Livestock Wintering: Locating and Managing your Site to Make it Sustainable

• Integrated Management: Combines feeding, infrastructure, and resource strategies to create flexibility and maximize profits.
• Environmental Responsibility: Minimizes negative impacts on land and water resources, addressing concerns of neighboring communities and consumers.
• Public Scrutiny: Livestock practices affect not only farms but also the broader public, making sustainability a shared responsibility.

• Extended confinement or feeding in concentrated areas leads to localized manure buildup and excess nutrients which can run off into surface waters, carrying nutrients and microorganisms.

• High risk when manure accumulates on shallow soils over bedrock or coarse sand/gravel near the surface.
• Nutrients and pathogens can leach into groundwater systems.

• Manure may contain harmful bacteria and parasites:
• E. coli (including O157:H7): Causes severe illness in humans (diarrhea, fever, kidney failure, sometimes death).
• Cryptosporidium and Giardia: Cause gastrointestinal sickness, diarrhea, and weight loss in humans and animals.

• High livestock densities can damage wildlife habitat, trample shorelines, and degrade waterways through runoff.

• Feasible for your operation
• Healthy and comfortable for livestock
• Safe for the environment

• Land Characteristics: Contours, soil type, water resources
• Herd or Flock Requirements: Size and nutritional needs
• Existing Infrastructure: Combine current facilities with new options such as:
• Portable wind fences
• Temporary fencing for paddocks and feeding
• Alternative watering stations

1. Protect Sensitive Areas:
   Avoid or restrict livestock access to:
• Slopes
• Sandy soils
• Non-vegetated areas
• Riparian zones
• Woodlots
• Land already nutrient-rich from manure
2. Maximize Land Use:
   Utilize a greater portion of your land base and in-field feed sources for an extended period throughout the year.

• Locate watering stations away from natural water sources to prevent contamination.
• Use deeply buried pipelines to central pasture locations.
• Consider solar or wind-powered pumps for reliable water supply in remote areas.

• Choose sites with good vegetation or crop residue to filter nutrients and sediment from runoff.

• Select areas with less than 2% slope to minimize runoff and erosion.
• If slope is unavoidable:
• Place bedding and feeding sites away from waterways.
• Use naturally elevated ground for high-traffic areas to control drainage.

• Clay soils reduce leaching risk.
• Avoid sandy soils, gravel, shale, or sandstone outcrops—they increase leaching and require extra management.

• Avoid areas with high water tables or spring flooding history to prevent nutrient and bacteria migration into groundwater or surface water.

• Expand wintering areas to reduce manure accumulation and improve nutrient distribution.
• Healthy vegetation growth the following summer indicates proper manure management; poor regrowth suggests animal density is too high.

• Remove and spread manure from bedding, watering, feeding sites, and high-traffic areas.
• Follow your farm’s nutrient budget:
• Calculate manure application based on crop needs.
• Use soil tests and provincial guidelines (e.g., Tri-Provincial Manure Application and Use Guidelines).

• Move livestock every few days if possible; at minimum, relocate once or twice per winter.
• Rotate wintering sites annually to prevent overuse.

• Wind fences and portable fencing allow temporary sites and flexible movement.
• If sites cannot be moved, relocate bedding and feeding areas frequently to spread manure.

• Consider extended grazing programs that take animals to the feed.

• Store feed in multiple locations across the farm to enable feeding in different areas and reduce pressure on central sites.

• Use gravel stream crossings with control gates to reduce erosion and protect waterways.
• Avoid placing alleyways on land prone to run-off or seepage.
• Limit alley way use to prevent soil copmpaction and nutrient buildup.

• Apply ample bedding litter to absorb nutrients and reduce leaching and run-off.

• Increase vegetation wherever possible to act as a natural filter for run-off and sediment.
• Seed crops in these areas to utilize nutrients and provide high-quality feed.

• Establish permanent vegetation buffers around sensitive areas such as water bodies to protect water quality.

• Maintain a minimum 30-foot buffer between livestock and wellheads.
• Ensure proper drainage away from wells and secure cribbing and lids.

• Divert off-site water flow around bedding and feeding areas to:
• Reduce run-off and mud
• Improve animal health (prevent scours in newborns)
• Lower bedding replacement costs

13. Control Water Flow

• Use landscaping with ditches and channels to direct water leaving the site toward less-sensitive areas.

• Remove and spread manure early in spring to prevent runoff or seepage.
• Avoid spreading on:
• Erosion-prone land
• Areas draining directly into waterways
• Land adjacent to permanent water bodies or major field drains

• Install portable or permanent fencing to:
• Manage feeding and animal distribution and control density and rotation
• Protect sensitive areas
• Improve manure distribution

• Explore modern watering systems for portability and efficiency.

• Plan to maintain and protect wildlife habitat while managing livestock operations