We have stable results with De Heus feeds and improved financial results

Vemas has been a customer for several years. Initially, they only purchased feed for sows. "Since I became director of the farm, De Heus has gained my complete trust and we have purchased feed from them for all categories of pigs," says Jiřina Štěpánková.

Stable technical results

The relationship has produced stable technical results with De Heus feeds as well as improving their financial results. Jiřina Štěpánková: “De Heus impressed me by the fact that it is a company that operates internationally. As a result, they have a lot of experience with animal nutrition, which they can then put into practice."

In recent years, the results of sow reproduction have improved. The innovated feeds for pregnant and lactating sows are largely responsible. “We currently achieve around 32 reared piglets per sow a year. I am also very satisfied with the work of the De Heus specialist, who visits us at least twice a month and is also on call, if necessary,” says Jiřina Štěpánková.

Sharing knowledge worldwide

Jiřina really appreciates the flexibility and wide-ranging professional knowledge of their De Heus specialist. “He visits many farms not only in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, but also in other countries which I don’t have a chance to visit. He also helps me evaluate all the results in the form of tables and graphs. In addition, he provides us with an ultrasonic fat measurement service for sows, regularly twice a month. In practice, this means that we do not have thin or overweight sows and this is the key to a higher number of reared piglets per sow. Of course, this also increases the farm's profit."

A few years ago, Vemas built a new shed for pregnant sows. De Heus helped them choose a supplier of technology for feed and housing. "We had offers for several solutions commonly used in our country. However, De Heus recommended Nedap, which is a widely used system in the Netherlands. This is the housing of sows in a dynamic group, where all sows are of different stages of pregnancy together, in one large group of 300 sows. The advantage is that the animals are not nervous, because with such a large number there is no hierarchy among sows. Another positive factor is that the system contains feeding box batteries, which, based on the animal's chip, dose the exact amount of feed according to the set feeding curve. Of course, this change in housing has also had a significant effect on the increased number of piglets reared per sow per year."