By Robert Fears A


s we were reminded during the last 3 years of drought, a good water supply is critical for successful ranch operation. Cattle require an adequate amount of water for body growth, fetal growth, and lactation. They need water to replace moisture


lost in urine, feces, sweat, or through evaporation from the lungs or skin. Adequate water is also needed for ranch households and for some of


the chores done around the barn and corrals. A lot of information has been written and presented on different forage


management systems that can help prepare us for the next drought. Equal attention needs to be focused on improving or expanding water systems. In planning water systems, it may be benefi cial to evaluate solar systems,


especially for areas where alternating current (AC) power is not available. Dr. Michael Buschermohle, University of Tennessee Extension says, “A


solar-powered water pumping system is made up of 2 basic components. The fi rst component is the power supply, consisting of photovoltaic (PV) panels. The smallest element of a PV panel is the solar cell. Each solar cell has 2 or more specially prepared layers of semiconductor material that produce direct current (DC) electricity when exposed to light. DC


CONVENTION 


 March 27-29, 2015  Fort Worth, Texas


This topic was part of the 2015 School for Successful Ranching, March 27 and 28.


Visit www.tscra.org/convention for meeting notes. tscra.org May 2015 The Cattleman 61


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