Water consumption on cattle ships

Summary

A survey was undertaken to obtain more objective data about water use with commercial shipments of cattle exported from Australia. Data was obtained for 87 shipments of cattle exported on 17 ships. Minimum water requirements should be set as a percentage of bodyweight per day, as this applies regardless of the average weight of each class of cattle on board. The minimum water requirement in the Australian Livestock Export Standards of 12% bodyweight per day was not sufficient for 7 / 87 shipments in the survey. Water consumption on ships with troughs was 20% greater than for ships with drinker bowls. If minimum water requirements were set at 11% bodyweight / day for cattle supplied from drinker bowls and 13% bodyweight / day for cattle supplied from troughs, there would have been more than sufficient water for all but one of the shipments in this survey. The one shipment that consumed more than 13% bodyweight / day was a short-haul voyage from northern Australia, where rehydration after loading on the ship may have been a factor. This shipment had sufficient water when the requirement for an extra 25% water for contingencies was taken into account. There was no statistical difference in water consumption between shipments loaded in ports north of the 26th parallel and those loaded south of the 26th parallel. Nor did the proportion of Bos taurus cattle in the shipment affect average water consumption as a percentage of bodyweight.