08-Lancaster Faming Saturday, April 9, 1988 Bradford Farmers Do The Impossible In SCC Control BY PAT PURCELL TOWANDA (BRADFORD CO.) Getting every penny out of the milk check has taken on new meaning, in light of the milk sup port price cut in January and the impending cuts when the elections are over. Keeping a low somatic cell count cams more dollars per hun dredweight in the form of pre miums from milk processors. Sev ered Bradford County milk produc ers arc doing what some experts believe to be nearly impossible. These dairy farmers arc keeping their somatic cell count below 100,000. “I haven’t washed a cow since 1971,” said Dale Petty of Canton. Petty has kept an average SCC of 56.000 for 1988. His 1987 average was 97,000 on 41 Holsteins. “I don’t wash up my cows before milking. I was short of labor in 1971 and did all the milking myself,” explained Petty. “I know that is totally against what they tell us. But if the cows are dirty I make sure to get the soil off of them.” “If I have problems with masti tis I want to know exactly what the problem is. I want to know if it’s from an injury or a mechanical problem. I just won’t have peace of mind until I get right to the heart of the problem,” said Petty. Petty lakes extra precaution with treatments to discard milk according to treatment specifica tions and feels that it is a must for all dairymen to be conscientious and meticulous when it comes to the quality of their milk. “Years ago 1 was having prob lems keeping my cell count down. Someone suggested I teat dip, but 1 didn’t want to, but now I’m glad I went to it,” said Petty. “Now teal dipping will not solve your masti tis problems, but I believe it will help to prevent it.” Petty’s raw bacteria count aver ages below 8,000. Petty said as long as his SCC level stays low and the raw bacteria count stays below 10.000 he will not make any changes. Greg and Clyde Seeley Greg and his father Clyde Sec ley of Canton registered a SCC Beef Producers Workshop Set ELKTON, MD The Univer sity of Maryland Cooperative Extension Service Cecil County Office is sponsoring a Beef Pro ducers’ Workshop. This workshop will be held on April 11, 1988 at 7:30 p.m. at the Cecil County Extension Office, Room 7, County Court House, Elkton, MD 21921. The workshop is free to ail participants. Highlighting the workshop will be two Extension Specialists, Dr. Scott Barao and Dr. Douglas Car-, mel. Dr. Barao, Livestock Special ist will be discussing the proper balancing of beef rations for small and large producers. His talk will also include information on pas ture grazing systems and forage crops. Dr. Carmel, Extension veterina rian, will be discussing cattle herd health. His topic will cover para sites, worming procedures, medi cines and general cow-calf health. In addition to these two speakers and their to'pics, information on cattle management, reproduction and trends will be discussed. If you plan to attend this Bpef Workshop, please contact the Extension Offlceat 398-0200, Ext level of 79,000 for November and December of 1987 and 42,000 and 46,000 in February and March. Their raw bacteria count from the milk plant runs below 5,000 and is usually at 1,000 to 2,000. In preparing the cows for milk ing the Seeleys pre-strip each cow 10-12 times per quarter. They use a damp udder cloth rinsed in a buck et of hot water and Clorox, a chlor ine bleach, and they use the same towel on every cow. “The cloth is not running with water. We rinse it and wring it out and use it until we are done,” said Greg. They teat dip every cow with straight Clorox. According to Greg the Clorox is more economical than other teat dips and not as harsh on the teats. The Seeleys dry treat all their cows. “As soon as the cow is prepared l * ]■< ’ ' t 1 pul the milker on her immediate ly. I do the preping and put on the milkers and Dad lakes die milkers off. There’s always a milker hang ing ready for me to pul on. Dad is right there to take the milker off as soon as she’s done milking,” explained Greg. Seeley View Farm has 200 registered Holsteins on the farm. The rolling herd average is 15,700 lbs. in milk production and 600 lbs. of fat. At the Malwil Farm in Troy, Bill and Ginny Davis keep their SCC between 80,000 to 100,000. Their lowest count was 57,000. Every cow at Malwil Farm is dry treated and when the cows freshen they treat the infected quarter immedi ately. On their problem cows they use a heavy dose of penicillin when they dry them. ml, ° I CMPMSUHNCE The best policy against tobacco disease is an application of Ridomil’ ■ At labeled rates, Ridomil protects against blue mold and black shank. Just spray and till Ridomil into the soil 2-4 inches, before transplanting. Always mad and toHow label directions. Matwil Farm hfeij According to Ginny, they use individual paper towels and teat dipping. The teat dip is a chlor ohexadine solution with a glycer ine base to keep the teats from cracking. They do use an iodine solution in the wash bucket with hot water. They wash off the teats and dry them immediately. “I guess we surprise a lot of peo ple because our bacteria count is never anymore than 10,000. We milk three times a day and we only wash and sanitize the system once a day. If we have fresh cows I usu ally milk them in a bucket, but if we have quite a few I’ll put the milker on her, but I immediately get the milk out of the lines and wash out the lines so bacteria doesn’t build up,” explained Ginny. An important factor in keeping down the bacteria level is the short 'x-tr, time it takes for the tank to cool down the milk. Within 15 minutes after milking, Ginny says the milk has cooled down and the lank shu u> off. Often their tank has cooled the milk to below 42 degrees by the lime the milking is done. The Davis’ milk a herd of 67 Red and White Holstcins they started building 14 years ago. Jerry and Yvonne Scott Jerry and Yvonne Scott of Troy keep the SCC near the 70,000 level by teat dipping after milking with a chlorohexadine solution and using individual udder towels rinsed in an iodine solution in the water. “I take the equipment apart once a week and clean it and replace all the rubber parts every three months,” said Jerry Scott. They milk 30 Holstcins and keep their raw bacteria count close to a 7,000 average. 01 v ' i\ iV /'j'ri'i'tj' i’i > i'-r. •<
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