round table discussion - National Mastitis Council

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HOARD’S DAIRYMAN The 2012 National Dairy Quality Award Platinum winners are again a group of exemplary milk quality professionals. The six farms recognized this year have both outstanding milk quality records and operations that strive for healthy and comfortable milking and dry cows at all times. Applications came from nearly 200 farms this year. Just 51 made the final review by a panel of judges and were designated as either Silver, Gold or Platinum winners. The previous page lists all of this year’s winners. Their nominators are also listed; those individuals deserve credit for bringing the applications forward. hoard’s Dairyman is again privileged to cosponsor the National Dairy Quality Awards with the National Mastitis Council. The program would not be possible without the sponsorship of GeA Farm Technologies, IBA/ecolab, elanco, QMI, Select Sires and the major sponsor Merial. Now, let’s learn from the 2012 Platinum winners. What is your milking procedure? Beattie: We have a written milking procedure, and milkers always wear gloves. We predip, strip 22 January 10, 2013 They produce the highest quality milk These farms pair preventative practices with effective mastitis treatment. The six Platinum winners in this year’s National Dairy Quality Awards competition work closely with their veterinarians to create sound protocols and outstanding results. The 315 cows housed at Beattie Farms, Holton, Mich., are producing 25,500 pounds of milk each year, with an average somatic cell count of under 80,000. Don Beattie, owner of the operation, is pictured at the left with herdsperson Jennifer Saxton. Beattie Farms’ standard plate count averaged just 1,080 during its application year. The farm has a double-16, rapid-exit, herringbone parlor. The cows lie on either free stalls bedded with sand or a bedded pack. Sand is added to the free stalls once each week, and the alleys are scraped twice daily. In the bedded-pack area, chopped straw is added twice per day. “They work very hard to make sure they are shipping the best quality milk possible, consistently throughout the year, “said nominator Ben Chapin of Michigan Milk Producers Association. 62nd Annual HOARD’S DAIRYMAN ROUND TABLE out foremilk, dry teats with cloth towels, attach milking units and postdip. Davenport: We also have a written milking procedure, and our milkers always wear gloves. We strip out foremilk (plastic strip cup/black screen), predip with Nolvasan teat dip, dry teats with single-service white towels, attach milking units 60 seconds after forestripping and postdip (same as predip with nonreturn teat dippers). We ensure cows always lie back down in clean, dry bedding. Dellar: We dry wipe teats with microfiber towels to remove sand, dip teats with foam, strip out foremilk and massage dip into teat ends, redip, dry teats with microfiber towels, attach milking units and postdip. There is a written milking procedure, and milkers wear gloves for every milking. Kartes: We have a written milking procedure, and milkers wear gloves 100 percent of the time. We wipe sand and debris off teats with a dry hand, strip out foremilk, predip with 1 percent iodine, dry teats with cloth towels, attach milking units, hand strip after milking if a quarter looks abnormal and postdip with 1 percent iodine. MSU: We spray a predip (massaging it on the teats and teat ends), strip out foremilk, dry teats with individual cloth towels, attach milking units and postdip. We have a written milking procedure, and milkers wear gloves all the time. True: We have a written milking procedure. Milkers wear gloves and change them with every pen change. We predip, strip out foremilk, predip again, dry teats with cloth towels, attach milking units and postdip. How do you maintain healthy teat ends? Beattie: We make sure teats are clean and dry and that the udder is well stimulated at the time of unit attachment and maintain vacuum levels. Davenport: We look for a 60/40 pulsation ratio, proper cluster positioning, use IBA Prosquare inflations and allow the machine to be removed only after the vacuum is completely depleted. Dellar: We utilize cows’ full oxytocin levels by attaching units 60 to 90 seconds after stimulation, monitor vacuum levels and make frequent inflation changes. We also let teat dip dry in the winter before letting cows go outside. Kartes: Milkers are trained to wipe sand off and prestrip before predipping. After predipping, we wipe each teat and teat end at least three times Tollgate Farm is owned by Jim and Karen Davenport, of Ancramdale, N.Y. The Davenports currently own 64 Holsteins and Ayrshires, along with 14 dry cows and young stock. Their Holsteins average 24,000 pounds of milk, with the Ayrshires at nearly 15,000 pounds per year. In 2011-2012, their somatic cell count reached only 67,000 in its worst month, averaging 46,750 for the year. The cows are in a tie stall barn bedded with kiln-dried pine sawdust. Nominator Ruth McCuin of Agri-Mark Cooperative said, “This farm has been Agri-Mark’s top-quality producer for the last six years. Jim and Karen know that producing quality milk adds value to their milk check, benefits cow health and makes them better producers.” Pictured are Jim and Karen (center), with daughters Laura (left) and Kristen (right).
