Protecting the Creeks of Coal Creek Farm

We got about a half-inch of rain yesterday and expect the same today. The cows make a muddy mess when it’s wet, but the hayfields need the rain, especially as new blooms pop every day. I took the ATV to the White’s Creekside of the farm. Our five thousand acres are divided by two creeks. Coal Creek and Whites Creek. We have a spot in the creek that has been getting well worn by ATV crossings. We often gather rocks by hand and embed them in the steep part of the creek bank. Most of the more significant creeks have been fenced so that the cows cannot access them. But there are so many water bodies on the farm that we carefully maintain all of our creek and wet weather conveyance beds. When the cows gather to drink the creek water, it looks natural and beautiful. But they leave a mess which leads to erosion. They also poop in the water, which is carried downstream to areas where people swim, so we try to help stabilize the banks and create as many ponds as possible while not interfering with streamflow. We were soaked when we finished filling the ruts, so we didn’t worry about getting splashed as we drove back across the creek and headed home for a hot shower and dinner.