2025 TESA Nominee Profile: Saskatchewan—Mark and Karin Elford, Elford Ranch

Proper management of the native range resource — the number one priority

With a lifetime of ranching in southern Saskatchewan, Mark Elford knows the number one grazing rule is to use but not abuse native grass species “or you’ll pay the price for years to come.”

Mark and his wife Karin, who have built their ranch in the Kildeer district over the past 34 years, say with a very dry start to the 2025 grazing season, they’ve had to pay particular attention to reducing the grazing pressure on the predominantly native range on their Elford Ranch cow-calf, yearling operation. The Killdeer district is about 270 kilometres southwest of Regina and just a few kilometres north of the Montana border.

As of early July, they had already sold their yearling grassers that normally would be out on pasture until September. They were saving the grass for their 250 head Angus-Hereford cross cow-calf herd.

“The native range can be very productive, but you can’t just peel everything off,” says Mark. “Use it yes, but then you must give it time to recover. In a year that started out so dry, it isn’t going to bounce back as quickly.”

Among the practices that earned Elford Ranch recognition as the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association nominee for The Environmental Stewardship Award (TESA) for 2025 are proper management of native grass rangeland; as well as protecting riparian areas along the West Poplar River which crosses through the middle of the range; and awareness of protecting wildlife habitat, including that of several endangered species.

“We have a little over 5,000 acres here at the ranch, but only about 480 acres of that is tame grass pasture,” says Mark. “So, the native grass prairie is an important part of our ranching operation. If looked after properly it will continue to be productive even under dry growing conditions, but it also needs proper rest.”

Mark was raised on the family ranch in the Horse Creek District south of McCord (about 40 kilometres west of their current location near Killdeer). His experience with native range management began at an early age. “I knew from an early age that I wanted to be a rancher,” says Mark. “I bought my first half section of land in the Horse Creek area when I was 14 and the deal included two cows. The parcel had 47 acres of broke land the rest was native range. I was working closely with my dad as well, and I learned an appreciation for proper management of the native range at an early age.”

Elford expanded the ranching operation in the Horse Creek area, running a herd of about 1,100 head, for many years. After selling the homeplace, he and Karin downsized their beef operation and in the early 1990s bought the ranch they live on today. They run a herd of about 250 head of Angus and Hereford cross cattle. They sell one truckload of steers in the fall, but the remaining steers and heifers are backgrounded over winter and usually put out to pasture the following year and sold the following September.

The Elfords also work in partnership with their son Kelcy who ranches about 160 kilometres north in the Old Wives Lake District. They co-own 17 quarter sections of mostly pastureland.

“The Old Wives district is a completely different ranching environment than where we ranch,” says Mark. “The Killdeer area is about 2,500 to 3,000 feet above sea level in what I consider is a high desert environment. We get good grass, but it must be managed carefully. The Old Wives ranch is within the Missouri Couteau, much better soil and usually higher rainfall. The carrying capacity of native range at Old Wives is much higher than it is at Killdeer.”

Most years part of the cow herd will be pastured on the ranch near Killdeer and other cattle—usually the yearlings—will be pastured at the Old Wives ranch. In 2025, due to poor growing conditions the yearlings are already sold, and part of the cow-calf herd will be moved to Old Wives.

The cow herd, exposed for a 42-day breeding season, will begin calving on pasture of stockpiled forage around May 1. The heifers are held closer in on a 60-acre pasture where they begin calving. As soon as cows and heifers calve, they are moved out on to fresh pasture.

“As they start calving, the cow-calf pairs are moved onto tame grass pasture,” says Mark. “The plan is to use that tame grass pasture early in the season and give the native range time to get growing and harden off. We try to avoid using it when the new growth is so tender.” A similar grazing strategy is applied at Old Wives—start out on tame grass pastures and move onto native range later in the year.

By July, cattle at Killdeer are turned out on to native grass pasture. In a rotational grazing system, largely dictated by growing conditions and grazing patterns, cattle are moved onto new pasture areas throughout the summer. Cattle remain on pasture usually until mid to late October, when they are brought home for weaning.

Cows will graze tame pasture regrowth and stockpiled forage at home for a few weeks and then depending on snow conditions, will begin winter feeding in December. For years the Elfords produced their own winter feed, but in the past couple years with such dry growing conditions, they opted to use hay land for additional pasture and have cattle custom fed by a nearby neighbour.

