Producer Profile with Clayton & Quinn Robbins

Beef and Forage Roundup

Quinn Robins graduated from Assiniboine Community College in 2017 after completing his Agribusiness Diploma. After this, he worked at Richardson Pioneer in Shoal Lake Manitoba from May 2017 to May 2022 as a Location Assist working on the grain operation as well as the crop input operations. Quinn is currently Working at Ducks Unlimited Canada and has a passion to help create a diverse environment with thriving forages and wetlands going forward in the ag industry.

Quinn was a 4-H member for 14 years and held a number of club positions(e.g. club reporter, secretary, vice president, and president). He had the honour to be awarded travel opportunities through 4-H and traveled to the 4-H Citizenship Seminar in Charlottetown, PEI, 4-H Canada Members Forum in Toronto, ON, and the 4-H National US Conference in Washington, DC.

Quinn grew up on the family farm and has been working with livestock since a young age. Quinn started buying into the farm and sharing more of the percentage in 2016 and at present day they are getting close to 50-50 split between them. He and his dad work together to run a commercial beef production farm at the moment but growing up they had sheep in their grazing system as well.

Clayton Robins operates a mixed family farm in Rivers, Manitoba with a primary focus on beef production. At the present time the operation includes; cow/calf, back-grounding, and custom grazing. The operation included sheep production for about 30 years, until 2009.

Clayton graduated from the University of Manitoba in 1989 with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and then spent over 20 years with Agriculture and Agri Food Canada Research Branch in Brandon studying beef and forage production: including extending the grazing season, forage-based finishing, greenhouse gas mitigation, modeling, cultivar development, and energetic efficiencies. Through this has co-authored a number of scientific papers. Clayton also served as the Executive Director of Manitoba 4-H Council for 7 years. Clayton is currently employed with Manitoba Beef and Forage Initiatives, working to support research and extension projects.

Clayton spent several years working on Ag industry development as a member of numerous Boards and committees. Through coaching sport, volunteer time and Board positions with Ag in the Classroom, Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba and other such youth education programs, youth development has been and continues to be an important part of his private life.

In 2013, Clayton was awarded one of the Nuffield Canada Scholarships, touring the world to study the potential for energy-dense forages in the Canadian beef production model and has since delivered presentations on the concept in 8 countries.

In this episode, Clayton and Quinn share information about their current practices in grazing and cover crop use.

Clayton discusses some overall trends he has observed in approaches to improving grazing and beef cattle production, as well as how work on their farm has inspired practices in MBFI’s farm operations and project ideas. This has included the use of small diameter bales, dropped where harvested, in the field for later season grazing of bales and intercrop regrowth to MBFI.

Quinn shares some of the biggest changes he has noticed on their farm because of the practices he and Clayton have been using. He also discusses some of their plans for the future to continue these practices.

Clayton also talks about his experience with Nuffield Canada and the opportunity to be awarded a Nuffield Canada Scholarship in 2013. During this journey, Clayton started out by considering the role of “energy-dense” forbs on beef cattle nutrition and he shares how their practices have changed and stayed the same since completing his studies.

If you would like to contact Clayton or Quinn about their practices, or to talk to Calayton about his experience with Nuffield Canada, they are very happy to have listeners reach out via email at:

Clayton: [e-mail]

Quinn: [e-mail]

For more information on the Nuffield Canada Program, please visit: https://www.nuffield.ca

The research programs and daily operations at MBFI would not be possible without the funding from the Province of Manitoba, Government of Canada, and Canadian Agricultural Partnership, as well as the partnership with Manitoba Agriculture, Manitoba Beef Producers (MBP), Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) and the Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association (MFGA).

We encourage you to follow MBFI on social media, or check out the website for more information on project findings and results, upcoming events and more!

Instagram: @MBBeefandForage

Facebook: @MBBeefandForage

Twitter: @MBBeefandForage

Website: www.mbfi.ca

Email address: [e-mail]

Mary-Jane’s Phone Number: 431-255-0011