Livestock producers encouraged to test water supply

Jan 27, 2023

For livestock producers having access to a good, clean water supply is key.

Water quality can affect the feed intake, the absorption of nutrients, and overall productivity of animals.

Livestock and Feed Extension specialist Alicia Sopatyk encourages producers to get their water tested, adding one of the most common problems tends to be high sulfates.

"There are lots of parameters to be testing for that can cause problems, but the high sulfates can cause a toxicity scenario themselves depending on the level. You can get extreme toxicity causing blindness, polio and death on that subclinical level, secondary copper deficiency and things like that all affect our productivity and our bottom line."

Stats show that in the last three years about half of all provincial water samples tested had sulphate levels that were totally safe.

However, about 40 percent of the samples fell into the cautionary category, and just under 10 percent were considered unsuitable.

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Video: Four Star Pork Industry Conf - Back to Basics: Fundamentals drive vaccine performance

At a time when disease pressure continues to challenge pork production systems across the United States, vaccination remains one of the most valuable and heavily debated tools available to veterinarians and producers.

Speaking at the 2025 Four Star Pork Industry Conference in Muncie, Indiana, Dr. Daniel Gascho, veterinarian at Four Star Veterinary Service, encouraged the industry to return to fundamentals in how vaccines are selected, handled and administered across sow farms, gilt development units and grow-finish operations.

Gascho acknowledged at the outset that vaccination can quickly become a technical and sometimes tedious topic. But he said that real-world execution, not complex immunology, is where most vaccine failures occur.