Dairy sanitarians conference puts milk under microscope
(Continued from Page Al)
it was one solution to insure an
tibiotic-free, quality milk.
While dairymen should exercise
care in the handling of their milk,
Kocher said that laboratory
directors should follow the ACE -
Accuracy, Communication and
Education - program.
Under accuracy, lab directors
should be completely sure to get
accurate test results and to follow
state standards, Kocher said. He
suggested the use of triplicate
sampling as opposed to single
sample testing.
“I don’t see how anyone can get
around with a single sample,” he
said.
Once test results are compiled,
the farmer needs to be informed of
any problem and given some idea
how to correct it. “Don’t look for
dirty udders when it’s a cooling
process,” Kocher said.
Following up on accuracy and
communication is education.
Kocher added that it’s the job of
lab sanitarians to help farmers
understand test results.
Further defining the role of a
sanitarian, Donald Lerch said the
person works with and checks
approved inspectors. They also
work closely in maintaining state
sanitation standards and in in
forming farmers of their
responsibilities in this area.
Lerch noted a few points from a
“check list” geared to farmers.
These included: all milking
equipment must be cleaned and
properly stored; separate stalls for
horses must be provided; adequate
lighting is needed in the milkhouse
and milking area and non-electric
farms should have lighting for
night pick-ups.
Also mentioned were the need
for ventilation in the milkhouse;
properly maintained hose ports;
the cleanliness of the milkhouse;
and quality bulk tank washers and
hoses.
In conclusion, Lerch said, “The
name of the program is quality
milk that we’d all like to drink."
Taking the quabty milk issue one
step further, Sterling White said
flavor is an important charac
teristic. Farmers need to watch for
feed flavors which are passed on
from the feed, through the cow’s
digestive system and into the milk.
Unclean odor found in milk could
be the result of unclean equipment,
White said.
White stressed the management
practices of testing cows and
cleaning equipment between
milkings. He suggested that milk
haulers do their part in assuring
quality milk by smelling the milk
at time of pick-up.
In line with Kocher and Lerch,
White said that farmers should be
careful not to add milk from
treated cows into the bulk tank.
“Do not milk treated cows,” he
said. “Either milk them last or
keep them separate to avoid any
mistakes.”
PHILADELPHIA - Dairy
farmers, cooperative associations,
milk handlers and consumers may
testify at a Wednesday U.S.
Department of Agriculture public
hearing on proposals to amend the
Middle Atlantic federal milk
marketing order.
The hearing will start at 9:30
a.m. at the Holiday Inn, 400 Arch
St., Philadelphia.
Edward T. Coughlin, dairy of
ficial with USDA’s Agricultural
Marketing Service in Washington,
D.C., said the proposed amend
ments would;
Increase the percentage of
producer milk deliveries that may
UNIVERSITY PARK - All too
often, food contaminated with
foreign substances is marketed to
the public, according to a
representative of the Pa. Bureau of
Foods and Chemistry, and this is a
problem the dairy industry must
avoid.
“The milk industry cannot
tolerate that type of expose,” said
William Fouse after describing an
incident where a mouse had been
baked into a roll. “We need to keep
on our toes.”
In his message to those attending
the Pa. Dairy Sanitarians’ and
Laboratory Directors’Conference
held this week at Penn State,
Fouse emphasized the need for
farmers and industry personnel
alike to keep abreast of health
regulations and potential health
problems on the farm.
Emergency situations in which
cow health poses a threat to the
consumer require prompt at
tention, Fouse said. “If we don’t
act very quickly, then we’re going
to have sick people and very
serious problems, ” he said.
Trust and honesty on the far
mer’s part is an important step in
avoiding emergency situations,
Fouse indicated. “Some farmers,”
he said “are interested in getting
the milk off their farm and sold
before anyone realizes there is a
problem.”
The key to the problem is to
follow state dairy regulations and
maintain qua'’*” standards on the
BY LAURA ENGLAND
UNIVERSITY PARK - Fat
tests, protein tests and somatic cell
count tests all have an important
role in determining milk quality,
said a professor of dairy science
extension at Penn State.
C. William Heald, speaking at
the Pa. Dairy Sanitarians’ and
Laboratory Directors’ Conference
held Monday through Wednesday
at Penn State, said the three tests
help detemine milk quality and can
point out changes in milk com
position. But, he added, those
running the tests must be aware of
variations in results.
Heald outlined the results of a
typcial fat test run three milkings
in a row for three days. The results
were 3.8, 3.4, 3.0, 3.9, 3.8, 3.6, 5.1,
3.8 and 3.7, showing a wide
variation in fat percentages.
“This is a rather typical
situation,” Heald said. “The point
is, there is extreme variation.”
Why does this exist?
Weather and environmental
conditions are one factor, Heald
said. Others include bacteria and
disease, the cow’s eating habits
and the stage of milking.
