by Cynthia McFarland
"Going green" is big news. It is all about leaving a smaller imprint on the planet.
Pick up a newspaper, open a magazine, or turn on the television news, and you will learn how businesses and individuals are utilizing environmentally friendly practices. Some Americans are opting to eat vegetarian meals once or twice a week because a meat-centered diet produces more pounds of carbon dioxide than a vegan or plant-based diet of equal calories.
Buying local is another simple but powerful choice that can make a difference because produce typically travels at least 1,500 miles before reaching your plate. Driving more fuel-efficient vehicles, combining errands to save fuel, and swapping standard light bulbs for energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs are choices many Americans are making.
But what about the farmer, in particular the farmer whose livelihood revolves around breeding and raising horses?
If the phrase going green brings to mind activists and those known pejoratively as tree huggers, think again. There are numerous ways today's farm owner can lessen the impact on the environment that do not require a radically altered lifestyle.
Protect water
One major way landowners can help the environment is by protecting water sources, especially if you are fortunate enough to have a creek, stream, spring, or other natural water source on your farm. Creating a riparian area is an environmentally sound management practice that also can end up saving labor costs.
"A riparian area is the zone of ground immediately around a stream, river, pond, or lake," explained Steve Higgins, Ph.D., director of environmental compliance at the Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station of the University of Kentucky. "The size of the zone will vary, depending on the soil, slope, and size of the water body."
Acting as a buffer strip along the water, a riparian area helps maintain water quality by filtering sediments and nutrients as well as providing wildlife and plant habitat. It helps stabilize stream banks and protects the area from erosion and polluted surface runoff. In the event of flooding, it will slow the flow of water. Cutting back on mowing and trimming this zone also will save fuel and labor costs.
Higgins noted that yet another incentive for creating a riparian area is that some farms are finding that Canada geese will stay year-round when they feel safe and have an available food source. In pastures, the geese are often found along water sources where they can erode the banks, denude vegetation, and foul the water, especially during times of drought. They also leave behind fecal matter that may be harmful to horses if ingested. However, geese will avoid the tall grass and vegetation of a riparian zone, most likely because they fear the possibility of predators.
In many cases, the National Resources Conservation Service, (www.nrcs.usda.gov), a division of the United States Department of Agriculture, will provide financial assistance for such conservation activities as creating a riparian area on your property. Originally known as the Soil Conservation Service when it was created in 1935, the NRCS works with private landowners and managers to conserve soil, water, and other natural resources.
Although landowners often want the golf-course look with grass neatly mowed and trimmed all the way down to the water's edge, Higgins encouraged them to change that way of thinking and to follow the "rule of three." Take the width of the stream or water body and multiply it by three to determine the recommended width of the riparian area.
For example, if a stream is ten feet wide, you should have at least 30 feet on each side designated as a riparian zone. Width may vary on either side. Higgins works with one farm where the riparian area is 50 feet wide along one side of the creek and 200 feet wide on the other side because it is more prone to flooding.
No mow, no livestock
This area becomes a no-mow zone, and livestock access to the water should be restricted. You can go into the zone a few times a year to maintain it, but otherwise it should be left alone.
"Typically along a riparian area, you want to have three levels of vegetation: trees, shrubs, and grasses. All three levels will play a role in holding the soil in place, filtering out pesticides, sediment, and pathogens from fecal bacteria," Higgins said. "If you're going to plant trees, plant them in multiple rows so the roots will entwine and help hold the bank in place. You also want to plant a variety of native tree species because they will compete with one another and actually grow faster than if you just plant one species."
As for shrubs and grasses, you should again plant native species, but avoid invasive shrubs. Your local forest conservation office can make recommendations as to what species would be best to plant in your area.
Higgins noted that in most cases, when you take an area that was formerly fully open to livestock and had no vegetation, it can take ten to 12 years to get a full riparian zone with three healthy levels of vegetation.
If you create a riparian area in pasture land where horses have free access, you will need to fence off the zone.
"You can make the fence meander along the creek so you don't lose as much land and it also looks good," said Higgins. "Most competent fencing contractors will know where to put the fence; you don't want to put it in the flood plain because you'll lose the fence if it sits in water. If you are going to fence off a riparian area, contact your local NRCS office, and they can help you delineate what the area should be. They may pay you to take that area out of production, and you may also get partial funding for fencing that area off from livestock."
Although some farm owners like the idea of allowing horses to drink from a creek or pond in the pasture, animals tend to have better and more controlled water quality if they drink from a trough or waterer, said Bob Coleman, Ph.D., assistant professor of equine extension at the University of Kentucky.
Regular traffic in and out of water not only causes serious damage to the bank and creek bed, but it also means horses are frequently in mud and wet conditions, which can lead to hoof problems.
"You are also enhancing the water quality of your neighbors downstream [by not allowing horses access to water sources] because livestock regularly foul water when they are in it," Coleman said.
In some states, protecting water is not just an environmentally friendly idea; it is the law. "In Kentucky, we've had a rash of people going in and removing vegetation along streams and flood plains," Higgins said. "If you get into a flood plain, this can be a serious infraction. This can open you up to fines and even jail time."
In the Bluegrass State, the Kentucky Agriculture Water Quality Act, which was passed in 1994, requires all landowners with ten or more acres being used for agricultural purposes, including raising horses, to implement a water-quality plan. For more information, the website is www.ca.uky.edu/enri/awqa/index.htm. Landowners are required to utilize the best management practices for their particular type of operation and can obtain assistance through a variety of agencies.
