Greener Pastures

There's an old adage that says, the grass is always greener on the other side. And here in Bulembu it definitely is greener over on the other side of town as the Bulembu Dairy has installed a new drag line irrigation system to ensure healthier pastures for the cows.

The system, just recently up and running, was installed over a period of three months by a team of pipe layers and tested by an external contractor.

The process? Two main pipes (110 mm and 160 mm) were laid down in the pastures. Off of the main pipes branch 40 mm pipes that feed water to the drag lines (above ground hoses) which attach to the actual sprinkler heads. (Below you can see the black drag line behind the sprinkler head, yes?).

The irrigation system covers the whole 15 hectare dairy property except for some of the steeper slopes.

“Currently we are in the winter and it is drier outside so we run the sprinklers six days a week,” says AJ, one of the Dairy hands. “In the summer season, however, we rarely use it because it rains so often. We’ll only turn it on if it hasn’t rained in over a week.”

There are 50 sprinkler heads. Each sprinkler uses 1,000 L of water per hour resulting in the whole system uses 50,000 L of water each hour and the water is taken from the same pump house as the Dvudvusi Orphan Homes on the far side of town. 

Sprinklers = healthy pastures = healthy cows = fresh milk = happy children! What more could we ask for?