Weather conditions last spring and summer affected the quality of surface water sources for livestock, says Bob Klemmer, a livestock development specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture.
It’s attributed to two main factors: too much water and not enough. While both situations can result in poor water quality and reduced cattle productivity, too much is still better than not enough.
“Flooding and runoff has led to increased nutrient loading in dugouts, dams, sloughs and lakes in some parts of Saskatchewan last summer. Combined with our hot summer weather, this situation resulted in rapid and recurrent algae blooms,” Klemmer said.
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Treatment during the summer takes care of this growth, but the dead organic material ends up decaying on the bottom of the pond over the winter as the water becomes anaerobic.
This nutrient loading also encourages the growth of water weeds. Left unchecked, this scenario leads to brackish, smelly water in mid-winter.
In extreme cases, cattle may not drink as much, and that leads to reduced feed intake, lower gains or weight loss and lower milk production. Klemmer said this situation can be remedied by the installation of a properly sized aeration system.
Lack of surface water can harm water quality as well.
“Parts of Saskatchewan experienced little snow and zero runoff, and therefore no recharge to surface watering sites. Adding insult to injury, the hot, dry and windy weather last summer increased the amount of water cattle required and caused a much higher evaporation rate, which has led to very low surface water reserves in some areas.”
The resulting issues range from uncertainty of water supply and quality to bringing old wells with questionable water quality back on stream.
As water evaporates off the surface of these water bodies, minerals dissolved in the water remain and, over time, may accumulate to levels of significance to cattle health.
Even in a year of normal rainfall, one study demonstrated that mineral concentration in a dugout can double. That’s a good reason to test for water quality, especially when water levels fluctuate.
The main minerals of concern are iron, sodium, magnesium and sulfur in the form of sulfates. Too much iron can cause cattle to drink less. Sodium and magnesium are most often of concern when associated with high levels of sulfates.
High levels of magnesium sulfate will reduce water intake by cattle.
Cattle on high sulfate water tend to have loose stools due to its laxative effect. While this in itself is not a production problem, it may be an early sign that something is up.
Concerns with sulfates, productivity and health relate to interference in the absorption of trace minerals from the diet – primarily copper, zinc and manganese. In extreme cases, cattle can die from thiamine deficiency.
Solutions to these water quality problems range from installing costly water treatment systems to initiating a special mineral supplementation program to redevelopment of the water source.
The levels of minerals in surface water can fluctuate widely over time, depending on precipitation, recharge, cattle use and evaporation, and the solutions can also be long term, depending on these same environmental factors. Consequently, Klemmer said, a good first step to ensure cattle remain healthy and productive is to test the quality of water from all of their water sources.
