Livestock and Other Pastured Animals Improvement Program

The SCCD-NRCS Livestock and Other Pastured Animals Improvement program is a local improvements program that provides voluntary, locally-directed, financial and technical assistance to producers wishing to minimize the impact of a livestock operation on adjacent waterways.

The program provides incentives to landowners for the rearrangement or relocation of corrals and feeding areas that have the potential to negatively impact water quality. Stormwater run-off from corrals often contain bacteria (many of which are human pathogens), nutrients, sediment, and organic materials which are delivered to local streams. By mitigating the impacts of stormwater, landowners also reduce their risk of possible regulatory enforcement actions.

Livestock Self-Assessment

Determine the potential risks factors of your current operation

Cost-Share Application

A completed application is required to get the ball rolling!

Cost-Share Process

How the cost-share process works for eligible applicants

Cost-Share Checklist

Use this list to make sure you don't miss any crucial steps

Funding for the program is provided by a combination of Federal and State grants administered by the SCCD, USDA program funds, and landowner contributions. Federal grants come from US EPA through section 319 of the Clean Water Act and are administered through the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. State grants come from the Wyoming Department of Agriculture. USDA program funds generally come from the Environmental Quality Incentives (EQIP) or the Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA) Programs. Depending on the individual project, landowners may qualify to have 50% to 80% of their improvement project cost-shared.

Livestock Improvement Projects

Livestock projects offer voluntary, locally directed cost-share and technical assistance to landowners to improve water quality while upgrading their livestock handling and feeding facilities. Individual projects can be as complex as a complete corral relocation or as simple as closing a water gap, fencing riparian pastures so they can be managed separately, adding stockwater, or diverting runoff. Below are a few project examples.

Stockwater and Fencing Improvement #1

This project is located 1 mile west of Sheridan. Big Goose Creek borders the south, and parts of the west and east side of the property boundary. The previous horse corral was approximately 10,606 square feet, a portion of which accessed Big Goose Creek for livestock water. The previous corral consisted of wooden posts with wooden panels with only a small section of metal wire fence for the creek access (water gap). Runoff from the corral flowed directly into Big Goose Creek, which is an impaired waterbody within Goose Creek Watershed.

After surveying the corral area, it was found that portions of the corral are on slightly lower ground, making runoff flow easily through it and into the creek. With the survey information and landowner recommendations, the new horse corral was downsized to 5,071 square feet (52% loss) and completely relocated to the hay pile area (the highest ground surveyed). One berm, approximately 2 feet wide, 1 foot high and 547 feet long, was constructed around the corral and on the south side of the barns. The berm started at the south side of the corral to prevent clean-water runoff from accessing the corrals and wrapped around the east and then north side of the corral to the south side of the horse barns to funnel the corral run-off water toward an infiltration area. The new berm traveled perpendicular to the existing dirt road thus a culvert and extra fill was needed to build up road base. To avoid livestock from accessing the infiltration area, a 2-rail pole fence was placed around it. A new shelter was also assembled on the north side of the new corral, and a well and stockwater tank was constructed for the new corral as the new water supply.

The Sheridan County Conservation District provided 80% of the cost of the project using water quality grant funds from the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality and the Wyoming Department of Agriculture. The landowners were responsible for the remaining 20%. Livestock projects are granted a higher percentage of cost-share due to the overall increase in expense in doing these types of projects as well as the overall increase in water quality benefit.

Stockwater and Fencing Improvement #2

This 127-acre property lies approximately 13 miles southeast of Sheridan, Wyoming. The previous calving pasture had direct access to Murphy Gulch, a perennial stream running southeast to northwest through this property. During the late winter and early spring, the landowner kept approximately 35 head of cattle for the purpose of calving in this pasture. During the remaining year, he planned for this pasture is to contain several goats (approximately 6). There is a large shelter on the northwest side of the pasture for the cattle to access. Runoff from the pasture and the shelter ran into a large lowland within the pasture. Murphy Gulch is a tributary to Prairie Dog Creek which is an impaired waterbody for bacteria.

This project included fencing off the remaining 800 feet of stream bank access. To supply cattle with a water source, a tire stock tank and culvert were installed in between the horse corral and the pasture fence near the large shelter. The fence line along the stream bank of Murphy Gulch was constructed with posts 8 feet apart with a pole top rail and a single pole center rail using standard 52 inches cattle panels for wire. This fence type was required because of the goats that will be pastured in the area for a portion of the year.

Sheridan County Conservation District did not have grant funds from the Wyoming Department of Agriculture for this project, thus they were only be able to provide 50% of the cost of the project using water quality grant funds from the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. The landowner was responsible for the remaining 50%.