Every animal on this earth needs water to survive. There are many different ways producers supply water to their livestock, including ponds, creeks, spring developments, wells and rural water. We may take for granted the availability of water in our busy daily lives. That is, until a year like this.
There is no worse feeling than going out to check your cattle and seeing them huddled around the empty water tank or dry creek bed.
Most producers in Noble and surrounding counties have been hauling water to livestock since June. We have had numerous calls to the soil and water conservation department office asking about building ponds and developing springs.
Ponds can be very expensive and may require permitting. Spring developments are a low-cost alternative. Gravity Spring developments are relatively inexpensive to develop and require no electricity to operate. The best time to locate them is during the dry season in late summer.
Springs occur where groundwater emerges naturally at the surface. They usually occur in areas on hillsides or near the bottom of slopes that are always wet. Look for plants that thrive in wet soil like sedges, cattails or willows. Water yield and dependability vary greatly.
Springs that are ideal for use as water systems have good flow year-round are located higher in the landscape and make it relatively easy to collect the water and pipe it to tanks at lower elevations. If you can find some water that’s seeping out of the ground and moving along the surface during the drought, chances are it will be there year-round for you. It may not be a tremendous amount of water, but if you collect it over 24 hours, it will surprise you how much water it will make.
The amount of water a spring can produce can be easily determined by measuring how many gallons of water flow from the outlet every minute. For example, a spring flowing one gallon per minute will produce about 1,440 gallons in a day. The average lactating beef cow requires about 30 gallons of water per day during the hot summer months.
At that rate, a producer could supply 40 cow-calf pairs per day. With a gravity-fed system, the overflow from a higher-elevation tank can feed lower-elevation tanks, making it easier to rotate pastures and keep water close to grazing livestock.
The basic idea behind a spring development is to dig a trench and add perforated pipe and gravel to create a collection area for water to seep into. A dam is then created to force the water into a PVC pipe, which carries it to a collection tank of some kind.
Water troughs in our area are usually made from old tires or concrete. The Natural Resource Conservation Service and your local soil and water conservation district can help if you think a spring development will work on your farm.
I know this year has been hard on all producers in my area. By reacting to the summer, we have just dealt with and investing in the future of our farms, we will be ready for whatever Mother Nature decides to send our way in the years to come.
