Winter watering grassfed cattle: a quick how-to.

I'm frequently asked about winter watering for our grassfed herd. How do I keep the water trailer from freezing up?

The answer is not as complicated as everyone thinks: I don't keep the trailer full of water when it's freezing cold. If the trailer freezes, I'm toast.

It is not a big deal if the water trough freezes, though. I can use a hammer to break the ice in the morning and the cattle can get a drink after that. So my routine is to haul water and offload all of it into drinking troughs immediately.

In the event that not all of the water will fit in the troughs, I have a temporary solution in the form of extra valves. A selection of valves is stored unfrozen in our home garage. When I need to offload the rest of the water from a partially frozen water trailer, I switch the frozen valve with an unfrozen valve that functions freely.

In short, I need to make sure there is always enough water stored in troughs for all of the cattle to have a drink, and I need to make sure I always have a system to haul and replenish the trough water. To accomplish these objectives, I allow water to be stored and freeze where I can easily break the ice, and I never store water where the ice will cause a jam.

Lots of work? Yes. What's the payoff? My cattle are clean, dry, and radiant because they're not living in a mud hole where water is easy to access. Mud is a byproduct of management. Instead of complaining about it, I'll do something to solve the problem.