Dairy Management Column Somatic Cell Counts: A Great T 001... But There is no doubt that the test ing for somatic cell counts in cow milk has been a great tod to com bat mastitis, both clinical and sub clinical, and it is a practice widely accepted around the world. In ad dition, the demands of health offi cials for higher standards of milk quality has greatly aided the im age of milk as a healthy food. The arbitrary upper allowable level of 1.5 million per milliliter of milk was successfully reduced to 1.0 million a few years ago and then to 0.75, but in Europe the level has been set even lower 0.4 million. Now the debate is on going about whether the U.S. standards also should be that low or when. Many U.S. dairy farmers are al ready below that level most of the time with most of their cows. In general, they would probably have no problem in compliance for the bulk tank test Individual cows, however, would not always be be low that level. And the question arises, should such cows be treat ed or culled? A more pertinent question, however, concerns the reliability of somatic cell counts indicating mastitic conditions. What if a cow has high somatic cell counts but tests negative for any pathological conditions in the udder? Recent research at different universities has shown that this situation can and does happen. Up to 40 percent of misdiagnoses have been reput ed in the literature. Our own research at the Univer - Stirring Systems • Transport Augers • utility Augers Call Us For Your Grain Dryer Service Work - 24 Hour Service... School Trained Technicians ★Full Line Part* Dept.* ★Sell, Service t Install* : n * sity of Delaware has demonstrated that somatic cell counts are not al ways influenced by pathological but also by non-pathological caus es. This is very important to know, because tank tests above the level of 0 75 million somatic cell count per milliliter milk are used by offi cials to deny a farmer die sale of milk for fluid use. In some areas the somatic cell count is also calculated into the payment scale to the farmer. For tunately, most U.S. cow dairy farmers have a breeding program, which adds newly fresh cows to the herd tank every month. Unfor tunately for most U.S. dairy goat farmers, their breeding of the mostly seasonal goats (in contrast to cows), means that fresh goat milk goes into the tank only in the spring season, while at end of summer and during fall and winter most goats are putting late lacta tion milk into the farm tank. Why is stage of lactation a fac tor? It has been shown that so matic cell counts rise normally at the end of lactation, even in cows and especially in goats, without any relationship to pathological conditions. It is a normal phy siological condition and has nothing to do with mastitis. Another non-pathological fac tor is estrus in cows and, again, in particular in goats. Estrus does in crease dramatically the somatic cell counts in most cows and goats. Fortunately for cow farm ers. their breeding program calls for only a few cows to be in estrus every month. Unfortunately for dairy goat fanners, their breeding ' Wet Tanks • Grain Bins <gg) AUTOMATIC BATCH OR CONTINUOUS FLOW GRAIN DRYERS Iff Westfield Grain Augers CLEARANCE SALE Call For Best Price 8" & 10” Transport Augers (In Stock) Rt. 272 South 14 Harrville Road Willow Street, PA 17584 Ph. 717-464-3321 or Toll Free 800-732-0053 Mon.-Fri. 6:30 am to 8 pm Sat. 7:30 am to 6 pm Sun. Closed is seasonal in early fall for all goats in the herd. Thus the rise in somatic cell counts in the goat farm tank can be dramatic during this time without having any rela tion to mastitis. One more non-pathological fac tor is milking procedure. There is extensive data showing that the last portion of milking goats is high in somatic cell counts nor mally, especially after hand strip ping and more for hand milking than machine milking. Fortunately for cow farmers, most do milk by machine and in recent years have ceased to hand strip after milking. Unfortunately for dairy goat farmers, few milk by machine and most believe in extensive hand stripping, even when machine milking. So higher levels of somatic cell counts have nothing to do with mastitis in this case; it is a normal condition. Treating dairy goats with the same rules as have been develop ed for dairy cows is a new prob lam beginning to be understood by officials. The reason is physio logy. Milk secretion physiology in goats differs significantly from that in cows. The process in the cow udder is a gentle squeezing of the milk out of each tiny secretory cell, called merocrine secretion. In the goat udder, the secretion is not just a squeezing die milk out, but part of the secretory cell is also broken down in the process of secretion, which in this case is called apocrine. The result is that many cell particles are in goat milk and counted as somatic cells; • Gram Dryers «Parts & Motors The Competitive Edge "Smart system" eliminates guesswork Grain Dryer On Display at Ag Progress JCE eb 91 Hardware UPS Shipping Point 10/9 TIMMERMAN 9** MFG. CORP. WELL BALANCED, RUGGEDLY BUILT FOR MANY YEARS OF TROUBLE FREE SERVICE A Full EFFICIENT BE - » RT and FRT Series Trailers Avail We Also Build Other Models, Sizes. in cow milk, typically, there are few, and somatic cell counts are more representative of leucocytes. Leucocytes enter the udder only when there is an inflammation, pathogenic invasion or mechani cal squeezing, stress, or estrus hormonal effects. Thus, while most instruments testing for somatic cell counts are adequate and appropriate for cow milk, they are not for goat milk. To be appropriate for goat milk. Farmers Rank High those opposing restrictions was that there simply should be no gov ernment interference (19 percent). Other significant findings from Farm Bureau’s 1999 Farmer Image Tracking Survey wore near ly identical to results from the 1997 survey, including consumer agreement that: • Farmers cate about the quality and safely of the food they pro duce, 81 percent, down one point from 1997. •The use of land for agriculture is good for the environment, 70 percent, down (me point from 1997. • When faced with a conflicting decision between financial consid erations and doing what is right, most farmers would do what is Where's your mustache? “ Galvanized Gates Standard Sizes In Stock Exhaust Fan w/Housing & shutter 24”, 36”, 48” ZIMi NCUS Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 30, 1999-A35 the instrument must be calibrated with goat milk, not cow millk, and the test must not count cell parti cles but only leucocytes. Further more, the instrument must be ad justed seasonally to account for the normal seasonal rise erf so matic cell counts in goat milk. Thus, while somatic cell count ing is potentially a great tool for high-quality milk production and better profits for the dairy farmer, it must be understood and applied appropriately and judiciously. (Continued from Page A 34) right, 62 percent, up three points from 1997. The 1999 tracking survey was conducted by telephone with a national, random sample of 500 consumers. Based on the sample and a 95 percent degree of confi dence, the overall study precision is plus or minus 4.4 percent. The poll was conducted by Marketing Horizons, Inc., a professional poll ing firm headquartered in St. Louis. Copies of the full survey and comprehensive results arc avail able for $l2 each. To order, con tact American Farm Bureau Feder ation’s Gail Przybek by phone, (847) 685-8850 or fax, (847) 685-8950. 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