Winter Cattle Water…the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Part of farming is getting chores done, no matter what Mother Nature has in store.
This year, that's been about 10,000,000,000 times easier for our family.
Why? Our new winter watering system.
So beautiful. So amazing. So awe-inspiring.
I can see the confusion in your eyes. Why am I so enamored with a water tank?
Well, it's like this.
When we first started farming, this is NOT how our winters looked.
It was more than a little jenky, but we literally carried 5-gallon buckets of water for our cattle out from our mudroom way over to the pasture.
Multiple time a day.
Every. Single. Day.
When a buddy gifted us an old ice-fishing bucket-carrier to stick on our 4-wheeler, we felt like we were finally moving up in the world.
Now we could carry THREE buckets. At once!
Life was wild.
Eventually, as our herd grew, the five-gallon-bucket method wasn't a feasible chore.
We spent a summer installing freezeless water hydrants, which did simplify things...a bit.
No more did we have to lug buckets every day.
But - we did have to drain hoses, fill tanks multiple times a day, and keep our rambunctious boys from chewing on the tanks heaters (AGAIN).
We made this work for quite a few years - it got the job done and we hadn't won the lottery, after all. :)
Thankfully, we started working with the NRCS (National Resources Conservation Services), an organization that helps farmers use natural resources (in this case, water) more sustainably.
In working with them, we were approved for funding to cover a true winter watering system - YIPPY - and spent much of last fall working to install this bad boy.
Let me tell you. This thing has been a godsend.
The water auto-fills. AUTO! No more lugging an uncooperative toddler outside multiple times a day to fill up tanks for thirsty boys.
I haven't had to break through ice in the tank ONCE this winter. That in and of itself has been amazing.
No more finding chewed up tank heaters from bored steers. Or worse - melted tanks from when the water ran low and the heating element melted the plastic. 🤦♀️
AND - wild concept - it's allowed us to leave our house for an entire day in the winter and NOT worry about the cattle running out of water. (I can see your head exploding with that epiphany right now.)
Instead. Pure bliss. We check the water twice a day (just in case) and voilà - our boys have all the water they need.
Don't worry - we've still got plenty of other outdoor chores to keep us sharp. And that whole newborn thing has us on our toes too 🤣
Til next time!
Mary