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
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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
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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;
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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
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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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