Duane E. Pysher
Grassland Management Specialist
Natural Resources
Conservation Service
I just looked out the window think
ing about what I was going to write
about in this issue of Foraging
Around. I see that it is still raining and
water is running down the window.
I realized that we often take water
for granted in our everyday lives. It is
a very precious and essential element
of life but oftentimes we do not be
come concerned with that fact until
there is none available.
When you think about water and its
availability in a grazing system, most
livestock producers have many
choices to make concerning how,
where, and when they will provide it.
Let’s think about those choices and
what factors need to be considered in
making those choices.
First choice is where to provide wa
ter for your livestock. More specifical
ly I am thinking that you need to de
cide if you arc going to put water in
each paddock or to provide it at a cen
tral water facility.
T9pRSH€V
mKm EQUIPMENT CO.
OLD SYCAMORE INDUSTRIAL PARK
255 PLANE TREE DRIVE
LANCASTER, PA 17603
TELE: (717)393-5807 FAX: (717)291-
800-432-0988
Designer of Quality Systems for Poultry and Grain Handling
There are a few things to consider
in making this first choice. First is,
what class of livestock are you dealing
with? A beef herd or lactating dairy
herd should make a big impact on
your decision. There is no question if
you should have water in the paddock
for the lactating dairy cow the
question is can you afford not to do it?
Water is the cheapest feed you can
give your cows to make milk and hav
ing an available supply of good, clean
water in the paddock is the best way to
give it to them.
In addition to making milk, the fact
that the trough is in the paddock gives
most dairy farmers the option of using
smaller troughs. As a rule, only one or
two cows will go for a drink at time
when it is in the paddock; however, if
one cow leaves the paddock to go to
water, the rest will follow and then
you need a large volume of water to
meet their needs. They will also con
sume more water in a typical day if it
is more readily available to them.
Providing water in every paddock
to produce more milk is not as critical
with the lactating beef cow, but con-
GRAIN SYSTEMS INC.
“a step ahead”
Foraglng Around, Uncater Farming, Saturday. April 17, 1999-Page 23
sider this fact if you have water in
every paddock, do you need to have as
good a laneway system for the beef
cow herd? The answer is probably no
if you do not need to go to the pad
docks routinely with equipment. Then
the money you would spend on lane
ways could be used to provide the wa
ter system and maintain it.
Secondly, we need to think about
the source of our water supply. Two
considerations associated with the
supply are quality and quantity. Most
folks think about the quantity part, be
cause it is important to have enough
water to meet the livestock’s need for
the entire grazing season. The quality
aspect is often overlooked and gener
ally never considered.
I am going to provide you with
some documented evidence that qual
ity of water can and does make a dif
ference in animal performance.
A dairy farmer and his son who are
grazing a herd of Holsteins in Wayne
County have water available in every
paddock. The water source is the only
thing that changes from paddock to
paddock. The cows were moved from
a paddock that had a spring as the
source of water to a paddock that had a
pond as the source of water. The 50
lactating cows dropped a total of 364
pounds of milk in one day and stayed
there until the third day, when their
production level returned to almost
normal and they were back on the
spring water. This same trend was re-
peated in three grazing cycles in 1997
and also in 1998. This points out that it
was not the availability of water but
the quality of the water provided that
caused the drop in milk production. I
would tell you from this and other data
that water quality is as important as
quantity.
Once you decide that you want to
put water in every paddock, it is im
portant that you choose a system that
can supply the quantity of water that
the livestock will demand. To deliver
that water you need to put together the
components that will transfer the wa
ter from the source to the trough or tub
the livestock will drink from.
There are many types of pumps or
devices that will move the water. They
all move water the difference is
basically the form of energy that is
used in doing the pumping. There are
pumps that run on solar-collected dir
ect current, alternating current, wind
power, kinetic energy from flowing
water in a stream or from a spring
flow, or are operated as a result of
energy supplied by the livestock that
are drinking. Every situation needs to
be evaluated to determine which
pump will do the job.
Based on the pump selected, you
can choose the size of the pipe that
will deliver the water to the livestock.
The last decision that needs to be
made is the type and size of the
trough, the number of troughs needed,
and their location. As we discussed
earlier, you can use a smaller trough if
water is available in the paddock;
however, that is not the only con
sideration that goes into the size of the
trough. The number of livestock, type
of livestock, and flow delivery or re
charge rate of the trough are important
sizing considerations.
The recharge rate of the trough is
the most important factor in sizing the
trough in my estimation. It is the valve
that controls the recharge if the pump
and pipe are sized properly to service
the system. To use a small trough, you
need to be able to deliver water to the
trough at a rate faster than it will be
consumed.
If your pipe system delivers eight
gallons per minute, but you install a
valve that delivers three gallons per
minute, then the system is limited by
the flow rate of the valve and you have
to consider a larger trough to handle
the demands and provide a reserve
supply for the livestock. I recommend
paying the cost of the valve that will
give you high volume flows and con
sider using a smaller trough.
There are many factors that go into
the design and installation of a water
ing system. We have briefly discussed
many of them, but you need to think
about your goals and objectives asso
ciated with your grazing system.
I think most of you will be profit
motivated and the availability of a re
liable, high quality water supply is
very essential is helping to maximize
those profits. If you need additional
information or assistance to evaluate
your watering needs or to design and
install a system-contact your local
Natural Resources Conservation Ser
vice office, county cooperative exten
sion office, or conservation district of
fice to get that help.
You can also contact me at (717)
237-2221 or at NRCS, Suite 340, One
Credit Union Place, Harrisburg, PA
17110-2993. Until next time, happy
grazing!