Dairy hearing scheduled
be diverted to nonpuoi pianis irom
40 to 50 percent.
Provide that a pool
distributing plant meeting the total
Class I disposition requirement of the
order during one month shall
retain its pool status during the
immediately succeeding two
months regardless of whether its
total Class I disposition during
such months is less than the
minimum percentage specified in
the order.
Coughlin said the amendments
were proposed by Atlantic
Processing, Inc., a federation of
four cooperatives, and Inter-State
Milk Procurers’ Cooperative,
BY LAURA ENGLAND
Changes noted in
Keep abreast of dairy regulations
farm, Fouse stressed in his talk,
“The Latest on Dairy
Regulations.”
Fouse also talked on milk
identity standards and the need for
labeling of imitation dairy
products. Problems in obtaining
this labeling have been met in
setting up acceptable standards.
“We want to get as good a
standard as we can,” Fouse said,
“but not go too far that it’s not
acceptable.”
Sharing the talk with Fouse was
James Sumner, who gave an up
date on the Pa. Voluntary Milk
Promotion and Marketing
Program. The program, which
went into effect May 1, is geared to
milk producers who do not ship to
federally regulated plants. The
plan will allow these producers to
direct 10-cents of the mandatory
15-cent per hundredweight
assessment to state promotion
programs.
Pennsylvania currently has
three ongoing milk promotion
programs, Sumner said. These
include the Federal Order 4
promotion program in southeast
and south central Pennsylvania;
Federal Order 36 program in
western Pennsylvania; and the
positive letter program authorized
for Federal Order 2 producers.
Sumner said an estimated $9
million will be generated into the
state promotion program if all
dairymen take advantage of their
local programs. If 100 percent of
the non-order dairymen par
Using a drawing on a black
board, Heald explained that the
first milk from the cow tests at
about 1.0 percent butterfat. The
last few droplets of milk range
from 8.0 to 9.0 percent, while milk
that is hand-stripped might test as
high as 15 percent butterfat.
Protein tests do not show as
much variation as fat tests, Heald
said. “They are more affected by
the animal and genetics,” he said.
A reason for variation in protein
tests is due to dry matter intake
versus the cow’s body weight. If a
cow doesn’t have body fat, her
tests will go down.
“You have to look at the cow’s
body efficiency to see if she can
meet these demands (protein
tests),” Heald said.
Heald pointed out that the
highest protein tests will be
recorded in January and
February, and the lowest in
August. Fat runs a pattern similar
to protein.
Another factor which can affect
protein and fat content is a high
somatic cell count. Total solids,
lactose and fat will be lower when
which claim the amendments are
necessary because the status of
plants operating under the order
has changed.
Principal cities in the marketing
area are Washington, D.C.;
Baltimore, Md.; and Philadelphia,
Pa.
The hearing notice was
published in the May 8 Federal
Register. Copies also are available
from; Joseph D. Shine, market
administrator, P.O. Box 710,
Alexandria, Va. 22313 telephone
(703 ) 549-7000; or, Dairy Division,
AMS, USDA, Washington, D.C.
20250.
Looking over program notes are William Fouse, left, the state
Bureau of Foods and Chemistry, and Robert Dietrich,
Dietrich Milk Products.
ticipate, $1.5 million will be
directed to the state program.
Sumner said the milk promotion
effort will be more effective “if we
try to build on the existing
promotion programs such as the
Dairy Council.” This would be a
milk composition
C. William Heald, Penn State Dairy Science Extension,
explains how butterfat moves through the cow's udder.
the somatic cell count is higher,
Healdsaid.
“A high somatic cell count af
fects milk taste,” Heald said. “The
composition of milk is greatly
affected by the somatic cell
count.”
Lancaster goat club
announces 1984 meetings
LANCASTER - The Dutch
Country Dairy Goat Club of
Lancaster County recently an
nounced its schedule of activities
for the year and invites anyone
interested in dairy goats to attend.
The schedule is as follows;
May 24 - Housing and Managing
Dairy Goats, 7:30 p.m., at the
Farm and Home Center.
July 14 - Dairy Goat Field Day, 1-
better approach than to hire an
advertising agency, he added.
For those producers with
questions on the state promotion
program, this toll free number has
been established, 1-800-932-0904.
Heald related the following
somatic cell count chart in
relationship to milk quality:
250,000 is acceptable; 400,000 is
slightly rancid; and both 700,000
and 1,000,000 are rancid.
4 p.m., at the Windy Hill Goat
Dairy owned by Jacob Fisher of
Manheim.
September 13 - Feeding and
Milking Dairy Goats, 7:30 p.m., at
the Farm and Home Center.
November 8 - Understanding the
Goat as a Ruminant by Pennfield
nutritionist Dr. Brian Perkins, 7:30
p.m., at the Pennfield Laboratory,
Rohrerstown.