Farm406

37 farm406 make use of pits today, but a fundamental drawback remains: the water supply dictates where and when cows can graze. "If you rely on water from reservoirs or pits, you have to utilize that water when it's there," Bret says. "If they fill, you're alright until early fall – most of the time." And when it's a bad year, one of those two years out of five – when spring rain is scarce and it's 94 degrees for five days in a row in late May with the wind blowing, and the pits and reservoirs become mudholes – that is when a rancher in southern Carter County may end up with only one water source to get him through until fall. He'll move his cows into the pasture adjoining that water source. e herd gets to work eating the grass, then eats it some more. ree miles away he may have a pasture loaded with grass, but he can't put his cows there because the water supply has dried up. So the cows stay in the pasture with water. e grasses become weak from repeated grazing, their root systems lose vigor, and the stage is set for soil erosion. Aer that, it may take just one major rain event to get the process started. Even if there's no erosion, the grasses in that pasture will be hard-pressed to survive, and won't produce as much forage the following year. Scaered across Carter County, with its erodible, clay-based soils, are the scars of erosion that started this way. Most of the damage is historic, meaning it occurred 70 to 100 years ago, but Knapp says there's recent damage too. In a climate that receives 14 inches of precipitation per year, returning damaged rangeland to full health can take 20 years. Bret Lesh knew all about this process. ere were some badly eroded areas on his new ranch unit and he didn't want history to repeat itself. "Bret had all this grass and very lile opportunity to use it efficiently," says Knapp. "Maybe he could run twice as many cows if he had the water and the ability to manage where they were grazing. He was prey frustrated." Bret described for Rebecca a possible solution for his water problem. He wanted to use one of the existing shallow wells as the water source for a network of pipelines and stock tanks. e tanks would be deployed across the 9,000-acre property such that every pasture had its own source of fresh water. With these improvements, he could escape his dependency on seasonal water; with additional cross-fencing, he could rotate his herd through different pastures, controlling the timing and duration of grazing. Once he had the system fine-tuned, he might even be able to rest an entire pasture or two until the following year. Rebecca Knapp Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), District Conservationist, Ekalaka, MT, Carter County. Photo, Eliza Wiley, Helena, MT. Wyoming Sagebrush plant. Sage grouse like this type of sagebrush because there is enough height, cover, and protection from predators to raise their chicks.

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