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  • From: Scott Pittman <pci@permaculture-inst.org>
  • To: "permaculture" <permaculture@franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: potty-training cows
  • Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2000 09:36:39 -0600


At 06:18 PM 6/5/00 +0000, you wrote:
Dear Judith:

First, thanks everyone for taking such a great interest in my question. It
was actually made only half-heartedly on one of those few and far between
'rainy-day funks' I was having. Too much to do, not enough time, wet/cold
outside. Mostly making light of myself. But I really do have cattle
polluting the creek and it is in a watershed.

I'm not sure if this would be applicable to my land, but I will definitely
check out the possibilities. Unfortunately, my 40 acres is part of an
original 30,000 acre cattle ranch that was broken up into parcels 40-200
acres. Not all of the land is on the creek, some parcels are on the
Greenhorn Creek (same problem) and some have no creek at all. Of the creek
on my land, it just happens to be my southern land border, I have have
people on both sides of me and across the creek. I can't effectively fence
the cows out alone.

Plus, the cattle belongs to another cattle ranch that has open grazing
rights, the barbed-wire fence law is the only way to keep the cattle off
your property, but even if you fence all the way into the center of the
creek, they still have access from other landowners. The land is all zoned
agriculture, the state only charges us 50 cents an acre in propety taxes
because of the grazing lease and if too many people fence out the cattle,
they lose the special tax rate. So not many find it to their best interest
to fence the cattle.

All of the water in our wells comes directly out of the aquifer (my well is
490 feet deep, the on the bluff above me is 675 feet deep), so noone is
worried about personal use water pollution. Although they don't consider
when/if the aquifer dries up.

The creeks are the only way the cattle get any water as they're not fed and
watered as they would be on a farm. They pretty much have to take care of
themselves. They're brought up to the mountains for the summer and fall,
then rounded up and taken back down to the plains during the
winter/spring.

I've been talking with the Natural Resource people regarding
phytoremediation and whether a plan using plants may help, no definite
conclusions yet. But, some individuals living at the ranch (still not many
actually living there yet, some just horse facilities, etc.) are worried
about the pollution and e-coli. I know my 9 year old and alot of the youth
that camp there with us, just itch to get into the creek (I still remember
when...) and even though I warn, preach, demand that they don't get into
it, they seem to find a way of 'accidentally' falling in and splashing
about.

Any other suggestions? I'm open!

Blessings,
Ava


I have found that some ranchers are willing to cooperate in developing water tanks off of the riparian zone. If your creek is has appropriate head and volume you might consider a ram pump to push water out of the creek bed up to grazing land. This is an inexpensive method of watering cattle where they do less damage, ideally you will develop the tanks so you can move them occasionally to avoid too much impact in one area. Unfortunately most ranchers also like the rich grazing along stream and river banks and sometimes the water issue is secondary to the grazing issue. I think it's worth while to talk to local ranchers you might be pleasantly surprised that they respond to health issues, children, and bio diversity issues. It is better to enroll them as partners in problem solving rather than confronting them as "the enemy".

Scott



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