EQIP Project Protects Calves and Creek

A little fencing plus some off-stream water made a lot of improvement for Hi-Line rancher.

If Bob Munson’s cows were high-maintenance humans, you would see them lounging around in casual attire, eating bon-bons and watching soap operas, warm and dry during their last trimester of pregnancy.

And that is just the way Munson likes it.

He is proud of his calving area. From mid-February through April, he threads his tractor through a swale of tall cottonwoods that slow the wind, feeding high quality hay to 240 mother cows. Lush, knee-high western wheatgrass and bromes supplement the hay.

Every cattle producer wants to provide a warm place for cows to calve, but in Munson’s country, windbreaks are essential.

Munson ranches just outside Chinook, along Montana’s Hi-Line. February temperatures can drop to minus 40 degrees while winds can gust to 60 mph. By April, daily lows usually stay above the single digits, but newborn calves still need protection.

Munson’s slice of paradise offered every amenity, but the stream running through his winter pasture proved to be too much of a good thing. Calves kept falling through the ice and drowning, and water quality became a concern.

Munson turned to the Natural Resources Conservation Service for help.

Through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), NRCS funds projects that will help ranchers address environmental problems while improving their economic sustainability.

Munson received 75 percent cost-share -- about $4,500 -- to fence out Lodge Creek and install an off-stream water trough.

“Bob fenced out the unusable portion of his calving pasture and saved himself from losing calves and chopping ice all winter,” says Talana Traub, NRCS soil conservationist for Blaine County. “He is also improving water quality by keeping the cattle out of the stream.”

And wildlife love that unused 20 or 30 acres.

“I like the wildlife. We have pheasants, deer, antelope, moose. I even have pictures of elk down in here,” Munson says.

Unused grass grows rank so periodically Munson will turn his cows into the stream-side pasture during the fall. Fall grazing eliminates the unpalatable grass without harming the plant or disturbing wildlife during their vulnerable birthing and nesting season.

The Improvements

Munson drilled a 27-foot well near a power line, then piped clean water to a trough 3,440 feet away. The trough is an old, rubber tractor tire. Ice does not form on the continuously running water in that black rubber.

“That rubber tire can’t injure the cows and they can’t hurt it either. It’s the only thing to put in,” Munson says.

The new fence separated a triangle-shaped piece of land from Munson’s calving area so “it didn’t take much fence to do a lot,” Munson says. “It benefited me by keeping the cattle out of the creek during calving. The number of calves saved would pay for the fence, not to mention the impact on water quality.”

Changes in EQIP

Montana’s familiar EQIP program changed slightly with Congress’ authorization of the 2002 Farm Bill. The revised program offers flexible contracts that can range from one to 10 years and the financial contract limits were increased from $50,000 to $450,000.

Other changes include the following:

• Cost-share percentages are 50 to 75 percent.
• Limited Resource Producers and Beginning Farmers can get 65 percent to 90 percent cost-share assistance.
• Contracts are no longer awarded based on the cost versus the environmental benefit ratio.

Livestock producers should be interested in a couple more changes to EQIP, too, says Montana NRCS State Conservationist Dave White.

“First, the law states that 60 percent of all EQIP funding must be spent on conservation practices related to livestock operations. Second, there is no longer a limit on the number of livestock a producer can have to still be eligible for EQIP,” he says.

“(EQIP) is much more flexible now, which works better for ranchers,” Traub says.

And, the amount of money is increasing. Montana used to average about $5 million a year in EQIP, but the amount increased to $15 million in 2003. Depending on what Congress appropriates, the amount Montana gets in the future could even go higher, White said.

Last Modified: 05/25/2005