Vague cow health problems were soon a thing of the past for this dairy farmer

Evert Kremer from Stegeren was a proud owner of a dairy farm with 120 cows. Since a few months, he has sold his farm to the province of Overijssel. He grew up in a farm next to his current home, but it is now time for a new chapter in a new place. Until 2016, Kremer's cows suffered from vague problems and after doing several adjustments, nothing seemed to work yet.

Vague health problems cows

Evert Kremer says: "The cows had some vague problems and milk production lagged behind, so Kremer started ruling out causes. There was some experimentation with the feed and counteracting mycotoxins, but that didn't necessarily improve the problems. Then I thought: suppose there is something with the water. We then started focusing more on water quality." This is how Evert eventually came to Watter. "I contacted Watter and then someone from Watter came by. Before that, the GD had taken a water sample, which showed that the water quality was not really good after all. I knew there was an action on the provincial contribution in the north of the country. The province of Overijssel did not participate, but a knowledge voucher was available there. I then immediately set to work writing a business plan. Within three days this was approved. I then started with Watter, this went well and I then decided to continue."

Improvements

"In the beginning it took some getting used to, but there was little to worry about," Evert states. "Pretty soon I saw in the results of water samples from the GD that the coli germs in the drinking troughs were going down. Since commissioning, the water was nice and clear and the deposits were a lot less. We cleaned the troughs once a week where we previously had to do so more often, and had minimal tarnish from feed residues." Kremer is glad he made the choice to disinfect sustainably with the Watter system. He feels that harmful chemicals such as formalin are generally far too readily available. "You can just go ahead and use these harmful chemicals, nota bene, without actually being checked for them. These harmful chemicals take many health risks. That is why alternatives like Watter are better."

Water results Partnership E. Kremer and A. Kremer-Willems

Tackling everything at once

Evert has since stopped farming and now works as an Agricultural Advisor. He has been a loyal user of the Watter system for six years. Kremer believes that the Watter system has definitely contributed to a better running livestock farm. "Since purchasing the Watter system, we have had relatively few problems and things have been running nicely in recent years. The vague problems disappeared and we had consistently good production. Because we were so keen to get rid of these problems, we tackled everything at once. Therefore, it cannot be said that only the Watter system has helped, but the combination of clean water, and adjustments in the feed has still brought improvement. You can see it as a kind of cycle where one affects the other in a positive way. Clean water helped a lot in this case." About the purchase, he says the following: "Purchasing the system came with a reasonable price tag, but it was definitely worth it."

Advice for other livestock farmers

Water quality is important, Evert Kremer has also found out. "With bad water, you already have hooks for other problems, such as health problems in the cow. The cow's rumen can take a bit more, so it takes longer before you notice something is wrong with her. A pile-up of problems eventually makes the burden on the cow too high. Therefore, make sure you always check your water. Clean water is not a certainty, especially with germ counts," states Kremer. He also believes that examination of your water is important. "An advice to other livestock farmers is to make sure your water is clean and that you have it tested. Clean water is not a certainty if you don't do anything about it."

Are you curious about what Watter can do for your livestock farm and would you like to know more? Then contact us with no obligation and get more information.