Dixie L. Burris, Membership Development CaD ISOO-DHI-TEST for information. Pemuylvania Dairy Herd Improvement Auodation DHIA Service Center, Orchard Road, Univenily Park, PA 1(802 C. WILLIAM HEALD Penn State Professor Dairy & Animal Science WILLIAM M. SISCHO Penn State Assistant Professor Veterinary Science STATE COLLEGE (Centre Co.) Mastitis is the most com mon and costly disease of dairy cattle. When mastitis is out of con trol, it can be stealing up to $2OO per cow per year out of your pocket. How can you tell when you don’t have mastitis under control? You need to have at least two monitors: a record of all clinical cases of mastitis; and somatic cell count data, particularly individual cow data. More Milk Per Ton of Com ! f 37 |Milk I r ■* l^nlmatad Both of these pieces of informa tion are essential if you are going to control mastitis, but for this arti cle, we are going to concentrate on somatic cell count data and, in par ticular, somatic cell score (SCS). The most common source for SCS is from the Dairy Herd Improvement Association (DHIA). It comes at a cost, and some dairy producers claim that they cannot afford it On an annual basis, the cost of mastitis may amount to more than $ll,OOO for a 60-cow herd, or $l6 per cow, per year. In contrast, DHIA testing for somatic cells is less than 10 cents per cow per month. That is an opportunity-to cost ratio of 160:1. DHIA testing ds +lBO +53 2517 3 f^39CT I |MILK MILK . 1174 s 1132 ■fat corrected milk (3 5%) Washington State Trial Data for somatic cells can pay generous dividends. How does one use somatic cell data to recover these dividends? Let’s explore this opportunity first with individual cows, then later with groups of cows. Use Of SCS With Individual Cows The first step in using your DHIA SCS information is to find you herd average SCS and identify all the cows in the herd with an SCS greater than 4 (SCS > 4). Once you have found this infor mation, you need to answer the fol lowing questions: • Is the percentage of cows with SCS>4 higher this month com pared to last month? • Is your herd average SCS grea ter than 3? • Do more than 30 percent of your cows have SCS>4? If you answer “yes” to any of these questions, you have a masti tis problem and you need to make mastitis control one of you top priorities. But where to start? If you are having problems maintaining your milk market because of a high somatic cell count, you can take some measur ers to bring it under cotnrol by using your DHIA information. MAUD m PIONEER ® SM TM ■'trademarks and service marks registered or applied for of Pioneer Hi-Bnd International Inc All sales are subiect to the terms of labeling and sale documents © 1995 PHII tin ■PpV Pioneer HEs HBS Source Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 11, 1995-A2S Usually. S percent of the highest SCS cows can account for 10 to SO percent of the cells in the bulk tank. Identify the cows with the highest SCS and look at their per centage contribution to the tank. Segregation of the milk from these cows from the bulk tank can bring your herd average SCS well within legal limits. When practical, the removal of these cows from the herd will reduce the spread Of contagious mastitis from these infected cows to clean cows. This measure will do much to keep future SCS low, if appropriate mastitis control mea sures are used. Identify cows with SCS>S (severely infected), those with an How Does Your Herd Compare? STATE COLLEGE (Centre Co.) —These data are calculated using information 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 are tested monthly. These data are valuable from a business management standpoint and can be used for comparing your operations to the averages from about one-fourth of the herds across the state. DHIA Averages for all herds processed between 1/22/95 and 1/29/93 SCS>4 for two consecutive months (chronically infected), and those with an SCS that for the first time is between between 4 and 5 (mildly infected). These cows are important, because they represent significant loss of milk to your bulk tank. The milk loss per cow per month is esti mated as 45 pounds for each SCS greater than 2. As an example, if the SCS for a cow is 8, then milk loss can be cal culated as: 8 minus 2 equals 6. Six times 45 equals 270 pounds of milk loss for this cow on this month. This can represent a loss of $32.40 for the lost milk production. 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 Year(s) •Feed Consumed Per Cow Per Year(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 Year(s) ♦Grain to Milk Ratio •Feed Cost Per CWT Milk(s) Avg Level For 871 SCC Herds ♦Mwfcf gwralad Ogww , , „ jnts including long stem dry hay and other tough roughages that -previously coul not be included in your mixed ration. Used Knight 2250 Miner Feeder Excellent Cond., 1 Yr. Old SPECIAL 6 11.900 • Knight Mlnl-Auggio w/dae acalaa, motor, comploto, good cond. • Knight Rod Augglo, 120 cu. ft w/boom acalaa A motor, good cond. ■ MOO Bala Proeooaor - Dome *l,OBO • Walghtronlc Sealaa, Modal 700 E, Fits Any Brand Mlxar, 5 Yr. Warranty (will taka trada In) • VD 3000 Oal. Manura Tank, For Salo Or Rant • Van Dala Manura Rump * Agitator We Will Service All Brand* Of Electronic Scales & Most Brands Of Mixers MILLCREEK farmPsystems 2285 Old Philadelphia Pike Lancaster, PA.17602 (717) 396-8987 (Turn to Page A2B) 946 59,714 63.1 18,600 3.70 689 3.21 597 318 13.11 7.88 4.29 1.54 .27 2,440 7,373 2,102 15,294 63 1,515 1:2.5 4.97 344.952 581 90 235 17 924
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers