Fietje van Bochove and Els Dikker

Fietje van Bochove has been working as a cattle veterinarian at Dierenartsengroep Rivierenland for more than four years. Els Dikker was one of the first Farm Animal Health and Veterinary Public Health Master's students with a prior education in Animal Sciences at Wageningen University & Research. The two women discuss the challenges of being a farm veterinarian, relationships with farmers and their thoughts on the field.

Dikker: 'I wrote my thesis on circular agriculture at Wageningen University. I'm seeing all sorts of developments that are changing the farm animal sector, like new legislation to minimise climate change. I wonder how many farm veterinarians we'll need in future and what their role will be.'

Van Bochove: 'Cattle veterinarians will have to adapt to the trend towards prevention and a more professional approach to farm management. I use an app (Vetwerk) linked to the customer's management programme, which is really helpful in that sense. The more you know about a company, the more solid your customer relationships will become. Dealing with sick cows or delivering calves is part of the job, but I really love working with farmers to keep their herd healthy and in good shape. I think that will always be an important part of what we do. 

I wonder how many farm veterinarians we'll need in future and what their role will be'

Dikker: 'I enjoy building a personal relationship with clients. It's one of the main reasons I chose to do this follow-up programme. I'm really glad I got the opportunity to study veterinary medicine. It can definitely be quite challenging, though. We already covered certain topics during the preparatory Basics in Veterinary Medicine minor, but we didn't go into that much detail. Sometimes I just think: 'Wow, I've still got so much to learn.'

Van Bochove: 'Once you start working as a veterinarian, a lot of details like cell functions and so on become less important. And I don't believe people who claim you can get everything right from the start. In practice, you just learn when to say 'I'm not quite sure about this, let me figure it out'. In my experience, most farmers don't mind at all. I think the preparatory Animal Sciences programme gives you a good understanding of the dairy sector.

Dikker: 'In Wageningen, we focused on things like the industry and farm animals in wider society. We also had more specialised courses on subjects like nutrition, immunology and virology. Students with a background in Veterinary Medicine spent more time focusing on the animal itself and know more about pathology and clinical reasoning.'

And I don't believe people who claim you can get everything right from the start

Van Bochove: 'Your knowledge of nutrition will be really useful in practice, and livestock farmers will value the fact that you know about the latest industry trends and appreciate your personal engagement. You might know all about the liver function, but you'll struggle in practice if you've hardly ever been on a farm or don't know the price of milk.'

Dikker: 'Later in the year, when I have time off in between teaching, I hope to work on a farm again or shadow a veterinarian.'

Van Bochove: 'You could try at the faculty's teaching farm, De Tolakker. It's one of the best organic dairy farms in the Netherlands. Our practice also welcomes students who want to learn more.

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