Cattle and Wildlife

One of the reasons cow-calf farmers and ranchers choose their livelihood is that they like living in rural areas rather than in the city. A benefit of living in the countryside is being able to observe wildlife in its natural habitat. Farmers and ranchers usually take a great deal of interest in the wildlife that coexists with their cattle.

Pasture lands are the preferred habitat for many species of Canadian wildlife, including some species that have been identified as being at risk. Burrowing owls, swift fox, greater prairie chicken, sage grouse, black-tailed prairie dogs, and loggerhead shrikes are all species at risk that prefer unbroken pastures as their habitat. Cattle grazing enables landowners to make a living from their land without having to break it for crops. This provides more habitat for wildlife.

Pasture also provides habitat for many more common species, such as white tail deer and mule deer, antelope, and many ground-nesting birds such as killdeer and ruffed grouse. If not for privately and publicly owned pastureland maintained through cattle grazing, these species too might one day be at risk.

Water sources developed by farmers for cattle, such as dugouts that collect snowmelt, also provide important wildlife habitat. Dugouts provide drinking water for wildlife and habitat for birds such as red-winged blackbirds and various species of ducks.

Many cow-calf producers actively participate in projects to aid in the recovery of wildlife species in Canada. Lots of these farmers and ranchers are the third and fourth generations of the same family to live on the land. They want future generations to be able to observe and appreciate wildlife, just as they do today.