EQIP Cost-Share Assistance Used to Enhance Cattle Operations

by Julie A. Best, Public Affairs Specialist, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service,
Auburn, AL

The farm operations of Jeff Hendrix in Winston County and Rickie Tillis in Covington County are very similar to that of many landowners across the state. While Hendrix and Tillis love the farm, it is not their primary source of income. By day, Hendrix is a school teacher, and during his free time, he manages a cattle operation. Similarly, Tillis has a full-time day job that takes him away from the farm; he also is a cattle producer. In order to accommodate both professions, these gentlemen have to make efficient use of their time.

Rickie Tillis, from the Fleeta community in Covington County, has 33 acres enrolled in the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). EQIP is a program of the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) that provides assistance to landowners to address quality and quantity issues related to soil, water, air, and other natural resources on their land. To make the most of his pasture resources, as well as to make efficient use of this time, Tillis’ EQIP plan calls for converting a field from row crops to pasture land and renovating some of his pasture land to improved forage. In the pasture, Tillis will create seven paddocks to improve his grazing system with rotational grazing after he installs 9711 feet of fencing. He plans to install a well and four watering facilities for livestock animals to improve the quality of their drinking water. Leon Wages, NRCS Soil Conservation Technician in Covington County, says, “By installing a critical area treatment and a water sediment control basin, Tillis will also be able to control an eroding area. All these practices will make Mr. Tillis’ farm more productive, efficient, and manageable.” Cost-share assistance from the EQIP program makes it possible for Tillis to install these practices in his cattle operation.

About 10 years ago, Jeff Hendrix purchased a farm in Winston County. He cleared roughly 150 acres and planted Tifton 44 Bermuda grass on approximately 100 acres and fescue on the rest. Once the pasture was growing, it was time to address the water issues. With assistance through the EQIP program, he fenced the cattle out of his pond and from a portion of the stream that flows through his farm. Restricting livestock access to the stream and the pond certainly helped with the water quality issue, but now he needed an adequate source of water for the cattle. Given his part-time farmer status, Hendrix needed a reliable source of water and a system that would be relatively maintenance free.

With the technical assistance of NRCS and the options offered, Hendrix devised a watering system that works well for him. He developed a spring to supply water for a concrete trough installed in one pasture. In other pastures, he decided to use the existing pond and a series of water fountains. By placing the water troughs at a site with an elevation lower than the pond, gravity could be used as the power to get the water to the troughs.

In the pasture supplied by pond water, Hendrix installed ball water fountains. Hendrix says, “These fountains were developed in the Midwest. They are fully insulated. If they are installed correctly, they will not freeze.” These fountains, which are totally enclosed, have a ball that floats up into an opening. The cattle soon learn to press the ball with their nose, and get a drink of good, fresh water. The secret to the freeze-proof function is that the heat from the earth is channeled through a 12-inch diameter plastic pipe that goes through the concrete pad on which the fountain sits. This pipe contains the supply line and also serves as the “heat tube.”

The fountain is connected to a pipe from the pond that has its intake about three feet below the surface of the pond. The pipe is attached to a float that maintains this depth. As the level of the water in the pond raises or lowers, so does the water pipe intake. The “heat tube” associated with the water fountain insures that the water in the tank does not freeze in the winter and the float, which keeps the water pipe about three feet below the surface of the pond, insures that there is always water available for the troughs. Not only is the ball water trough advantageous in the winter, there is also an advantage during summer months. The way the ball trough is designed, the water in the trough stays cool in the summer.

Hendrix says, “I guess the biggest advantage of having the water troughs is that I can do controlled grazing a lot easier.” With the installation of the water troughs, Hendrix used strip grazing in the fescue pasture to better manage the available forage. He installed some cross fencing and uses polywire with temporary posts to confine the cattle for short periods of time. “When I’m strip grazing in the winter, I can set up three days of grass for the cattle. I might have to go up there twice a week instead of every day to feed them,” says Hendrix.

Busy folks have to use their time wisely. With EQIP cost-share assistance, Tillis and Hendrix have designed cattle operations that are manageable with their full-time, off the farm employment.

Contact your local USDA-NRCS office for information on cost-share assistance programs.

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