Cattle Watered By The Sun

Cattle Watered By The Sun ENERGY Solar 33-6-7 Instead of spending $20,000 to bring in electricity, Paul Heers, Jr., went solar to provide water to his beef cattle on pasture. The Oakland, Minn., farmer has 114 acres of pasture. He set up rotational grazing paddocks and installed a 7,000-ft. pipeline to provide water close to the feed. In the past, cattle drank from drainage ditches and creeks. After getting a quote from the electric company, Heers decided to check out solar. As it turned out, going green was more economical. His property was eligible for government programs to assist in the cost of protecting water in a creek and flood plain that run through his property. Heers worked with Little Sioux Prairie Co. in Spencer, Iowa, and purchased a solar panel and pump for $8,300. The well cost $5,000 and pumps 8 to 9 gallons per minute through 1 1/4-in. water line, buried 7 ft. deep, which fills a series of six 900-gal. tanks. "It's like a regular well system," Heers says. "It runs on demand and has a pressure switch on a pressure tank. The solar panel runs a hp motor." He hopes to use the watering system until December when he moves his cattle off pasture. He'll shut the hydrants off and drain the lines. He put down fabric, rock and poured a cement pad to support the solar panel and protect the well area, which is fenced off from cattle. Altogether it cost about $33,000 for the water line project. About half of that was subsidized by loans and grants through Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) and the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). Because he had to deal with flooding problems in the spring, the solar project didn't get finished until late summer. But Heers says it seems to be low maintenance. If the sun doesn't shine for a long period, he can hook up a generator to the pump as backup. "Solar is quiet and clean," Heers says. "Long term it's the way to go. We don't know where electricity prices will go. We've got to get more off less land." He likes the idea of not paying monthly electric bills and is looking into putting in a solar panel to charge batteries for his electric fence. The biggest benefit, he adds, is that water is closer to the feed, and his cows aren't walking off their weight gains. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Paul Heers, Jr., 19917 890th Ave., Oakland, Minn. 56007 (ph 507 437-2597) or Little Sioux Prairie Co., 2150 280th Street, Spencer, Iowa 51301 (ph 712 264-1186; www.dewdropdrill.com).

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