Today I came across an article from Drovers called “Extreme weather dominates Central Plains”. Click here for the article. Flooding in the north and drought in the south. This reminded me of a question that we often receive at shows that we attend in the south where the benefits of a heated waterer generally are not needed. “Why would I need your waterer if I can just fill up a stock tank?”
This is a very valid question. My response…low water waste, especially if you live in a drought affected area. Over the past several years, it seems as if drought has been a continuous concern in the south and in California. Studies have shown that the drought will continue for much of the United States. Dumping 50-100 gallons of water to clean a stock tank can make one stop and think about the waste in these drought areas.
Ritchie carries close to 40 units. While some are quite large, often times, the smaller units will satisfy the needs of your animals. Once the water level lowers, the valve will allow the trough to refill, even as your animals are drinking. The water capacity in these troughs is between 2-6.5 gallons of water, will be all you will be removing when cleaning the tank. Another benefit of these low capacity automatic waterers is that the incoming water is fresh and cool. Water will not have a chance to become warm or stagnant.
To go a step further, a covered waterer will help reduce the amount of water lost to evaporation. We carry two covered units, the heated EcoFount series and the heat optional Thrifty King series.
So, if you live in an area that has been dealing with drought, the automatic waterer may benefit you, besides saving you time in having to dump and refill your stock tank, much more than previously thought.
Did you know our WaterMaster 1200 has a lower water capacity than our competitors?
The WaterMaster 1200 has a water capacity only 60 gallons of water. Our competitors equivalent holds 110 gallons. The benefits of this to you are:
1. There is fresher water available for your dairy cattle, the longer water stands in a trough, the more apt it is to become stagnant and have higher levels of algae and bacterial growth. With only 60 gallons in the trough at a time, the water turnover is more frequent. Considering 80-90% of the end product you produce is water, wouldn’t the water that they consume should be of higher quality?
2. Heating water costs money. Should you be required to heat your waterers during the winter months, you will be heating half as much volume of water with our units as you would with our competitors. Depending on the weather conditions experienced (extreme cold winter) the additional cost of the higher volume waterers can add up quite rapidly.
3. Less water also means less water waste. When cleaning the WaterMaster 1200, you will be putting less water into your manure system, reducing waste costs later on (manure handling).
- For example, if you have 20 Watermaster 1200’s and you clean them twice a month, you will only be adding 28,800 gallons of water to your manure storage per year. If you have our competitors unit and clean at the same frequency you will be adding 52,800 gallons per year. Multiply that by your cost per gallon to transport and spread your manure, you will see the amount of money you can save by purchasing a Ritchie versus the competition.
4. Ritchie waterers also have a ten year limited warranty. Poly products are protected against manufacturer defect for five full years, than prorated for the five years. That is five years longer than any other manufacturer in the industry.