Page 11 - MWC 2-3-2022s

The Midwest Cattleman · February 3, 2022 · P11
WINDBREAK WISDOM

Proper placement and construction of windbreaks can pay off.

by Kris Kohl, Iowa State University Extension
Winter is upon us and with breaks, I would like to place
it snow and wind. Cattle and them about six times their
farmsteads both can benefit height away from driveways
from properly placed wind- and lanes to greatly reduce
breaks. There are two main the time and effort of moving
windbreak functions on a snow around the farmstead.
farm: livestock windchill pro- For our 6-ft. example, that
tection and snow windbreaks. means 36 ft. back from the
We’ll discuss how to use each driveway.
one to its greatest benefit.
Livestock windchill protec-
62nd Annual
tion windbreaks are built to 62nd Annual
be 20% open and 80% closed.
Bull & F
The normal high-wind direc-
tion is the north and west Bull & Female Saleemale Sale
of a feedlot. By allowing the
Feb. 26, 2022 ~ 1:00 p.m.eb. 26, 2022 ~ 1:00 p.m.
windbreak to be 20% open, F
some air will penetrate, but
its speed will be reduced by at the Farm near Burchard, NE
about one-fourth of the high
Selling
speed. This means a 50-mph q Selling q
wind will feel like a 37.5 mph I Including Herd Bull Prospectsncluding Herd Bull Prospects
wind, which is much more 35 Polled Hereford Bulls by Full Brothersby Full Brothers
35 Polled Hereford Bulls
manageable. Genesis & Garfield
Genesis & Garfield
Snow will tend to pile up 40 Bred & Open Females
40 Bred & Open Females

two times the height of the
windbreak. A farmer using
cornstalk bales to build a
windbreak might build it to CT MISS WALKER 124G CT COWBOY 54H
be 10 feet (ft.) high and have X51 Granddaughter out of a Super LOEWEN MHF
6 ft. of solid barrier and 1.5 ft. TOP TANK daughter bred to COWBOY 2E son
out of the same cow
of open space along the north- KCF BENNET RESOLVE. family that produced
west side of the feedyard. It BW WW YW MM Marb REA BW WW YW MM Marb REA FEDERAL. Powerful
coming two-year old.
should be placed at least 20 +3.3 +50 +75 +21 +0.13 +0.62 +2.0 +54 +91 +21 +0.21 +0.53
ft. back from the yard for the CT MISS DYLAN 56H GAME PLAN 65J CT SUNSHINE 2J ET
snow area. This area should
also have a natural slope to
direct the spring melt water
away from the yard. The pro-
tected area will be 10 times
the height, which, in our case BW WW YW MM Marb REA BW WW YW MM Marb REA BW WW YW MM Marb REA
is going to be 100 ft. down- +0.8 +51 +86 +29 +0.19 +0.26 +2.5 +59 +97 +29 +0.12 +0.53 +2.3 +66 +109 +31 +0.31 +0.61
wind. We would like to place Very nice DYLAN daughter out of one of our This goggle eyed, thick GARFIELD son was Fantastic ET son of LOEWEN GENESIS
the feedbunks and water in very top cow families here. Bred to NJW our heaviest weaning weight calf! GARFIELD and out of the top CMF ANODYNE daughter
this zone, along with drive- 139C 103C RIDGE 254G. is a full flush brother to GENESIS. VICTORIA 282D. Herd Bull alert!!
ways for traffic. CT MISS WALKER 138G CT FRONTMAN 16J CT HUSKER 119H
Snow is always a problem
in the winter and moving it
around with equipment does
not add to the bottom line.
Snow windbreaks are built to
be 50% solid and 50% open. BW WW YW MM Marb REA BW WW YW MM Marb REA BW WW YW MM Marb REA
They will dump and drift +4.1 +61 +89 +21 +0.08 +0.55 +3.6 +61 +102 +28 +0.16 +0.46 +1.7 +59 +93 +26 +0.21 +0.96
snow for three to four times X51 Granddaughter out of a top REVOLUTION Powerful GARFIELD son out of a ANODYNE Great son of NJW 160B 02X HISTORIC
the height of the windbreak granddaughter bred to LOEWEN CMF MENDEL. grandaughter first calf heifer. 84E ET and out of a perfect uddered X51
daughter. This bull has pigment and excellent
and the height of the drift *EPDs up to date as of 01/04/22 phenotype.
will be 1.2 times the height
T
of the windbreak. For exam- Tegtmeier Polled Herefordsegtmeier Polled Herefords
ple, if we start with a 6-ft.- q Russ Tegtmeier - 402.865.5805 h / 402.335.0470 cTegtmeier - 402.865.5805 h / 402.335.0470 c q
Russ
high bale that’s 6-ft. wide, 71556 609 Ave., Burchard, NE 68323Ave., Burchard, NE 68323
71556 609
with a 6-ft.-wide space, this
will accumulate snow for 24
W
ft. with a drift that will be 7.2 Register to bid onlin Watch for Videos, Photos & Catalog atatch for Videos, Photos & Catalog at Joel Birdw
Register to bid onlinee
Joel Birdwell - Auctioneerell - Auctioneer
ft. high about 18 ft. back from www
www.tegtmeierpolledherefords.com.tegtmeierpolledherefords.com Kingfisher, OK / 405-368-1058Kingfisher, OK / 405-368-1058
the fence. With snow wind-