After some issues with water quality last year, livestock producers are being encouraged to test their water supplies this season, even if that supply was safe to use in the past.
Colby Elford, Livestock and Feed Extension Specialist for the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, says the only way to tell for sure if your water supply is suitable for use is by doing a test on it.
"Sometimes it's expected that if the water has been good in the past, that it will continue to be good," he said. "But we've seen cases that the water was thought to be good, but throughout last summer it turned into a situation where it was unusable, so really testing the water before use is the only way to know for sure that it's safe."
Elford says that people should get the test done a couple before they plan to use the water.
"I usually recommend to guys to get a test done two weeks before your planning on using the water," he said. "Their's ample time for the lab to get the sample, do the tests and for the results to get back and then for producers to make a backup plan if the water is unusable."
Source : Discoverestevan