Water is an essential part of cattle production and pasture management. Under the recent drought conditions, the game of getting your cattle to water was completely changed. No longer could cattle simply be moved between pastures and paddocks where various sources of water were, because ponds had dried up, and streams were low, often at levels never seen before.
There are a variety of options for water sources at the farm: wells, ponds, creeks, springs or public water supplies. Missouri cattle are usually watered from surface sources, ponds and streams. How do producers best capitalize on the right water sources for their system?
Mark Green, District Conservationist with the Greene County Natural Resource Conservation Service, offered some of his advice for the best approach to getting new water sources at the farm. “I have always felt in our country we’re kind of fortunate, we can still drill some good wells; we have access to a dependable water source.” Green said with the ability to drill wells comes the ability to then put the water where you need it, compared to the fixed nature of a pond or stream.
The option of drilling also gives you the ability, if you want, to expand your rotational grazing system, he noted.
But what’s the cost of drilling? “Probably a pretty safe bet, not counting electricity, is when you start counting well drilling, the casing, pump house, you’re looking at a $10,000 bill. And, you need to investigate nowadays what it’s going to cost to get electricity to it,” Green said.
But there is federal and state money available for the well. “There is a federal program under EQIP (Environmental Quality Incentives Program), through a grazing system, to put in a well. There is nothing available just to drill a well, (outside of emergency drought programs) and it’s always tied to a rotational grazing system. But if you’re fencing a stream or river out, if that was your water source, or you’re putting in rotational grazing, there can be resources available.”
Green noted that there is possible cost-share assistance available from federal and state sources. For the federal EQIP program, you can sign up at your local NRCS office any time. Also, the Soil and Water Conservation District has state funding for grazing system cost-share. Both of these can provide cost assistance, through which you can implement a well system concurrently with a grazing system or by restricting your livestock from surface area sources.
A well can be dug, or a gravity flow system can be installed from spring, pond or stream sources.
“There are a lot of good options,” Green agreed. “There are two things to think about: The first thing is, I ask people, ‘how many months out of the year do we truly need freeze-proof water?’ Most groups will say two months. The most expensive type of water system is one with buried lines and permanent tanks.
Green noted that for freeze-proof water, concrete buried tanks are an excellent option, but you can also have the same effect with tire tanks, ball tanks, flap tanks… “they’re all decent options, depending on your situation.”
Plus, Green said, he’s seen situations where those tanks, in ice storms, can get their balls or flaps frozen. This is usually a situation of poor installation, Green noted. “If they’re put in well, with a good heat well going down 4 feet below them to keep them freeze proof, they’ll do their job.”
But Green’s preference among all waterers is the tire tanks. “Because they are cheap. Although, it’s getting harder to find the tires; we’re pushing them too hard,” he joked.
Green said if a producer can find a tire for free or not too expensive, “by the time I have some concrete, the float, fittings, a gravel pad – I can put a tank in for $100-150, not counting labor, just with that material.” His caveat is they are labor intensive to install. His perhaps second choice is then a concrete buried tank. His tip with these types of waterers: “I like to see them a minimum 18 inches out of the ground. I’ve known a lot of producers lose calves in them.”
Producers are all-too-often wasting grass on the perimeters of their pastures, Green said, but if we can get water and cross fence out to those, we can fully utilize all our land, regardless of the weather conditions we face as a region.
