Making Hay While the Sun Shines: Head Gates

With only 30 frost-free days in Sublette County, we like many western states, must make the most of our water rights and sunshine.

As I originally sat to write this article, we received about 5-inches of snow. A hard pill to swallow when it’s calving season and we started the foundational work for a few headgates. We live with the constant question, “What is the weather going to do?”, mainly with emphasis on water and sunlight. I believe every individual in agriculture has thought about that daily, but irrigation gives us the ability to make predictably unproductive ground, become thick and lush.

Properly irrigated ground lays the foundation for added value and benefits to not only the properties intended use, such as use for livestock grazing but also for wildlife and the added benefit of ecologically sound ground.

Why is this important you may ask? Well, the list is long, but we’ll give it a go.

· Correctly irrigated meadows can give you hay worth cutting and grazing in the fall.

· Can save the landowner labor, time, and money: Working with old infrastructure means more input generally and cost in materials and labor. Don’t forget, it may save you from buying hay as well.

· Utilization of resources such as water and grass. Extremely important for those of us with short growing seasons, but overall important for any operation. Better utilization of pastures when livestock returns in the fall to graze. It can give livestock more time to graze pastures before stockpiled forage needs to be given.

· Improves the health of soil micro-organisms who aide plants in their growth as well as the health of the various plant species. Healthy soil means healthy plants which in turn means healthy critters of all kinds…

· Habitat for various birds such as Sandhill Cranes and amphibians like frogs. One thinks the other is a tasty treat…I’ll let you guess who.

· Visually appealing

· Investment in the longevity of an operation.

Not an extensive list, but you get my point. The more effort put into using our precious resource of water, the better off we will be. The ability to contain, evenly distribute and control water is key to a successful growing season and very obtainable.

Making a Plan

As the manager or operator for your land, you know how each pasture or meadow is used, by what species, and for how long. These are all important factors to consider. What is your ultimate goal? For us, it’s the utilization of water, intentional irrigation (I’ll get into that more later), consistent or increased hay crop, and regrowth for fall grazing. We have a timespan of generally May 5 to October 1 where no livestock is on our hay meadows, giving us time to irrigate intentionally as we know what areas need more or less water and give the land an opportunity to grow without being flooded.

What areas are of concern for you, such as low or high areas in your meadow? This is a good opportunity to backtrack and identify areas in your ditches that may be stopping your progress. For instance, we have an area in our main pasture that is higher in elevation and also at the end of a secondary ditch. Two factors that make it harder to irrigate. The grass is short, stemmy, and hard to cut with any mowing equipment making it not as cost-effective to cut, but there is a possibility that the area can grow better forage.

This year, we put in a 24” tube headgate on the secondary ditch. Our goal is to increase and control the flow of water for this area. This will give us the ability to send more water towards these areas that need more attention such as the example I gave above. We also surveyed the elevation on the ditch to understand the flow, which is by far one of the most important aspects of ditch improvement. This ensures that we had a level or slightly lower elevation along the length of the ditch so water can flow easily into and down the ditch. If you are unsure of how to do this, here is a resource that will help you: https://ctt.mtu.edu/sites/default/files/flyers/Surveying%20manual.pdf

Repurposed metal headgate with scrap metal and an old scatter rake wheel.

"We are just one rainstorm away from drought." - Tom Farthing, multi-generational rancher in Horse Creek, Wyo.

Materials and Equipment

This is by no mean a complete list as each project is different, but these are the items we use on a regular basis to complete a headgate.

Equipment:

· Backhoe or Excavator

· Tractor or Skid Loader with a bucket attachment

· Shovel

· Tamping Bar

· Transit

· Tape measure

Materials:

· Plastic, Concrete or Metal Tube of the needed length

· Or tube with head gate already attached

· Sheet Piling or metal tin

· Larger rock

· Sheet of metal to shut the tube or wood

For us, we have repurposed different items as much as possible to keep costs low. Such things like used railroad ties, leftover tin we used to side our shop, and old metal wheels from a scatter rake and other old haying equipment (as seen in the top photo) are just a few of the items. We have an abundance of older pieces of equipment to take various things from which helps us weed our junk pile and repurpose it into something used daily while irrigating.

Laying the Foundation: “Dirt Work Makes the Dream Work.”

Just as a house needs a solid foundation, so does your headgate. Between constant water movement, pressure, and duration of use, it can take less than a day for your headgate to wash out if not properly installed. We have, unfortunately, been there and it is frustrating to see your hard work wash down the ditch. It means time, effort, and money lost, which in any business cannot happen, if at all.

This has been a learning experience for me since I am more animal-oriented than equipment and dirt. From what I have learned these are a few important things to consider: A goal in mind, correct grade for water flow, compaction of dirt, and a headgate you can easily use (shut on and off). Now, that is the most basic observation, but if you’re like me didn’t know what to expect or consider.

What to Expect

Your headgate is in and you’ve turned the water on for the summer. What’s next? Well, you can expect a lot less cussing, hopefully, from your husband (maybe that’s just me?) and the gratifying sense that you can now irrigate your land with intention. A good headgate will give you the water you need to irrigate and a gratifying sense that you can shut the water off if needed which is always important. For us, it’s a good feeling to know that you can make the most of the water while you have it. Our growing season is far too short to waste precious time willing the water to come.

If this post spurs you on to another project, I wish you the best of luck and a bumper hay crop this year. Do you have any unique headgate designs you’ve used? If so, I’d love to hear more about it. Write me a comment and I look forward to hearing from you.