From a grass-finished beef direct-to-consumer enterprise to a homestead dairy cow, there’s lots to consider before adding cattle to your operation. Join this session and benefit from years of farming experience to guide your decisions- no bull!

In this session, you’ll learn everything you need to know to get started with cattle, including topics such as fencing, feeding, watering, pasture management, housing, parasite and disease management, predator protection, and much more. While the focus of the session will be on cattle, draft horses can also be discussed if there is participant interest.

This session will be well-suited to those just starting out with or considering keeping cattle, who wish to explore the fundamentals and gain a solid knowledge foundation. This course will also be relevant to those with intermediate knowledge of cattle, but who wish to gain new perspectives from seasoned instructors.

This session is a part of the Introduction to Regenerative Livestock course. Sign up for the full course or other individual sessions on the EFAO Events page.

About the Instructors:

Fran McQuail: Fran McQuail and her husband, Tony, have run a small diversified certified organic farm ( Meeting Place Organic Farm)  near Lucknow, Ontario for 40 years. After turning the business over to their daughter, Katrina, they still live on the farm and continue to be actively involved with it.

The farm evolved over the years from a small homestead livestock style operation to a commercial enterprise but still with a wide diversity of livestock. They have raised everything from rabbits to goats to horses and most other types of livestock along the way. They were early adopters of Holistic Management’s Planned Grazing, a rotational grazing system that improves the pasture over time by considering the plants in addition to the animals.  Planned Grazing of all livestock is the foundation of the farm’s current production. This include meat chickens, layers, pigs, cattle and draft horses. The farm’s website is www.meetingplaceorganicfarm.ca

Fran, a past President of EFAO, enjoys sharing her knowledge and experiences with others and has taught livestock and farm management courses for EFAO in the past.

Katrina McQuail: Katrina McQuail returned to Meeting Place Organic Farm in 2014 and took over the farm business in 2016. Born and raised in Huron County on the farm, Katrina took a round about way back to becoming a farmer. Spending over 10 years away, Katrina completed a degree in Business and Not For Profit Management and a minor in French at Earlham College in Indiana before going on to work in the culinary industry, traveling in the Caribbean, Central and South America as well as in Europe, and working for government and corporate agencies before running a wonderful social change not-for-profit in Guelph for 4 years.

Currently Katrina serves on the EFAO board, just stepped back from the Eat Local Huron Board and is the assistant clerk for Friends General Conference. Katrina is passionate about all things farmy – but especially pigs. Katrina and her partner Ben live on the farm with their two young children. Planned Grazing of all livestock is the foundation of the farm’s current production. This includes meat chickens, layers, pigs, cattle and draft horses. The farm’s website is www.meetingplaceorganicfarm.ca