Stop Bringing Cows to Water,
Bring Water to Cows
Our Story
Pasture Pipeline is a small team of individuals dedicated to providing Alberta beef producers an economic and reliable alternative form of watering their herds. Our background in Pasture Pipeline began in 2002 at the University of Alberta Kinsella Ranch when an extreme drought year (surface water disappeared) was followed with adequate rainfall to grow a good forage crop but inadequate runoff to fill those surface water sources. We installed about 6 miles of Pasture Pipeline in 2003 and brought clean and consistent water to about 3000 acres of land, all for a cost of digging one dugout.
Since those early years, we have experimented with a variety of innovative stock water including solar systems, gravity fed water delivery, spring development, and of course dugouts.
We specialize in pasture pipelines because of reliability, ease of installation, consistent and clean water, and ease of maintenance.
Calves drinking tank water had weight gains up to 20 percent higher than those drinking from dugouts.
Quaility Water will Improve Cattle Weight Gain, Dr. Roy Lewis, Westlock Veterinary Clinic
Pasture Pipeline in Numbers
3
Provinces
90
Ranches
800,000+
Feet of Pipe Installed
Infinite
Number of Rocks Dug Up
The Benefits of Pipe
Surface water sources includes natural (ponds and lakes) and human created (primarily dugouts) forms. Virtually all surface water sources are subject to fill by surface flow. Depending on the location within Alberta, surface flow of water to fill dugouts and ponds is subject to droughts and dry spells. Central Alberta has been in a drier trending weather pattern for about 30 years, resulting in an almost continual challenge for beef producers to maintain surface water levels and an equal challenge to maintain surface water quality. Once the water level of a pond or dugout recedes to the level where the soft bottom is exposed to cattle impact, the surface water source can quickly lose water quality and can even become a hazard to cattle (stuck in the mud). Continual cleaning of dugouts and ponds is a significant economic cost and yields little improvement until precipitation is adequate to fill the pond or dugout.
The value of pasture pipeline is cows do not have negative impacts on the water source. Whether water is pumped from a surface water source or well, pasture pipelines can deliver clean water to an upland tank on solid ground. Pasture pipelines provide the added benefit of placing water away from the water source. If you have had the experience of digging deeper dugouts or cleaning the sides only to experience lower water levels in subsequent years then pasture pipeline may be the alternative you are looking for. Cows drinking surface water is the cheapest form of stock water, but during dry periods you may be faced with poor water quality, cows and calves getting stuck in mud, or even no acceptable water at all. Several times in the last 30 years central Alberta has experienced weather conditions with adequate rainfall to grow good grass, but not enough for surface runoff to fill dugouts.
Although dugouts and ponds are the cheapest and easiest form of stock water in good years, few beef producers can afford limited or no water in the bad years.
