Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

MANAGING SPECIFIC HEAVY USE AREAS

Every cattleman needs to be reminded once in a while about proper care when it comes to taking care of livestock. Consideration should be taken into account about the herd and the person tending to the cattle.

Feeding areas - Cattle tend to defecate near where they are fed; therefore, management of the feeding area is a major portion of the manure management aspects of a beef program. The point has already been made that the feeding site should be located away from any environmentally sensitive areas.

When feeding grain or a mixed ration, use feed bunks or troughs. Permanent bunks or feeding sites may need to be on a concrete or geotextile mat. Move portable feeders as needed to allow these areas to recover.

Beef producers should also rotate hay feeding areas throughout feeding season. Portable rings are used to help reduce waste, but they do not totally eliminate it as cattle tend to pull hay out of the ring and tromp it into the ground. Waste can be reduced by limiting the number of cows fed at one time.

Two feet of space is needed for each mature cow to access hay in a ring. This limits the number of cattle that one hay ring can efficiently feed to approximately 15 head. Moving the portable rings on a regular basis to reduce excessively muddy conditions, spreading the manure over a larger area and minimizing long term damage to the pasture are important.

Unrolling round bales is another hay feeding option. This enables more cattle to feed at one time and allows small calves to have a better chance to compete for hay. It also spreads the feeding area resulting in cattle distributing manure over a larger area.

The disadvantage to unrolling hay is daily feeding is required, and that is not suitable for all producers.

After the hay feeding season is over, producers should drag and smooth the feeding areas. A tire drag is an inexpensive and quite effective tool for this job. It does not clog up with debris, but rather breaks clods, spreads cow patties and helps level rough areas. Spreading the cattle manure smooths the ground and helps reduce sport grazing.

Watering areas - When possible, provide animals water from watering tanks rather than allowing them ready access to ponds and streams. Animals provided with the these alternative water sources spend less time in or near ponds and streams. Better water is provided for the cattle and the chance for manure contamination and stream bank erosion are minimized.

Utilizing freeze-free watering systems to supply water eliminates the increased labor required to break ice in the winter.

Proper distribution of watering facilities promotes even grazing and discourages overgrazing near water sources.

For additional information, refer to Extension fact sheet 3021, Water For Beef Cattle, available at the Extension office in Prescott.

Travel lanes are designed to ease movement of cattle on the farm.

The use of well-designed lanes increases the producer's control of cattle movement and helps to limit the damaging effects of cattle movement to a small area.

Keep travel lane size to a minimum, allowing just enough room for maintenance and equipment transport. The amount of time cattle spent in the travel lane should be kept to a minimum, reducing the amount of manure deposited in this area.

Careful planning of water, shade and feed locations aids in the movement of animals along the travel lane.