The Association of Community Pastures has established an associate membership to run Ontario’s first community pasture on land leased from the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority.
Chad Anderson, President of the Lambton Cattlemen’s Association, mentioned that this process took some time since all current community pastures in the province are on owned property.
“It’s very critical for us to become members, because it allows us access to some provincial funding for community pastures, but more importantly, we get to fall under the umbrella of their insurance that would be a substantial cost for us otherwise,” Anderson said.
He noted that they can now create an action plan to establish the official association.
“All the work on the community pasture has been done by a working committee that was established from the Lambton Cattlemen’s Association,” Anderson said. “The community pasture itself will be a standalone organization. So, right now we’re putting in place plans to create that membership and then from there, we’ll have an elected board that will operate the pasture.”
A map of properties (103, 105 and 111) that make up the Community Pasture. Image courtesy of St. Clair Region Conservation Authority.
Anderson expressed hope to share a rough outline of their action plan at the Lambton Cattlemen’s Association Annual General Meeting scheduled for January 14, 2026.
He stated they’ve always aimed for three main goals with this project.
“One was to support the beef herd in Lambton County. So, the cattle that will be grazed here will all be breeding females. Our second goal was to make [grazing access] a priority for young farmers under 38 years of age,” Anderson said.
They also want to introduce a demonstration component aimed at teaching people about grazing management techniques.
“The land is south of Brigden, near Wallaceburg. It’s part of a 600 acre [property] that was taken by the Darcy Mc Keough floodway when it was put in. The land that the conservation authority picked is very sensitive and best suited for grazing. It’s really nice to see the conservation authority acknowledge that it’s the best use for the land,” Anderson said.
He added they hope to eventually expand usage to cover all 600 acres, but starting with 200 acres is promising.
Anderson confirmed they plan to properly seed grass and install fences in 2026, aiming for cattle grazing to commence in 2027.
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