LANIGAN, Sask. — Most farmers these days don’t have $6,000 in spare change to throw around.
But if spending $6,000 can prevent a valuable bull from falling though a frozen dugout, that has to be considered a pretty good investment.
“What doesn’t cost a lot these days?” shrugged cattle producer Perry Gursky, who has a 300 head cow-calf operation near Vanscoy, Sask.
Gursky was one of 300 farmers attending the annual field day sponsored by the Western Beef Development Centre at Termuende Farm near Lanigan.
Like many of those in attendance, he was intrigued by a remote winter watering system on display at one of the farm’s research sites.
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A motion sensor triggers a pump that brings water up to a watering bowl when an animal approaches. The water then drains back underground to await the next thirsty cow.
“Sure you can water cows at a dugout, but as the water goes down and so does the ice, there’s always the threat of the ice breaking and the cattle falling through,” Gursky said after checking out the demonstration project.
With cattle staying in pastures for extended periods, more farmers are interested in winter grazing. Combined with growing concern over water quality for both animals and humans, interest in remote winter watering is on the rise.
There are advantages to be gained in areas like safety, reliability and water quality.
There is the ongoing worry of wondering every afternoon whether the dugout is frozen over and if the cattle are getting water. There’s also a danger the ice is too thin and the cattle will fall through.
“All in all, it seems like a pretty good idea,” Gursky said.
Keith Irving, who raises cattle at Tisdale, Sask., said he might get into winter swath grazing if he had a reliable winter watering system.
“The longer we can keep them out of the yard, the better off we all are,” said Irving, talking loudly into a blustery wind that whipped his words away.
The system on display at the research farm worked trouble free last winter at temperatures of -25 C. At Ð35, small amounts of ice will build up, but the system continues to function.
The demonstration project, developed by Kelln Solar of Lumsden, Sask., is funded by the Canada-Saskatchewan Agri-Food Innovation Fund.
Clint Hilliard, a water quality specialist with the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration, said there is greater awareness among farmers of the benefits of not allowing animals direct access to water in terms of water quality and animal safety.
“One guy told me he doesn’t sleep very well when he has a $50,000 bull that could be out on that ice on the dugout,” he said.
There seems to be a lot of interest from farmers, he added.
“Watering in the winter is a problem, and people are quite open to suggestions,” he said.
“We’re just offering some possible solutions.”
This isn’t the first or only winter watering system on the market, but what’s unique is that all the water drains back to the underground source, thus eliminating the possibility of freezing.
Most other systems keep the water circulating in the watering bowl so it doesn’t freeze.
Kelln’s promotional material says the simplest way to set up the system is with a gravity feed line trenched from the dugout, or some other water source, to a 60 centimetre by 7.3 metre casing.
The casing would be dug first, trying to keep the water level at around 3.3 m. A five cm poly line would then be trenched back to the dugout to act as a gravity feed, from as far away as 60 m.
From the casing, water would be pumped up to the water bowl, which has overflow holes that allow unused water to drain back to the bottom of the casing, where it will remain unfrozen.
The pump is activated by a motion sensor that detects an approaching cow. The water runs for one minute after the animal leaves, allowing time for another cow to drink.
Hilliard said the roughly $6,000 cost of the Termuende Farm system is a bit higher than might be expected at a typical farm because the watering site is so far from the dugout and the pipe system is buried deeper than normal.
Marc L’Hoir of Kelln said the solar-powered system will cost about $1,900 for 50 animals, $2,700 for 100, $3,400 for 150 and $4,200 for 200.
The system also provides benefits in the summer by preventing animals from getting stuck in muddy dugouts and protecting water quality.
