We are in our third year of a major drought (or fourth year, depending on who you talk to) and grass is not our only concern. Many of our ponds are the only source of water for cattle for the summer. And the majority of the ponds in our area are nearly dry.
We do have windmills, but they are often antiquated and broken. Frankly, windmill repair is a lost art. Few people have the knowledge or interest in climbing up a tower to fix them anymore.
So we have turned to solar pumps. Luckily my husband's grandfather withstood a drought when he owned this land so he drilled wells for windmills in nearly every pasture we have. That was 50 to 80 years ago so they are all needing the well recased or sometimes redrilled.
He also built large cement water tanks. They haven't been used in many years but they will still work perfectly to hold water pumped with modern technology. The cows will be happy to drink fresh water this summer.
Unfortunately the preparation for taking cattle to grass pastures will be much more costly this year, but we still have water and grass--all the things cows need! That is more than some people can say!
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Watch out for those windmills, Australia lost one of our great cattlemen this week after a fall from a windmill in Western Queensland. I hope it rains soon - there and here!
ReplyDeleteWhere did you get your solar panals and the equipment to connect them to your cisterns or wells? Thanks, JanP
ReplyDeleteJan, I have to admit, I'm not sure where we bought them! My husband took care of that. If you need information on it, I'm happy to ask him and find out for you. In the meantime, we have gotten rain!! So we may not need to set up the pumps now! YEAH!
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