Thank you for attending our mastitis roadshow. We hope you found it informative and gained valuable insights to produce more milk of higher quality. Here are some key take-away messages from the presentation:
Why produce more milk of higher quality?
Higher quality milk commands a premium price offered through incentive programs by our milk processors.
Reducing somatic cell count will improve milk production. Research has shown there is a 2.1% loss in production for every doubling of BMSCC over 100,000 cells/ml.
What is mastitis and why is it important to manage it?
Mastitis is infection in the udder caused by bacteria that get in through the teat canal. The focus of mastitis management is to reduce the number of bacteria on the teat and to prevent them entering the udder.
Managing mastitis effectively will improve milk quality, ensuring better cow wellbeing and maximizing dairy farm productivity.
How can we manage mastitis and produce more milk of higher quality?
I) Start by preventing mastitis: In the colostrum herd
If teats are dirty, wash them with a low-pressure hose.
Teat-spray colostrum cows before and after milking to improve teat condition and make milking more comfortable to enhance milk let-down.
Strip quarters to check for mastitis at every milking.
Rapid Mastitis Test (RMT) all cows on the 8th milking to identify and manage high SCC cows before they enter the milking herd.
In the milking herd
Teat score the cows in early / mid and late lactation to identify any early problems. Download the teat scoring chart
Teat spraying promotes healthy teat skin, and inhibits bacterial growth. Teat end damage can be prevented by avoiding overmilking cows and adopting milking efficiency. Refer to DairyNZ resources on milking efficiency.
II) If you see a clinical mastitis case
Give pain relief: Treat with three days of nil milk withholding pain relief, such as KetoMax, to reduce pain and inflammation caused by mastitis.
Sample and test: Take a milk sample and test on-farm using the Mastatest clinical cartridge to identify the bacteria causing the infection. Wait for 24 hours and treat based on the test results.
Analysis of over 100,000 Mastatest samples reveals that 20% of mastitis cases may not require antibiotic treatment, as they tend to resolve on their own or involve bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics. If antibiotics are indicated penicillin is effective a lot of time, but for 20% of cases there are alternative antibiotics that may provide better outcomes. Hence, it is crucial to sample and test each case to identify the bacteria involved and find out whether antibiotics are necessary, and if so, which antibiotic is most suitable.
III) Manage high SCC cows to reduce the bulk cell count
Sample & test - Take milk samples from high SCC cows and test on-farm with the Mastatest HiSCC cartridge to identify the bacteria causing the infection.
Manage - Use the test results in combination with the cow's herd test results and mastitis history to implement an effective management plan, which may include milking high SCC cows last, making dry-off decisions, or considering culling. Download the mastitis management flowchart to assist managing these cows.
