Milk Quality
Milk yield, components and udder health metrics can reveal early disease long before clinical signs emerge. Learning to interpret these signals can transform routine milk data into proactive herd health interventions.
Rising heat and humidity can drive up SCC, but with proactive management and attention to detail, summer doesn’t have to compromise milk quality.
Staph. aureus is being Confirmed More Frequently as the Culprit Contributing to Subclinical Mastitis
One researcher says of the 7,800 bulk tank milk samples her company tests annually, 45% of them are positive for the bacterium.
According to FDA, the additional testing confirms the safety of the commercial milk supply with what it calls substantial data. The tests were done on 297 samples of milk from 38 states.
For decades, 305 days of lactation, plus a 60-day dry period, has added up to a dairy cow’s target calving interval of one year. But is this a standard that needs to be broken?
Paul Virkler, DVM, Cornell University, says teat end scoring is a good way to gather insights on a dairy’s milking processes and whether adjustments are needed to improve an individual cow’s comfort and care.
Somatic cell count averages for 2022 were highest in the year’s late fall and winter months. Below are some considerations for managing mastitis as the weather changes.
Somatic cell counts have long been an indicator of milk quality and udder health. But can a cow’s SCC get too low?
“Similar to Staph aureus and mycoplasma, Prototheca [mastitis] is hard to detect, has no known cure, and is contagious by intermittently shedding from cow to cow.”
Paying attention to feed-bunk behaviors can alert dairy producers to issues with diet, feed management or delivery that impact health and performance.
As dairy caregivers, we see “Poor Doer Syndrome.” These are cows that struggle for unknown reasons until they subsequently develop an infectious disease, a surgically correctable condition or are culled.
While udder edema is a common occurrence on dairies, there are several methods to help prevent it from happening.
Mastitis is the most expensive disease in the dairy industry. Each clinical case can cost a dairy farmer more than $400 and damages both the cow’s future output as well as her comfort.
Understanding the economics of management practice adoption can make it easier to make adoption decisions.