Onward...
Welcome back, folks. Let’s get on with getting this system built.
Once we had a game plan, the physical labor got started. Let’s see…after April in East Texas comes SUMMER and until October, oh, boy… it’s HOT! Some of the work was inside stuff, as we’ll see, but most of it was git ‘er dun, sweaty, old-fashioned work.
Stage Two: Build the Infrastructure
Project management has been one of my duties for many years now, going all the way back to 1987. I built a project schedule (list of tasks to be accomplished) using a tool called ProjectLibre (previously Open Project). It also records who will do the task, when the task is expected to be done, and any dependencies between tasks. My good wife says lists of things are important, so… (they really are!) Now that I had my task list, I could determine how much money it would take to get up and running. We needed basics like corrals, fencing, and water.
I didn’t want to spend any more money than necessary out-of-pocket. My brother-in-law, John, suggested that I investigate state and federal programs for farmers/ranchers. Ultimately, I was able to obtain funding through the NRCS EQIP program by writing a fairly detailed proposal and submitting it through our local NRCS offices.
We started with the corrals. Corrals make working cattle a whole lot easier than 1880’s style open-range techniques (massive understatement). The corrals turned out to be a cash drain. The welder I had hired to do the work decided he needed to do someone else’s job and left me with unfinished pens. My friend, René Soto, offered to help and brought with him a welder and cutting rig. René’s health caused him to have to abandon the effort, but he has graciously allowed us to continue to use his tools. My nephew Bryan was a tremendous help in finishing the corrals.
Water had to be brought to the MIRG unit. I designed a pumping system and pipeline to take advantage of the 30-acre lake nearby. The intent was to run the pumping system on strictly solar power. That cost too much at the time, so it is still on the to do list. Presently, we run off my house power at very low cost. We installed 2600’ of 1 ¼” polyethylene pipe down the length of the MIRG unit. The unit geometry allowed us to branch off with 5 laterals to feed 10 300-gallon troughs, one in each paddock. We set the troughs on 10” of crushed asphalt in order to prevent soil damage near the watering areas. (This sounds pretty boring, but my kids tell me the design was pretty freaking cool!) I’m working to get the plan design drafts presentable so that I can share those as well.
Fencing was an interesting challenge. There is no electricity at the paddocks. I have 45 watts of solar panels and three class 27M batteries running the fences at 10.5 kV (it will make you feel it). The fences have undergone some significant modifications since they were originally built. They started as two-wire electric. They are now 5-wire, electric and barbed. Again, Bryan was integral in helping me build and set the fences.
Federal specifications allow up to 100’ of spacing between posts on an electric fence. But cows and especially calves have their own ideas about fences. Cattle always think the grass on the other side of the fence is greener (go figure where that euphemism started). So, unless it is painful or difficult to do so, a cow or calf will just walk right through a fence. Post intervals are now much reduced in order to make the fence stiffer and harder to push through. The 3 slick, electrified wires have two barbed wires separating them - slick-barbed-slick-barbed-slick. The barbed wires are grounded, just to help the animals complete the circuit if they get any ideas about going walk-about. All told, we have installed about 6.5 miles of wire in the fence. All of the corners are 2 7/8” pipe welded in a 5-post arrangement with double braces. All of the posts in the corners are set in concrete.
Piece of cake, right? Really, it wasn’t complicated, just a good bit of work that allowed me and Bryan to work together, share great memories, and have some fun doing it. It kept us in good shape, too. It should be said that my son, Miles, son-in-law, Jimmy, and brother-in-law, Bruce, were able to get in on the fun too, but not as frequently as they might have liked.
And then comes the grass.
Cheers!
Robin Hood