What’s swimming in your stock water?

Learn to identify aquatic insects to determine if your livestock’s water sources are healthy and provide the nutrition they need.

When Wyatt DeSpain began work at the Noble Research Institute, he knew his work would require a long-term view.

DeSpain is a research associate on Noble’s transitions team of scientists, which monitors changes in wildlife, soils, vegetation and water on Noble Ranches. The team compares the data it gathers each year to the baseline conditions of “year zero” or 2022, the year Noble began its transition from conventional to regenerative management.

His focus is limnology – the study of inland waters. He has spent the past two years collecting and analyzing more than 100 samples each year from stock ponds on Noble and cooperator ranch properties to search for indicators of how water quality changes in response to management choices.

“Most of the changes we expect to see will occur over the course of 5, 10, 20 years,” DeSpain says. “It’s not something that happens right after a management change. It’s something that requires a lot of repetition and requires a lot of waiting to see what time will tell us.”

Still, he offers a simple pointer to help ranchers make a quick assessment of potential changes in their stock-pond water quality: look for what’s making a living in the water.

KEEP READING >> Originally published for Noble Rancher.