High-traffic pads
When you have horses, you invariably have mud at some time of the year. Installing a high-traffic pad in heavily used areasÑsuch as around gates, waterers, and feedersÑand under shade structures or run-in sheds not only will improve horse hoof condition but also reduce pests such as mosquitoes and flies that are attracted to mud.
A high-traffic pad can have a significant effect on water quality. When grass is destroyed by concentrated hoof traffic, nutrients, sediment, and pathogens can be swept away in runoff and pollute water sources. High-traffic pads also can be used to create stream crossings that allow livestock limited access to a water body, or to cross a creek to reach another pasture.
To create a high-traffic pad, you must remove top soil to reach stable subsoil, typically about nine inches deep. A geotextile fabric is then placed over the soil and is topped by approximately five to six inches of fist-sized crushed stone. This layer is then covered by a final layer of about three inches of densely graded aggregate, such as limestone dust and large gravel. The entire area is watered and then packed down firmly, ideally with a construction roller.
"This creates a pervious surface that allows water to percolate down through the material and work its way into the ground," Coleman said. Because rock is used in the construction, it's important to pick horses' feet out regularly when they have access to a high-traffic pad. But, Coleman noted, this should be done anyway. Your local cooperative extension office can provide detailed plans for constructing a high-traffic pad.
Pervious concrete wash areas
Washing horses is a regular occurrence on many farms, and landowners often are not aware of the potentially harmful effect this can have on water sources.
"Horses often have pesticides, such as fly spray, on them. You also have soap suds, and most horses defecate in the wash area," Higgins said. "Then you have a stream of suds and contaminants leaving the wash site."
"Using pervious concrete for wash areas is a green thing to do," said Coleman. "It doesn't require a drain, which is always getting clogged with debris in a wash stall. It also provides you with a treatment system for the wash water."
Pervious concrete is a safer surface for horses than asphalt or standard concrete, and it has important environmental advantages. "Wash water goes down through the pervious concrete into a rock matrix below," Higgins said. "This provides a habitat for beneficial bacteria to thrive, but harmful pathogens found in animal waste are destroyed. The gray water is slowly discharged out into a vegetative filter strip."
Pervious concrete contains the same ingredients as standard concrete but in different amounts. The amount of sand is reduced or even eliminated, and the amount of water is reduced. This results in a concrete pad that allows water to pass through it. Routine pressure washing will remove material that can clog the pores of pervious concrete so that it functions as intended.
To learn more about using pervious concrete in horse facilities, contact your local cooperative extension office. In the Bluegrass region, contact the Kentucky Ready Mix Concrete Association.
Compost waste
The more horses you have, the more manure you have to handle, and waste disposal can be both complicated and costly. Some farm owners are taking proactive measures by composting manure.
"We have been working on handling equine waste for several years, and composting seems to be a win-win situation," said Carolyn Oldfield, coordinator for the Thoroughbred Resource Conservation and Development Council, a not-for-profit organization that focuses on projects related to agriculture and conservation in seven Kentucky counties, including the prime Thoroughbred-producing areas.
Spreading raw muck on pastures introduces pathogens and weed seeds. Stockpiling muck attracts flies and can be unsightly, while paying to have waste hauled away is a never-ending expense. Composting not only eliminates these problems, but it also increases overall pasture health and soil quality. Weed growth is suppressed, which can reduce or eliminate the need for herbicides on fields. The cost for fertilizing is often reduced, as well.
Composting seriously reduces the volume of waste. Four wagonloads of muck typically will become one load of compost. A balanced recipe is required to turn muck into finished compost successfully, which takes about eight to ten weeks once the process begins.
Lantern Hill Farm in Midway, Kentucky, uses mostly straw bedding (about 95%) and has been composting for several years. "Composting is really the only answer for us," said farm owner Suzi Shoemaker. "I look at it as the best possible solution for an expensive problem. Water-quality is an issue everywhere you turn. We felt this was the only adequate way to address those water quality issues. The product we get is really high quality, and we're putting it back on the land."
Even if you compost, storing manure before the process begins must be done properly to avoid runoff and potential contamination of groundwater.
Fertilizer and herbicides
The environmentally conscious farm owner also will take a different approach to fertilization and weed control. "You should consider application of fertilizer to meet plant needs, not just because it has always been done," Coleman said. "Fertilize only to the level required according to a soil test."
The same principles hold true for weed control by using herbicides appropriately and following label directions closely. "You may need to use herbicides for weed control, but do it only by following directions," Coleman said. "Be environmentally aware as to what products will do the right job and not overkill. Don't guess on amounts. Follow label directions, measure herbicide, and use the right spraying device for each product."
Coleman emphasized that farm owners must make sure the product they are using is labeled for the intended use. For example, some herbicides that can be used in the yard and garden should not be used on pastures where animals graze.
After using a sprayer, take care when rinsing and cleaning it to avoid runoff that may be harmful to people, animals, water, or desirable vegetation. The label will give directions for cleaning sprayers and also on how to dispose of the herbicide container. "Containers may be recyclable, but you may have to follow a certain procedure," Coleman said.
Cynthia McFarland is a freelance writer based in Fairfield, Florida