“It actually has worked out very well,” says Mark. “The calves go on feed as soon as they are weaned and the cows are taken there for winter feeding usually starting in December. The cattle are fed a combination of silage and hay blended in a mixer wagon. They do very well, and cost wise it makes better sense then for us trying to make feed ourselves.”

The cows will be brought back to Elford Ranch in March, placed on stockpiled native range pasture, as well as being fed protein in lick tubs. They remain on that program until May when the next grazing season begins around calving.

The Elfords have paid attention to the environment and looking after natural resources their entire ranching life. “I have lived with and learned about managing native range over my lifetime,” says Mark. “Native grasses are hardy and productive but if they are grazed too heavy you are setting yourself up for a world of hurt. They take a long time to recover. This year for example, once plants are grazed there is little or no regrowth; they are not even producing a seed head, so those pastures need to be rested.”

For example, pastures with stockpiled forage used for grazing in March and through to calving are rested for a full 22 months before they receive any grazing pressure again. As cattle move onto native grass for the summer, Mark starts cattle in a different location each year so pastures aren’t grazed at the same time for back-to-back seasons.

Moving cattle to a new range area depends on growing season conditions and a lot of experience. By watching grazing patterns—see what cattle are eating and not eating—Mark determines when it is time to move. Ideally pastures will be left to mature and go to seed before cattle return again. The ranch has worked to increase stock water availability on range which further helps to improve distribution of cattle over the pastures.

Needle and Thread Grass is one of the mainstay native grass species on the Elford Ranch. Along with some fescues, Northern Wheat Grass, Canadian Wheat Grass and Porcupine Grass are also among the most productive native grass species.

“When we bought this place there was a lot of Blue Grama grass,” says Mark. “It is a native species which cattle will eat, but it’s a low growing tuft grass and not very productive. But we started managing the grazing patterns, providing that rest in our grazing rotation and over the years we are seeing way more of the more desirable forage species. Needle and Thread, for example, is the bread-and-butter native grass species we have on our range today.”

Over the years, the Elfords have worked to protect sensitive areas important to wildlife and to protect water quality. With the West Poplar River running across the ranch diagonally from north to south, they have fenced off about 7 kilometres of riparian area along the river to keep cattle out at least at the most important or sensitive times of the year.

Working through the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Foundation, Elford Ranch has connected with Birds Canada, making the ranch available for research projects. As part of the process, Birds Canada has started work on bird inventory to determine what species of birds are present on the ranch.

“Also, one of the first things they did in 2024 was to perform a range assessment,” says Mark. “That’s something I welcomed because it is always good to have an extra set of eyes making an evaluation. They haven’t processed all the data yet, but their preliminary findings provided a pretty good report card that identified the biodiversity of our range resource as well as with wildlife species.”

Picture Include (Left to Right): West Native Pasture, West Native Pasture, North Tame Pasture

Along with fish in the river, the Elfords are seeing pelicans and cormorants on the river at the different times of the year. The ranch is also home or host to a considerable number of waterfowl, shore birds and songbirds, along with endangered upland species such as sharptail grouse, burrowing owls and loggerhead shrikes to name a few. As part of the evaluation process Birds Canada will also give Elford Ranch a rating on Bird Friendliness Index.

“They are just getting started with their work, but we are looking forward to working with them in coming months,” says Mark.

The Elfords will continue to apply the proper range management practices to ensure—rain or shine—native grasses remain as productive as possible. “I don’t see any major changes in what we are doing, but we are always looking for ways to improve our management,” says Mark.

“Perhaps the next frontier for us is to look at managing soil bacteria and the Mycorrhizal fungi, for example. It is a naturally occur fungi that can help enhance root development and overall plant growth. Home gardeners use it, but what if we could use something like that to improve root development on native range? I’m hoping that researchers will have a look at this and am anxious to see what impact it might have on native grass species.

“The bigger question, is there something that can be done to enhance the activity of the soil microorganisms? Perhaps the next step involves practices and treatments that help manage the soil ecosystems. While we are doing our best to manage what is happening above ground, is there something that we can do to help manage the health of the soil?

“Over the years we have just done what we felt was right to manage the range resource and protect water quality in creating a sustainable ranching operation,” he says. “It is an honour to be recognized and nominated by the Saskatchewan Stock Growers for this award.”