve the range for other uses. Wildlifepredation on cattle can create significant economic impact on ranchers. Otherchallenges facing ranchers are mostly related to the costs of inputs and the effectof issues such as international trade, the relative value of the Canadian dollar, andthe demand for beef, all of which affect the prices they receive for their animals.Ranching fits nicely with the land base, topography and climate in the Kamloopsarea. Consumers have become accustomed to grain-fed beef, meaning beef thathas been raised eating grass and finished on grain. BC ranchers can viablyproduce calves and raise them to a certain weight on grass forage. After that,they need a mix of grain and forage or other roughage. For the finishing process, cows are sent to Alberta, to large feedlots,which tend to have access to cheaper feed grain. There is growing evidence that grass-fed beef contains higher levels ofconjugated linoleic acids that may have apparent health benefits. This is an opportunity on which some ranchers in theSouthern Interior have begun to capitalize.Ranching extends far beyond the political boundaries for the City of Kamloops indicatingland interdependence between the City of Kamloops and the extensive agricultural landbase within the TNRD.Dairy farms can operate in theKamloops area, Blackwell Dairybeing a case in point. There aresome dairy farms relocating to theThompson Nicola area. Some ofthese are moving all operationsbut others are starting up branchfarms to raise replacement cows.Silage corn grows very well in theKamloops area but few beefproducers grow corn due to thespecialized inputs required. Cornis often used to feed cows, so ifdairy operations increase in theregion, corn production will likelyfollow suit.CITY OF KAMLOOPS 20