You’ve Fenced In Your Livestock: Now What?

Last week, I discussed the importance of fencing system installation and design in our seven-part “How-To” video series on livestock fencing. But fencing is far from the only significant “to-do” when considering incorporating livestock into your operation or when trying to improve your existing system; water and proper animal management are two other critical aspects to safeguard not only the health of your animals but also the health of your soil and forage.

It’s no secret that livestock critically needs two things to survive, stay healthy, and gain proper weight – food and water. Keeping your livestock fed without bringing them hay or feed daily requires proper grazing allocation through appropriately sized paddocks, an electrified fence system, and, most importantly, trust from the animals. If, or when, your fencing systems and rotational grazing schedule have been developed, you still won’t have happy, healthy animals if they don’t have access to clean water in all of the paddocks they’re grazing in. There are various ways to successfully establish both of these systems based on your herd size, landscape, and management intensity; all need to be considered appropriately when setting up a new grazing system or improving an existing one.

A well-designed water and fencing system allow you to manage where your livestock eat, drink, and poop. Optimizing these systems with an intensively managed adaptive multipaddock grazing system can result in incredible rewards: healthier animals, improved pasture conditions, and a significant boost in carrying capacity. By Rotating your animals, you give the land the chance to Rest and Recover.

If you’re concerned about your water or livestock management system or have thought about how to improve it, be sure to watch our second “How-To” series on optimizing livestock management, where we again talk with livestock management expert Michael Hall about all things water and livestock management. In a similar fashion to our Fencing video series, this Livestock and Water playlist consists of short instructional/informational videos on:

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• When to move livestock

• Watering facilities for livestock

• Successful watering systems

• How to establish trust with new livestock

• Implementing an electrified fence system

• Getting the most out of poly wire and reels

• And a practical “how-to” for successful grazing allocation

These videos alone won’t make you an expert or make your livestock systems perfect. Still, they will hopefully foster new ideas or improvements that can benefit the health of your animals, forage, soil, and yourself. To find more information about livestock management and watering systems before you start, see the USDA NRCS Conservation Practice Standard #614 on Watering Facilities and #528 on Prescribed Grazing.

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