Bale grazing can be divisive: some farmers can’t believe they didn’t do it sooner and others will never ever do it again. Join grazing mentors Dean Cober and Chris Moore, with OMAFA Forage and Grazing Specialist Christine O’Reilly, as they talk about their wins, losses and what they have learned about bale grazing.

About the speakers

Dean Cober

Dean Cober farms with his wife Carolyn and their three children Levi, Grace and Abigail between Owen Sound and Meaford along Highway 26 in Grey County. They operate a purebred Red Angus herd (with a few Hereford cattle) focusing on producing seedstock females and a select number of bulls each year.

Dean is committed to maximizing grass utilization and continues to explore integrating grazing with cropping systems, viewing each day as an opportunity to learn. In addition to grazing, the farm produces horse-quality small square bales, offers custom hay services and includes some cropping.

Alongside farming, Dean works for a CAT dealer and travels to remote mine sites to support the farm financially with the goal of transitioning to full-time farming in the future.

Chris Moore

Chris Moore farms in the Ottawa Valley near Kinburn and is the taller, more angry half of the Shady Creek Lamb Co. team.

An unconventional grazier by consequence first and now by choice, Chris and his partner Lyndsey Smith run their sheep flock on commercial-scale solar sites providing vegetation abatement services.

Chris has learned to adapt, try new things and graze where others won’t in an ongoing quest to reduce feed costs and avoid buying haying equipment. Cover crop grazing and crop aftermath grazing are key parts of this plan. Find him on Instagram as @Shady_Creek_Lamb.

Christine O’Reilly

Christine is the forage and grazing specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness. Her areas of focus include the benefits of forages and grazing within cropping systems and improving the productivity and profitability of forages.