DAIRY 101 STOCK WATER
Keep the water flowing Story and photos by: Karen Trebilcock
I
n the late 1960s, thanks to research done by Campbell and Munford of Massey University, it was believed cows could drink enough water at the dairy before or after milking to satisfy their daily needs. To be fair to farmers, polyethylene pipe, which is the trademarked Alkathene pipe, just started to appear at the 1970s RD1 and Farmlands stores and if it was nearly impossible to run metal pipes over hills to water troughs in every paddock, no doubt the research made it easier to sleep at night. Cows also had mostly unimpeded access to creeks and rivers to drink from as there were no fenced-off buffer zones planted out in native trees. However, since then we’ve figured out that fencing off the waterways is good for the environment and clean water and lots of it which can be accessed 24 hours a day is essential for cow health and milk production. It’s in New Zealand’s Animal Code of Welfare for Dairy Cattle (page 11 if you’re looking) and the minimum standard is all dairy cattle must have access to a daily supply of drinking water sufficient for their needs that is not harmful to their health. The water delivery system must be reliable and maintained to meet daily demand and in the event of a water delivery system failure, remedial action must be taken to ensure that daily water requirements are met. Note this is for all dairy cattle, not just the milking herd. Under recommended best practice the code adds troughs should be cleaned and maintained regularly, water should be palatable, the quality monitored and the farm water supply should be able to meet peak demand of 14 litres/milking cow/hour at the trough. Take that Campbell and Munford. And it’s in early summer, when it starts to get hot 86
Above: Keep water in troughs clean and your cows will drink more.
and your herd numbers might have increased from last year, you will notice if your water supply is not good enough. Cows pushing and shoving around the water trough with their heads well in is a sure sign you need to do something and fast. This is not a to-do-job to put up on the white board in the milk room along with spraying weeds and filling potholes on the tanker track. And if you need some encouragement to fix the problem, it’s just not about animal health and welfare. You will notice it in the vat. And cows fighting for water will damage ballcocks and troughs meaning costly and time-consuming repairs. So have a look at your whole water system including the size of each paddock’s water trough and how fast it fills. Volume and pressure are both important – if you have low water pressure you need more troughs per paddock or bigger troughs and bigger pipe diameters. A ring main system, where the water line is in a loop with both ends fed from the source, can help to increase water pressure. Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | November 2021
