Tantramar Community Pasture
Matt Beal
Sackville
The Tantramar Community Pasture includes roughly 1,800 acres of systematically drained marshland in the heart of the Chignecto isthmus. Due to its significant biodiversity richness, the isthmus is a Community-Nominated Priority Places for Species at Risk and is part of Canada’s Nature Fund through Environment and Climate Change Canada. These New Brunswick crown land acres have supported grazing cattle for decades in a continuous grazing system.
A new generation assuming management of the community pasture brings new approaches to grazing management. These have been implemented over the past several years, making this an ideal location as a New Brunswick Living Lab site host.
Approximately 80 acres have been subdivided into nine paddocks and stocked with 90 600# steers. Pastures are rotated roughly every 3.5 days, depending on grass availability and herd consumption. An engineered wetland installed by Ducks Unlimited Canada provides clean, consistent drinking water for the herd and habitat for bird and mammal species who share the marsh with grazing livestock.
Grazing cages have been installed to allow for consistent tracking of pasture performance gains after treatments are applied. Clover species are introduced via frost seeding and soil pH corrections are applied to enhance carrying capacity of the pasture. Soil carbon sequestration rates and greenhouse gas emissions from the treatment paddocks are monitored regularly at the site.
Management Practices
Rotational Grazing
40% Legume Content
