Feeding hay near a pond

[herofan]

I have a friend who said he fed hay for years on an area with a downgrade leading to a pond and it no longer has fish. He feels the runoff was probably the culprit. It made no visible difference. In other words, it wasn't as if his pond looked like a sewer; it always looked normal, but he assumes that it made a difference.

How does everyone here feel about it? Should hay feeding be a good distance from a pond?

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

I can't see how the runoff from a heavily used feeding area would be anything but bad for a pond.

 

[Bigfoot]

Might fertilize the flora and be good for the fauna.

 

[City Guy]

I can't see how the runoff from a heavily used feeding area would be anything but bad for a pond.

X10 Culprits might be pesticides/herbicides in hay and manure or excess nutrients from over-fertilized hay.

 

[Anonymous]

City Guy do you really have to make stupid statements as if you hate ranchers farmers or is just all people .over fertilized hay !! yes run off can harm pond water chemicals really do know how many exsesive part per million it would take over a long period of time .if it really .which he talked like it was over a long period of time ,it may have been the a thin population of fish to begin with ponds that are fished regular do have to be restocked from time to time ! and yes i have seen farm ponds just flip {not pretty }you have to be an activist the stupidity in wording is a dead give away have you ever read label and applied a chemical if you did i want to make sure you had a liscense or have you ever had any idea what we do which organization you part of ?

 

[Anonymous]

ive talked to few like you before !

 

[Anonymous]

Ok you went off line !
Guess ineed to take a break ! :wave:

 

[Margonme]

It is a bad practice to have a winter feed area up gradient of an open water source the cows are drinking from. It an ideal pathway to expose your cows to bacteria, viruses and parasites shed in the waste products from the cows. In addition, the organic products such as ammonia, urea and other intermediate organic compounds in the breakdown of nitrogenous waste will lead to poor health and even the loss of livestock.

The previous owner of my farm did just that. He lost several head of cattle one winter and the veterinarian who investigated determined that the waste in the water killed the cows.

 

[TexasBred]

Ok you went off line !
Guess ineed to take a break ! :wave:

Many herbicides carry a warning specifically for fish. Consider it !!!!

 

[wbvs58]

The decomposition in the pond of organic matter can lead to low oxygen for the fish.

Ken

 

[Aaron]

I have a friend who said he fed hay for years on an area with a downgrade leading to a pond and it no longer has fish. He feels the runoff was probably the culprit. It made no visible difference. In other words, it wasn't as if his pond looked like a sewer; it always looked normal, but he assumes that it made a difference.

How does everyone here feel about it? Should hay feeding be a good distance from a pond?

Go have your friend go to the bathroom in his home drinking water well. Let me know if it makes a difference.

 

[Anonymous]

TexasBred
Yes sir ! i have considered it evrey time ive sprayed , recorded it , not just my own record but i belive the state also has a record as is part of the state guide line for a liscense !
my point was some one jumped to a conclusion instead of researching all possible problems .and asking more questions most hay that is sprayed with a pesticide the label give an idea of a release date there are also federal laws governing this and its use and sell !
over a long period of time there could have just possibly been more than a few thing at the root cause . this a great board
i have enjoyed but truly dont have time . :wave:

 

[Anonymous]

One last thought if some of the younger ones have never heard of it they should be encouraged to look into
B Q A Beef Quality Assurance
Wished i knew how to post a link !
There are also state certifications that ranchers and farmers can look into these are all excellent programs !
You would all do them a favor to encourage them to seek these out .

 

[tom4018]

I can't see how the runoff from a heavily used feeding area would be anything but bad for a pond.

X10 Culprits might be pesticides/herbicides in hay and manure or excess nutrients from over-fertilized hay.

I don't have to worry about over fertilizing as I really can't afford to do what it calls for most of the time. :hide:

 

[wacocowboy]

I seen people who raised talapia and they use to put cow and pig crap in the water. They sure had some nice looking fish.

 

[Aaron]

I can't see how the runoff from a heavily used feeding area would be anything but bad for a pond.

X10 Culprits might be pesticides/herbicides in hay and manure or excess nutrients from over-fertilized hay.

I don't have to worry about over fertilizing as I really can't afford to do what it calls for most of the time. :hide:

Even if you did, you wouldn't be able to cut and dry it. Uncle once had a field that was poor and soil report came back and said 1200 lbs per acre of P. Couldn't afford that, but nothing grew on it and wasn't a huge field, so he spread 1/2 of that amount, 600 lbs P per acre. Went from making about 1/2 a bale to the acre to 12 bales to the acre in one year. Problem was windrows out of the 12' haybine were 4' high and 6' wide. Lots and lots of raking.

 

[City Guy]

City Guy do you really have to make stupid statements as if you hate ranchers farmers or is just all people .over fertilized hay !! yes run off can harm pond water chemicals really do know how many exsesive part per million it would take over a long period of time .if it really .which he talked like it was over a long period of time ,it may have been the a thin population of fish to begin with ponds that are fished regular do have to be restocked from time to time ! and yes i have seen farm ponds just flip {not pretty }you have to be an activist the stupidity in wording is a dead give away have you ever read label and applied a chemical if you did i want to make sure you had a liscense or have you ever had any idea what we do which organization you part of ?

I said the problem MIGHT BE the excess nutrients, etc. I was just stating what should have been obvious. Of course there could be many other explanations. I worked for the Soil Conservation Service when I was in collage and have been around farm ponds many times. Sorry if I annoyed you.

 

[tja477t]

Even if you did, you wouldn't be able to cut and dry it. Uncle once had a field that was poor and soil report came back and said 1200 lbs per acre of P. Couldn't afford that, but nothing grew on it and wasn't a huge field, so he spread 1/2 of that amount, 600 lbs P per acre. Went from making about 1/2 a bale to the acre to 12 bales to the acre in one year. Problem was windrows out of the 12' haybine were 4' high and 6' wide. Lots and lots of raking.

are you sure that was phosphate the numbers sound more like lime. my last soil test had 28.6 lb/a of P which is considered optimum for our area. Two crops of hay in our area calls for 60 lbs/acre per year of P.

 

[Aaron]

Even if you did, you wouldn't be able to cut and dry it. Uncle once had a field that was poor and soil report came back and said 1200 lbs per acre of P. Couldn't afford that, but nothing grew on it and wasn't a huge field, so he spread 1/2 of that amount, 600 lbs P per acre. Went from making about 1/2 a bale to the acre to 12 bales to the acre in one year. Problem was windrows out of the 12' haybine were 4' high and 6' wide. Lots and lots of raking.

are you sure that was phosphate the numbers sound more like lime. my last soil test had 28.6 lb/a of P which is considered optimum for our area. Two crops of hay in our area calls for 60 lbs/acre per year of P.

Phosphate. This was 30 years ago when fertilizer was cheap.