water for cattle

The rotational grazing program that we do on the ranch allows for a more healthy range and more forage for the cows.  This is accomplished by grazing with a large number of cows for a brief period of time then allowing the pasture many months without cows for regrowth.  This is great for the grass, but presents a problem to have enough water for a larger group of cows when we must rely on wind to pump the water.  We attempt to solve the problem by pumping with electricity (too expensive to  put in lines to distant pastures), by using solar panels to produce electricity to run the pumps or by creating more storage of water by putting in bigger tanks to collect water when the wind does blow or the sun shines.  Some wells have 24 foot tanks that hold 5,000 gallons of water,  but at this windmill we lined up 4 of the 11 foot tanks that together hold 4,000 gallons of water.  It was not an easy job getting the tanks level and each tank to be 4 inches lower  than the tank before it.  Then dirt was banked around them to hold them in place.