GEORGE F.W. HAENLEIN
Extension Dairy Specialist
University Of Delaware
NEWARK, Del. Subclinical
mastitis continues to be the
number-one money drain on the
dairy farm. This remains stub
bornly true despite considerable
effort and progress in recent years
on the part of dairy farmers,
milking-equipment manufactur
ers, DHIA, pharmaceutical com
panies and cooperative extension.
Subclinical mastitis is not visi
ble to the person checking fore
stripping of milk and udder. It is
discovered only through a check
test like the CMT (California
Mastitis Test) i< the barn where
the dairy cow.> or goats are
milked. Most other tests or
devices are not as accurate or
practical.
One exception is the DHlA
somatic cell count, which is the
superior monitoring routine test of
each cow any time. It should be
done at least once a month and
even of each cow’s quartets.
It is not good enough to main
tain a low bulk tank somatic cell
count. Every cow contributing to
that bulk tank requires regular
testing; otherwise, subclinical
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a Nothing Runs
LikeaDeen?
Mastitis Continues Drain On Farm Cash Flow
mastitis is invisible and costs
money. A 50-cow herd averaging
only 200,000 somatic cell counts
makes about $5OO per month more
money than a herd at 500,000
count, and $1,700 more than the
nearly 1 million-count herd.
How can you overcome prob
lem cows and problem tank
counts? If somatic cell counts
increase as cows go through their
lactation, it means the milking
procedure is the culprit. If somatic
cell counts are high in early lacta
tion, look to the environment, dry
cow procedures and heifer raising
as possible reasons.
If antibiotic treatments aren’t
doing much good, sterile milk
samples after sensitivity culturing
will reveal which antibiotic will
be effective. The common “Strep
tococcus” “agalactiae” is easily
controlled with antibiotics. The
almost as common “Staphycoccus
aureus” or “Escherichia coli” are
not. Teat dipping and dry cow
treatments can control Strep and
Staph but not E. coli. Probably the
cleanest environment from a mas
titis control standpoint are pas
tures, where cows can lie on grass,
and soil that has been “sterilized”
by constant exposure to the sun.
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In contrast, cow yards and loose
housing systems mean crowded
accumulation of cows and man
ure, the main source of E. coli. A
cow lying down on manure and
cold concrete floors during the
winter season is inviting E. coli to
invade the udder.
At the National Conference on
Interstate Milk Shipments held
recently in Indianapolis, the prob
lem of manure-caused environ
mental mastitis and milk contami
nation with high bacteria counts
was officially recognized.
The conference voted a change
in the U.S. Pasteurized Milk Ordi
nance to require that udders and
teats be clean and dry prior to
milking and that only teats be
treated with a sanitizing solution
and wiped dry before milking
occurs.
Every dairy farmer knows that
cows resting on pastures come
much cleaner for milking than
those resting in any other type of
housing and system. Recent
research confirms that cows
milked dry without prior washing
but with clean udders and teats
had lower bacteria counts.
And lower milk bacteria counts
and less subclinical mastitis go
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 29, 1990-A2l
nns)lvjiiM
Dairy Herd* 1
Improvement Association
hand in hand. Admonitions
abound about producing better
quality milk, which is of course
critical for the consumer, but more
immediately, it means less money
lost by the farmer for subclinical
mastitis.
For a small annual fee, every
progressive dairy farmer can and
should be a member of the Nation
al Mastitis Council, headquartered
in Arlington. Va. (703-243-8268).
Six times a year an excellent
newsletter, “Udder Topics,” is
sent to members. The latest infor
mation on mastitis is printed.
Also, members receive fat vol
umes of proceedings of papers
presented at the annual meetings
and international symposia on
mastitis. The conference in India
napolis (Sept. 90) has issued the
latest volume of 463 pages con-
How Does Your Herd
ST ATE COLLEGE (Centre Co.) —This data is
pulled from Pennsylvania DHIA’s mainframe
computer each week. It is a one-week summary
representing approximately one-fourth of the
herds on test, as they arc tested monthly.
These data are valuable from a business man
agement standpoint and can be used for compar
ing your operations to the averages from almost
1,400 herds across the state.
DHIA Averages for all herds processed between
12/10/90 and 12/17/90
Number of Herds Processed
Number of Cows Processed
Number of Cows Per Herd
Milk Per Cow (Lbs)
%-Fat
Fat Per Cow (Lbs)
%-Protein
Protein Per Cow (Lbs)
Average Days in Milk Per Cow
•Value for CWT Milk(s)
•Value for CWT Grain(s)
•Value for CWT Hay(s)
•Value for CWT Silage(s)
•Value for Pasture Per Day(s)
•Value for Milk Per Cow Per
Ycar(s)
♦Feed Consumed Per Cow Per
Ycar(Lbs)
A; Grain
B: Hay
C: Silage
D: Day Pasture
♦Feed Cost Per Cow Per Year(s)
A: Grain
B: Hay
C: Silage
■ D: Pasture
♦Total Feed Cost Per Cow Per
Ycar(s)
♦lncome Over Feed Costs Per
Ycar(s)
♦Grain to Milk Ratio
♦Feed Cost Per CWT Milk(s)
Avg Level For 1,256 SCC Herds
FOCUS
Call I-800-DHI-TEST for service or information
mining the most up-to-date compi
lation of information gleaned from
100 contributions and 16
countries.
This conference was sponsored
by the American Association of
Bovine Practitioners, which
underlines the continuing serious
ness of the mastitis complex in
controlling economic losses on the
dairy farm, the stubborn resistance
of many cases to treatment and the
overwhelming need to stay
informed on successful
prevention.
Annual losses attributed to mas
titis, subclinical and clinical com
bined, have been estimated at $2
billion, $lBO a year on a per-cow
basis, 70% of which is due to sub
clinical reduced milk yield. It is an
everyday struggle, but it pays as
more and more dairy farmers with
less than 400,000 somatic cell
count averages have proven for
themselves.
Compare?
1,500
87,690
58.4
17,134
3.65
626
3.17
544
315
14.69
8.00
4.36
1.52
.31
2,517
6,995
2,496
14,793
65
560
109
225
20
915
1,602
1:2.4
5.34
322,095