When grazing livestock how much and where should water be supplied? Find out.

Plentiful, reliable, good quality water is essential for grazing livestock. Without good water, it doesn't matter how effective other grazing management practices might be.

But how important is location of that water? Animals resist traveling far from water. They graze very little when more than a half mile away from water in rough country or a mile away on flat land. Under 1000 feet is the ideal. If they do travel far for water, they spend less time grazing, they burn off pounds walking, and they graze distant areas incompletely.

Poor water distribution also transfers nitrogen, phosphorus, and other nutrients as manure and urine are deposited near water sites or along the path to water. Nutrients in these deposits are concentrated and wasted in areas with little grass. A more even distribution of these deposits would grow more grass.

How can you improve your water distribution? More ponds, windmills, wells, and dugouts will help, but they can get expensive. Plus, they can only be placed in certain locations and can’t be moved. So my preference is to use a pipeline. They can be put almost anywhere. Water lines are less expensive than you might think. Most folks can get pipe and frost-proof trenching for less than 1 dollar/ft. You also can leave your pipe on top of the ground, saving trenching costs, if you only need water during the growing season.

Over time, these water improvements pay for themselves with better grass and improved animal performance.