Water optimisation improves on-farm consistency for this livestock farmer

Henk van Gijssel and his brother jointly run a dairy farm in Scharmer, Groningen. Since 2017, the brothers have been using the Watter system. With 185 dairy cows and 150 head of young stock, Henk and his brother are continuously working on optimisation on the farm, closely following the latest innovations.

Optimise and control costs

"We actually rarely have problems on the farm, but we are very much in the mode of optimising," Van Gijssel begins his story. "Every effort is made to optimise cow health and milk production, while at the same time trying to keep costs in check." he says. Previously, Henk did not use water disinfection. The water source on his farm is groundwater with well drilling and the farm has a plant that makes the water iron- and lime-free. Despite many optimisations on the farm, it has never really looked carefully at what is in the water.

Eyes opened by water samples

His introduction to Watter was kind of accidental. "Watter was something unknown to me. I happened to meet Arjan Koop once at an event, and we got talking. Then I ran into him again at a trade fair and he went deeper into the matter." On Arjan's advice, Van Gijssel took water samples, and these results impressed. "I didn't realise how many bacteria were actually in the water. I did always know that water is important, but my eyes were really opened when I started taking water samples. The water I was using contained millions of bacteria. You really don't realise how many pathogens are in the water. So we decided to run the system on a trial basis for six months. That way we could experience what the system would do."

Cleaner troughs and half fewer mastitis cases

"We used to clean the troughs regularly, but not often enough. After the start of the trial period, we immediately saw that the water troughs became significantly cleaner. All contamination entering the troughs now sinks to the bottom. All I have to do is pull out the plug, and the water troughs are clean again. And out of all the pathogens that were in the water, they were reduced within a short time by the Watter system." concludes Henk. In terms of cow health, Van Gijssel did notice a difference. "Although our herd was already quite healthy, we still get the impression that the cows are doing better since installation of the Watter system. In particular, what we have noticed very much is that less Mastitis has been diagnosed. Since purchase, this is around 12 Mastitis cases, where before it was around 25. It is much easier to work when you don't have any sick cows, because you have your hands full. I have also saved in vet costs as a result.

Water results Maatschap H. and J.F. van Gijssel

Circle of links

Henk sees the operation of the Watter system as a cohesion: "I am convinced that there is a circle with all the links, and that water is one of the most important links. The moment you have clean water, it also plays into the improvement of all other applications within the farm. Like, for example, the DeLaval milking robot we bought at the same time. Everything connects to each other. I wouldn't want to lose the Watter system either when I look back on it." With those fine words, Henk concludes his views on the sustainable technology. As a tip to other livestock farmers, van Gijssel adds: "Be very critical of the drinking water. Check the drinking troughs regularly, because the water just has to be clean. The Watter system can also help with that."

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