Cattle producers Charles and Meriel Tavernor were among the first ALUS participants in Manitoba.
On their 1,110-acre farm, just north of Basswood, along the south side of the Little Saskatchewan River Valley, they have converted much of the annual cropland to perennial forages, and now they carefully custom graze 300 head of cattle using a mob-grazing effort on small paddocks.
Their ALUS project is part of an ongoing series of improvements that has seen them restore and enhance wetlands, repair cuts and gullies, install offsite watering systems, plant shelterbelts and set up rotational grazing systems on their land.
The Tavernors are key advocates of the program, helping to spread the word about the value of the ALUS approach. They are well versed in the concept, having participated in similar schemes that pay for ecosystem services in their native England.
