Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations cattle upstream of pond question

There are two main potential concerns with cattle in the watershed: silt (as Bruce has mentioned) and over-fertilization.

The amount of concern wrt silt is influenced by several factors: cattle density, how hard he grazes the land, and what's in between the pastures and the pond. Best case is if the pastures are intelligently used - not overgrazed, with good sod and grass coverage maintained year round. IMO this is the best way to utilize cattle pasture to both keep it productive AND maximize long-term yield. The amount of silt running off the pasture in this scenario is minimal.

Worst case would be a feedlot - no grass, just mud and manure. From your brief description , this does not sound like what's going on.

What silt runoff exists can be mitigated by using a sediment pond (as Bruce suggests) and/or a dense growth of grass between the pond and the pasture. If it were me, I'd want that 300 yard buffer to have at minimum thick grass kept 6"+ high year round. Worse silt runoff could call for the sediment pond method of control.

Worrying about over-fertilization is also dependent on the number of cattle upstream, as well as being a general water quality issue. Some ponds with poor water fertility would probably benefit from a certain amount of manure in the watershed. IMO the mnaure situation is somewhat linked to the silt situation, i.e. low silt is likely to mean fewer problems with manure, but if you get a lot of silt I bet you'll likely be getting more manure with it. Silt control methods probably help mitigate manure risk, at least to some extent. But you'll have to watch water quality, keep track of secchi depth from algal bloom, that sort of thing.

FWIW I graze 8-12 head of cattle and 6-8 horses on about half the watershed for my pond (roughly 5 of 10 acres). They are NOT on these fields in the Winter months (when they would be most likely to trash the grass and have a large amount of mud exposed). I endeavor not to overgraze and try to maintain good grass coverage year round. I also rest the portion of the pasture immediately above the pond for about 3 months going into Winter, to get a taller grass buffer grown up before cold weather hits. These practices cut silt runoff into the pond to a few % of what it would be if I abused the pastures without regard for the fields or the pond. The manure runoff is low enough that secchi depth has never been less than 16" and usually runs about 2 to 2 1/2 feet.