At the tender age of 15, I was asked the following, very direct question – did you turn the tap off in the yard?
The discussion that followed, stands out as one of the most character-forming experiences of my entire life.
All of this took place during a very cold spell, while I was working with a neighbouring farmer after school.
On the day in question, I noticed a small dribble of water coming from a tap in the farm yard.
My automatic response was to turn the tap off. A couple of hours later, I was told in very blunt terms, why it should have been kept running.
Essentially, I had killed-off the only supply of water into the farm. The end result was madness.
Impact of turning off the tap
For the full week, thereafter, chaos ensued, as a slurry tanker was taken out of moth balls and used to draw water from a nearby river.
Had the tap been allowed to keep running – the slightest dribble would have sufficed – it would have been possible to fill ‘cubes’ in the yard and quickly refill drinkers that had totally frozen-up in all the sheds.
So, why is any of this relevant right now?
Well the weather forecast indicates heavy night frosts over the next week and beyond. It’s the perfect scenario for water pipes to freeze and drinkers to stop filling.
Farms can have all the silage and meal in the world, but when the water stops flowing, things start to get really tight.
That’s why it is worth keeping one tap running or trickling ever so slightly in a farmyard during a persistent cold snap.
For the record, I did learn my lesson. Back in December 2010, when temperatures dropped to record low levels, I was milking cows in my own right.
One tap in the yard was kept running slightly throughout the ‘big freeze’. And, just to make sure that everyone else was ‘on message’ I had an appropriately worded sign put up on the wall beside it.
So, yes, water freezes. And, in so doing, the ice that does form can also act to crack concrete drinkers in fields. This is due to what’s called the anomalous expansion of water.
So, it might be worthwhile emptying all field drinkers now, if this has not been done already.
Just think of all that valuable water leaking away through cracks, once the thaw does come. Moreover, drinkers can be expensive items to replace – as all livestock farmers know only too well.