Extension Communications
3614 Administrative Services Building
Ames, Iowa 50011-3614
(515) 294-9915
7/21/00
Contacts:
Gerald Miller, Associate Dean and Professor of Agronomy,
Iowa State University, (515) 294-4333, soil@iastate.edu
Elaine Edwards, Extension Communication Systems, (515)
294-5168, eedwards@iastate.edu
Fencing Cattle Off Streams is Win-Win
AMES, Iowa -- Manley and Linda Bigalk realized that giving cattle access to Bigalk Creek could contribute to water pollution problems, including sediment from stream banks and manure in the water. So they decided to do something about it -- the Bigalks were the first farmers on Bigalk Creek to establish erosion control and water quality practices on the stream.
"Since cattle hooves exert a tremendous amount of pressure per square inch, allowing them to pasture in stream corridors can be a critical factor in stream bank degradation and erosion," said Gerald Miller, associate dean in the Iowa State University College of Agriculture. In much of the Bigalk Creek corridor, cattle were grazing on vegetation on the stream bank and trampling it in the process.
Using financial assistance from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, the Bigalks fenced their cattle away from the creek and planted trees, completed streambank stabilization work, installed trout habitat structures and constructed a cattle crossing on their property.
They also installed an alternate water source -- nose pumps. Nose pumps are powered by livestock pushing a piston with their nose, so an external power source is not required. Livestock learn to use the pumps within a few hours and do not waste a great deal of water. Two nose pumps easily have enough capacity for 50 cows and calves, and cost around $450, with additional costs for mounting brackets, concrete pads and fencing.
The best management practices (BMPs) used by the Bigalks caught on and grew into a project within the entire Bigalk Creek watershed (totalling 11,300 acres along a six mile stream corridor). Sediment retention ponds, contour farming, nutrient and pesticide management and other BMPs were all used to help slow or prevent erosion and improve water quality. The Bigalk Creek Water Quality Project is on Bigalk Creek, which is a spring-fed, cold water stream north of Cresco, Iowa.
The total cost for approximately 1,800 feet of stream stabilization work in the project was around $16,500. Funding came from EPA section 319, DNR and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Division of Soil Conservation. Producers are using many soil conservation practices, including no-till, Integrated Crop Management (ICM), contour farming, filter strips, riparian buffer strips, sediment basins, animal waste facilities (manure settling basin), grass waterways, and tree planting.
"The results exceeded expectations," said Miller. "By using a variety of BMPs, producers have been able to significantly reduce sediment delivery to Bigalk Creek. In four years of the project's existence, soil erosion has been reduced by an estimated 12,000 tons in the creek watershed. If the current practices are maintained, erosion will be reduced by more than 5,000 tons per year."
The effects of the work have been notable; not only is water quality visibly clearer, but Bigalk Creek has become only the third stream in Iowa where natural reproduction of rainbow trout occurs.
"We are now seeing that the combined work of improving the corridor and reducing sediment is paying dividends," said Bill Kalishek, DNR fisheries biologist.
Producers also are saying that the project helped them take a good look at pocketbook issues in their operation. Using Integrated Crop Management means they're not using a 'blanket' program of fertilizer and pesticides. They're applying products only when needed and in the proper amounts at the proper times, resulting in a savings for producers.
Producers also have realized advantages beyond reduced soil erosion and input costs. Bigalk notes that fencing cattle away from the stream has reduced herd problems like accidents and calving in and near the stream -- which led to newborn calves drowning or chilling in the creek after birth. Keeping cattle away from the stream may also reduce problems with poor pasture utilization, exposure to water-transmitted diseases and algae toxins, foot rot, leg injuries, drowning, and incidences of cattle stuck in mud.
The Bigalk Creek project demonstrated that using a voluntary approach for good land and resource management with private landowners can be a win-win situation for both producers and the environment.
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