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Knowledge Nuggets
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Wintering sites for livestock range from seasonal feeding fields such as those used for swath grazing, to more permanent traditional feeding and calving paddocks and yards.
Manure management and surface runoff potential are key considerations for deciding exactly where wintering sites should be located. Select a wintering site that is sloped away from a water course or water body as a major step towards protecting the environment.
Managing runoff includes factors such as slope, precipitation, soil type , drainage patterns, vegetative cover and flooding potential.
The type of production and feeding system are important factors in the selection and layout of a wintering site.
To prevent seepage, avoid areas with high water tables or very porous soils such as sands, gravel or shale.
Move the feeding site regularly during the winter to avoid manure buildup.
While some physical characteristecs of the site such as slope, soil type, water table and climate may be beyond your control, others can be managed successfully. These include water supply, managing cattle access, cattle density, feeding and bedding strategies, and runoff control methods such as vegetation residue or buffers left downslope and in riparian areas.
For producers who are feeding out in fields and moving from place to place such as with swath or bale grazing or grazing on chaff piles, manure mangement is much less of a concern.
There will be a concentration of manure, if you have a more traditional feeding system where cattle are penned up and feed is hauled to them for a prolonged period of time.
Minimize the time that cattle spend in riparian areas by offering alternative shelter and locate feed, water and bedding in another location.
As long as cows are in good conditionm, many producers are not concerned about providing bedding and find that snow is suitable and animals stay cleaner.
A very important part of a wintering site is the availability of safe, quality water or snow. Many options are availble to you for providing off-site winterized watering systems. Many producers rely on adequate supplies of good quality snow for non-lactiating cows.
By studying your current feeding area, you'll notice that cattle use predictable routes between the bedding, water and feeding areas. Where cattle spend the most time results in the most manure buildup.
The greatest accumulation of straw and manure usually occurs in the bedding area. When planning your wintering site, consider several bedding areas.
When planning a shelter, determine where the snowmelt will occur in the bedding area. Water from melting snow should be diverted away from manured or bedded areas.
Factsheets
Bedding Without Straw
Beneficial Management Practices: Environmental Manual for Alberta Cow Calf Producers
Cattle Wintering Sites: Managing for Good Stewardship
Livestock Wintering: Locating and Managing Your Site to Make It More Sustainable
Remote Winter Watering Systems for Beef Cattle
Stewardship and Economics of Cattle Wintering Sites
Windbreaks Provide Shelter for Cattle - available in PDF format only
Research Papers
The Effect of Cattle Winter Feeding Systems on Soil Nutrients, Forage Growth, Animal Performance and Economics - available in PDF for format only
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