Water use and conservation at Texas High Plains beef cattle feedyards

Water conservation in the Texas High Plains has become increasingly importa nt as ground water resources are depleted. A,rater usage study was performe d over a two-year period at a 50,000-head beef cattle feedyard. Water usage was correlated to meteorological data from a NOAA weather station. Average daily water usage over the two-year period was 40.9 L/head/d (10.8 gal/hea d/d). Whenever water trough floats were adjusted for winter conditions, 66% of total usage was for drinking, 2% was used in the feedmill, and 32% was used for overflow to prevent freezing, Whenever water through floats were a djusted for summer conditions, 89% was used for drinking, 3% was used in th e feedmill, and 7% leaked into the overflow collection system. Options iden tified for conserving water include installing more efficient water troughs , repairing existing troughs, and installing an overflow recycling system. Potential beneficial uses for the overflow renter include irrigation of cro ps, sprinkling pens for dust and temperature control, and use in steam flak ing of grain at the feedmill. If all of the overflow water were recycled at this feedyard, then 162 000 m(3) (42.7 million gal) would be conserved per year (22% of total annual use). Construction of a $39, 000 filtration-chlo rination water treatment system would have a payback period of six years at 8% interest, and result in a net monthly savings of $707 after payback of the capital investment.