OLDS, Alta.— A good livestock watering system involves management, time and sometimes on-farm tinkering.
“There is nothing made yet that you can just walk away from and say, ‘see you next spring.’ These things require attention,” said Bill Cunningham of Promold Marketing of Crossfield, Alta.
His company manufactures and sells sheds, feeders and water systems.
Water is like a major food group for cattle, Cunningham said at a ranchers’ seminar demonstrating watering systems in Olds Feb. 26.
Clean water helps them gain and keeps them healthy.
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Cunningham said a 50 pound gain in one season is possible when calves drink from a trough of clean water rather than standing water.
Each system on the market has its merits, whether it relies on solar energy or cow power to pump water. All will work in Canadian winter, but they all require monitoring to make sure ice buildups are cleared.
Producers who install a new system must consider vertical lift, water requirements and water recovery, which determine the size of the solar panel and battery bank that is required.
“It is not just the pump flow,” he said. “You have to have enough storage in your batteries to fill that trough.”
