D6-Lancaster Farming Saturday, July 27,1991
Livestock Notes
(Continued from Pag* D 5)
mastitis is defined as a single
event which requires withholding
milk from the bulk tank. Once
milk is permitted into the bulk
tank, additional withholding con
stitutes another episode.
The minimum data that a pro-
Cow: 345
Calving date: 5/1/90
Start Finish
7- 7-22-90
8- 8/25/90
10-11-90 10-17-90
10-25-90 11-10-90
DDM = Days of discarded milk
DDMLAC = Days of discarded milk per lactation
The data should be entered after
every milking to keep the records
current. Using this system, the
producer can answer two impor
tant questions.
Herd Prevalence?
Tally up the number of cows
with clinical mastitis and divide
by the total number of calvings for
time interval of interest. This indi
cates the percent of cows that have
had clinical mastitis. Specific
guidelines for typical rates are not
available for Maryland but
researchers in Ohio found 38% of
all lactations experienced clinical
mastitis and in Florida, D. Morse
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ACRES HOSEI.D. REG.
IN./WK. /LENGTH WIDTH GUN MODEL PRICE
1.65”x410’
2.1”x720’
2.5”x920’
3.0”x985’
3.7”x985’
3.9”x1150’
3.9”x1250’
4.5”x1150’
ducer needs to collect is cow iden
tification, starting date of
withholding milk from bulk tank
and date milk is allowed into bulk
tank. Using this data, a very
simple record-keeping system
may be developed on 3 x 5 inch
cards as indicated below:
)i',ode #DDM DDMLAC
2 4 12
3 6 18
4 16 34
reported 45 and 40% of Holstein
and Jersey lactations were identi
fied as clinical mastitis positive.
These rates are on a per lactation
basis, and thus, records need to be
maintained for several months to
accurately access the extent of
clinical mastitis. A majority of
clinical mastitis episodes are
known to occur within the first 2
months of lactation, and thus, this
has to be taken into consideration
when reviewing the records.
Cows Responsible for a
Majority of Discarded Milk
The last column on the 3 x 5
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Table 1. Average and range of rate of clinical intramammary infection (C1MI) episodes and costs per episode of clinical mastitis in nine low
somatic cell count (greater than 80% low on DHI) herds
decreased milk
Rate Cl MI production and
per herd nonsalable milk
(*?* <SL
Average 38 90
Range 16 to 64 44 to 114
♦Rate = no of clinical episodes x 100
30S days
Table 2« Avenge and range of costs on a per cow basis for teat dip, dry cow medication and paper towels among the 9 herds
Preventive item
Teat dip
Dry cow medication
Paper towels
card is a cumulative total of the
days of the discarded milk per lac
tation from all episodes of clinical
mastitis. Previous studies indi
cated that a small percentage of
cows (1-16%) are responsible for
up to 50% of the discarded milk.
A record of the days of discarded
milk is a good economic barome
ter since no payment is received
for that milk. It is also known that
cows with more than 5 episodes of
clinical mastitis are often respon
sible for the bulk of discarded
milk. Florida research has found
that culling cows with 5 or more
episodes of clinical mastitis (10%
of herd), would eliminate 50% of
the episodes. Accurate records on
clinical mastitis will assist produc
ers in identifying the problem
mastitis cows.
Summary
Maintaining a simple 3x5 inch
card system on the occurrence of
clinical mastitis can help the dairy
producer determine the extent of
clinical mastitis in the herd. Aver-
4,800.00
11.500.00
14.250.00
18.250.00
22.250.00
27.250.00
29.250.00
33.250.00
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26.325.00
29.925.00
*ledication
cost ($)
I to 27
Average cost
$lO
age rates of clinical mastitis range
from 38% to 45%. Cows with 5 or
more episodes of clinical mastitis
usually account for 50% of the
discarded milk in the herd, and
thus, these cows should be culled.
Economics Of Mastitis
Most dairy producers are aware
that mastitis is the single largest
disease cost in their herds. What
producers may not realize, howev
er, is the actual cost and the range
of those costs.
Hoblet et al. from Ohio State
University reported their findings
of mastitis costs at the 1991 annu
al meeting of the National Mastitis
Council held at Reno, Nevada
from February 11 to 13. Their
study consisted of nine well man
aged dairy herds near Wooster,
Ohio. Eight Holstein herds and
one Jersey herd (avg. size = 149
milking cows) averaged 19,386
lbs and 13,017 lb of milk, respec
tively at the start of the study.
Bulk tank somatic cell counts
averaged 265,000 for the year and
greater than 80% of cows had low
DHI somatic cell counts (Provo
DHI records). All herds were
housed in free-stall confinement
with little or no access to pasture.
Thirty-eight percent of all lacta
tions experienced at least one epi
sode of clinical mastitis with an
average cost of $lO7 per episode
(Table 1). Thus, on the average, a
producer in this study would
expect to lose $6,058 annually to
clinical mastitis (149 cows x .38
cases per year x $lO7 per year).
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HOLLAND EXTRA
BALER - BINDER
TWINE
Labor
“elis.
Veterinary
cost (S)
9 to 5
1 to 5
Range of costs
among the herds
$3 - $2O
$2 - $ 4
$6 - $27
Notice the tremendous range in
costs. The lowest cost would be
$1097 (149 cows x .16 cases per
year x $46 per year) and the maxi
mum would be $13,541 (149 x .64
cases per year x $142). During
these times when milk prices are
reduced, examination of the clini
cal mastitis records may reveal
that this is an area where substan
tial savings could be realized.
Those producers, in particular,
with higher than average clinical
rates and medication costs could
save several thousand dollars each
year.
The major cost (over 80%) of
clinical mastitis is the unsalable
milk and reduced milk yields
(Table 1). Only about 20% of the
cost was due to medication, veter
inary cost and labor. Consequent
ly, if clinical mastitis losses are to
be reduced, then management
practices must be evaluated so the
rate of clinical episodes decline.
Hoblet et al. also quantified pre
ventative mastitis costs (Table 2)
and found a wide variation among
producers in expenditures. The
difference between high and low
costs per cow were nearly 7 fold
for teat dip, 2 fold for dry cow
medication and 4.5 fold for paper
towels. If the herd that spent $2O
per cow on teat dip and $27 per
cow on paper towels could reduce
that cost to the average of $lO per
cow, the savings could amount to
$4,023 ([s2o-$lO (teat dip) + $27
- $lO (paper towels)] x 149 cows =
$4,023). Thus, producers should
also evaluate their expenditures on
preventative mastitis products for
potential savings.
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Total cost
per episode ($)
107
46 to 142
Range of costs for the
average study herd
(149 cows)
$447 - $2,980
$298 - $ 596
$894 - $4,023