Monitoring water sources helps protect herd health

For optimum health and productivity, cattle need an adequate supply of water, and the quality of that water plays a big role.

During a recent seminar hosted by the Beef Cattle Research Council, industry experts discussed the importance of water quality on Canadian beef cattle operations.

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Dr. Cheryl Waldner, of the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, stressed that while water might appear clean, lab testing is the best way to determine the true quality of a water source. She said problems can occur when a beef herd consumes poor-quality water.

“Water quality is important. Poor water quality can lead to a reduced number of calves on the ground, reduced weight gains in the calves that we do have and an increased risk of disease. Poor water quality can also result in sudden animal deaths in pasture,” Waldner said.

A common cause of poor-quality water is high sulfate levels, which can lead to secondary copper and selenium deficiencies. Nutritional issues in beef cattle typically result from multiple contributing sources, which is why both water testing and feed testing are important, according to Waldner.

“There’s a lot of us that have water with sulfate levels that are in the trouble zone,” she said. “Getting a better understanding of exactly what this means is important. We can’t just look at water in isolation. We’ve got to remember that all of these things act cumulatively: total intake, feed and water.”

Saskatchewan beef producer Carla Hicks said after multiple years of drought, the result was high levels of sulfates, cattle distress and production losses in their cattle herd.

She said she upgraded her water sampling tool to a hockey stick with a big water jug taped to it.

“So it could get a long way out into the water and get a good sample without worrying about falling in,” Hicks said.

“We have a water tester and I bought it on Amazon. They’re $35. We take salt out, we take mineral out and we test the water. That’s just what we do all the time. It takes 30 seconds to dip the hockey stick in the water, pull the water. It takes another 30 seconds to read the tester.”

More information on managing stock water can be found on the Beef Cattle Research Council’s website.