Source: Steve Higgins, assistant adjunct professor, Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

As every livestock owner knows, mud is more than a nuisance. It robs animals of energy, wastes feed and tears up pasture. The good news is that a few wise choices about location and surface design can turn the worst trouble spots into firm, drainable ground that holds up month after month.

Start with placement

Heavy-use areas — feeders, gates, mineral sites and waterers — are best when set on a slight rise, not in a “bottom” or along a ditch. When you place these hubs on higher ground, you deal only with the rain that falls there, not with water flowing through from the rest of the field. That single decision cuts most of the mud before it is able to form.

Build a layered pad

Under any rock or gravel, separate soil from stone with felt-like, non-woven, geotextile fabric. Overlap seams by a foot or two, lay it flat, then cover with compacted dense-grade aggregate. Go easy with the first lift so you don’t tear the fabric, then make sure it is well compacted. This simple fabric-plus-rock system spreads the load from hooves and traffic, sheds water and resists rutting. When the surface loosens with use, add a thin layer of stone and compact again.

Choose the right surface for the spot

Concrete earns its keep around waterers, feed bunks and scraping lanes. Give it a rough finish — rougher than a sidewalk — to protect hips and joints. Where you want gravel but need more stability, plastic paver grids (think shallow egg cartons) lock rock in place and stop sloppy areas before they begin. Budget-friendly reinforcements, like filling old tires or cinder blocks with rock, can stiffen lanes and edges. Soil-cement can work for larger pads built in warm weather; use concrete where routine scraping is expected.

Daily habits that pay off

Keep hay off bare soil; once trampled into mud, it’s lost feed and a future weed patch. Scrape manure before it dissolves into sludge. Avoid driving heavy equipment across wet ground to reduce ruts that channel more water during the next rain. Give animals a firm path to and from water and feed so they don’t churn a single patch into soup. Where animals access a stream, build one armored entry or crossing rather than letting the whole bank break down.

Fixing cow paths

Grazing animals form contour trails (“cowtouring”) and single-file cow paths to save energy moving to water, feed and minerals. In wet weather, these routes can trough, erode, expose slick clay and become hard to traverse, especially on steeper slopes (cattle struggle above ~30%).  

An all-weather path solves this by building a drainable base: excavate about eight inches, lay nonwoven geotextile, set recycled tire tread cylinders end-to-end in the trench and fill inside and around them with dense-grade aggregate. The tire tops finish at or just above grade. These paths provide firm footing year-round, cut energy costs for animals and protect fields from rutting and erosion.

To learn more about keeping mud out of your fields and stalls, contact the (COUNTY NAME) Extension office.  

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