In this episode of 'In Living Cover,' presented by the Regenerative Alberta Living Lab, host Kim Cornish talks with Doug Wray, who ranches near Irricana on land his grandfather began farming in 1910. Doug traces the farm's history from breaking native prairie and the summer fallow years through to feeding ammoniated chaff, and then to the decision in the late 1990s to seed the cropland to perennial pasture and run the operation as a grazing ranch, shaped by Jim Bauer's pasture school and Ranching for Profit. The conversation covers building paddocks and water systems, winter grazing native grass, shifting to May calving, choosing crops for swath grazing, managing weeds, renewing older pastures, and what virtual fencing collars are starting to make possible. Doug also reflects on training his eye to read grass and soil, and on the work it took to get the beef industry to invest in forage research.

00:00 Introduction to Doug Wray

02:39 Always Looking for a Better Way

04:32 Tipping Points and Practice Adoption

06:31 Homesteading on the Prairie in 1910

14:16 John Noble and the Dust Storm Years

16:22 Summer Fallow and Farming in the 1960s

18:41 Wintering Cattle Before Round Bales

22:40 Ammoniated Chaff and the Move to Swath Grazing

27:00 Seeding Down the Farm and Running It as a Ranch

28:14 Foothills Forage, Jim Bauer and Ranching for Profit

33:52 Building the Grazing System: Paddocks, Pipelines and Water

39:58 Winter Grazing Native Grass, May Calving and Yearlings

43:21 Choosing Crops for Swath Grazing

46:40 Trying Multi-Species Cover Crops Again

51:29 Managing Weeds

52:40 Renewing Worn-Out Pastures

55:26 Trying Biosolids on Pasture

58:41 Changing Cattle Economics and Succession

1:01:01 Virtual Fencing Collars

1:10:45 Training Your Eye to Read Grass and Soil

1:17:53 Getting the Beef Industry to Invest in Forages

1:21:04 Stewardship Recognition

1:22:39 Wrap-Up