Farm Pond Management

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Zooplankton aren’t the only creatures that eat phytoplankton, though. Insects, tadpoles and crustaceans also consume it. Larger invertebrates – snails, fingernail clams, worms, leeches and insects – consume the smaller plant and animal life and produce waste that in turn offers nutrients to support an array of plants, insects, amphibians, reptiles, fish and birds, and everything together effectively serves the multitude of other pond purposes.

If it’s managed correctly that is.

When one of the pond’s components, such as the nutrient level, gets out of whack, then everything else becomes unbalanced – zooplankton blooms, for example, can deplete dissolved oxygen to a level that’s lethal to fish. 

Know your pond

The most important management tactic is to routinely and carefully observe your waterway. If the pond is overgrown with algae, incredibly muddy or the water has a yellow-green hue, something is wrong, and it will affect the entire system’s balance – from the phytoplankton on up to the nutrients in the water that your cattle are drinking. In terms of nutrient levels (to say nothing about the fish population), if your pond looks healthy – if it isn’t covered with moss or completely muddy – it probably is.

When using the pond for livestock hydration, it is vital to fence the animals out because they have the nasty habit of depositing significant amounts of nitrogen and other dissolved nutrients and organic matter into the water. I recommend fencing off the pond regardless, since it will reduce unwanted visits from people and animals.

One early trouble sign that points to nutrient overloading, especially with older ponds, is the appearance of filamentous algae – the pond moss you typically see in the spring. The main source of nutrients that contribute to rank moss growth, which forms on the bottom, is organic fertilizer. That often comes from excrement, whether it’s from ducks, poultry litter, cow pies or septic system runoff.

One possibility for eliminating moss would be introducing grass carp to eat the algae; in many cases, just one will do the trick.

I can think of few things more discouraging than clearing moss from your lure after every cast when fishing. It’s even worse when you think you’re getting a bite every time, and it’s simply the hook hitting a snag on the bottom. That was another virtue learned at the pond – patience. 

Your pond is a reservoir

The best way to water livestock from any pond is to use gravity or a siphon to deliver water to a stock tank located at an elevation lower than the pond’s surface. You can rig these up fairly easily, either running a pipe through the dam (best installed when building or rebuilding the dam) or with a siphon system. Solar/wind/electric pumps, nose pumps and, in some cases, ram pumps can all be used to move water from the pond to stock tank.

Herschel George, a watershed specialist for Kansas State University in Manhattan, works extensively with livestock producers, and he emphasizes that not only will fencing off livestock improve the quality of water, it will also extend the life of the structure. He says if you allow cattle direct access, their presence on the pond’s edge will result in sloughing of the banks, and you’ll be left with a large, shallow pool in time.

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