Winter Confinement Feeding Sites

51 Cold Winter Climates

2.3.2. Winter Confinement Feeding Sites

As an indirect consequence of the BSE outbreak in Canada in 2003 and the subsequent crisis in the Canadian beef industry, many beef producers examined ways to reduce the costs of production of beef in order to remain proitable. One of the notable innovations was to move away from high cost shedding systems, to lower cost coninement yard feeding and paddock management of cattle during winter. Over the past decade, these systems have been developed and adopted widely across Canada and the northern states of the USA, and have led to both the lowering of the cost of production of beef, and improved herd health. Wintering sites are simply classiied as areas where cattle are fed during the winter months outdoors, and require; • A feeding area of adequate size • Appropriate and adequate shelter • A frost-free water source • Winter access for machinery to provide feed and bedding materials. Figure 2.44. Pens with surfaces that are poorly designed create unsanitary muddy conditions for cattle during thawing periods. Source: International Agriculture for Development. 52 Beef Breeder MANUAL Wintering sites may either be full coninement yards, easily accessible paddocks where feed can be taken to the cattle daily and fed out on top of the snow, or where they can utilise stockpiled pasture, forage crops, or bales of hay Refer Section 7. Wintering sites accumulate manure in the feeding and resting areas and around the water source. Because of this, it is necessary to establish systems to contain eluent onsite as temperature increases and eluent thaws in spring. Where this cannot be done the runof water should be collected and the solids allowed to settle to avoid causing pollution. Waste water eluent can be used to irrigate pastures or crops in the dry season, and the solids collected can also be used as a natural fertiliser. Consideration must be given to the position of existing water courses such as drainage lines, creeks, rivers and lakes, or water storages such as dams. The drainage from yards or cattle sheds must not be allowed to run into these areas and contaminate those waters. Similarly, where run of is collected in a dam or pond, the dam or pond should be constructed so that it does not leak, and even with heavy rainfall they will not overill or fail and create additional problems further downstream.

2.3.3. Confinement Yards