As repeat winners, the Dellar family maintains milk quality success in their herd with over 30,000 pounds (a 3,000-pound jump from last year’s winning application) of production from 200 milking cows. Ryan and Charina Dellar are pictured with their children, Gavin and Carmen, near their Harrisville, Mich., facility. This year, Dellar Dairy lowered its somatic cell count from 53,000 to 43,333 as a 12-month average. Cattle are housed in a sand-bedded free stall barn where alleys are scraped three times per day — during each milking. The herd is milked in a double-10 parallel parlor. “Ryan and Charisa pay close attention to even the finest details while constantly researching and implementing innovative ideas,” says nominator Preston Cole with Michigan Milk. to provide good stimulation and thoroughly dry them. Then we wait 60 to 90 seconds for good milk letdown before attaching the milking unit. We also use silicone liners, changed regularly, and check pulsation rates regularly. We use cloth towels. MSU: We work closely with our milking equipment dealer to insure equipment is functioning properly and use good teat dips. True: We like an emollient in predip and postdip, use auto take-offs, routinely monitor vacuum pressure, do frequent liner changes and switch to our winter dip in October. How do you keep cows comfortable? Beattie: Alleys are scraped twice daily and stalls are raked once a day. Fresh sand is put in once per week. Bedded-pack cows are bedded twice a day with chopped straw. Waterers are cleaned every other day except in summer months when they get cleaned daily. Davenport: We use kiln-dried pine sawdust at 0.5 cubic foot per tie stall per day with 2 ounces of hydrated lime on foam mattresses. Manure is scraped by hand at least six times per day, continuously during milking. We open our barn and turn on overhead fans during warm weather. Our barn is closed with eave inlets and a thermostatically controlled fan when below 30°F. Dellar: Sand-bedded free stalls are raked every day, and manure is kicked out at every milking. Alleys are scraped three times a day at each milking. New bedding is put in every five to six days. Waterers are cleaned weekly. We also use tarps/side curtains and fans to accommodate weather conditions. Kartes: We have a four-row head-to-head free stall barn with a feed alley through the center. We run a one cow per stall capacity at the max, so overcrowding is never an issue. Our free stalls are bedded with beach sand every two weeks. Our barn also has 14-foot sidewalls with curtains all the way from top to bottom for optimum ventilation. The barn is completely scraped twice daily at milking times, and all personnel carry a sand rake when bringing cows to the parlor. Also, any sand is leveled flat in stalls at this time. MSU: Gel mats and pasture mats are scraped and rebedded twice a day. Comfortable bedding includes putting down hydrated lime, then kiln dried sawdust. True: Sand-bedded stalls are groomed each day and get more sand twice a week. At each milking, 62nd Annual HOARD’S DAIRYMAN ROUND TABLE we clean out the backs of the stalls and scrape alleys. We also monitor neck rails and free stalls to make sure the measurements are correct. each pen has its own sprinklers, plus the holding area has a soaker. The pens and holding area have 60-inch fans which enhance the natural ventilation. We have curtains for inclement weather. We use foot baths on the exit alley of the parlor and rubber belting in all feed alleys. Feed pushup occurs 12 times per day. How do you detect subclinical cases? Beattie: DhI hot sheet and CMT. Davenport: CMT screening or DhI high SCC cow list. Dellar: CMT paddle and PortaSCC strips along with our DhI hot sheet. Kartes: We CMT paddle all fresh and dry-off cows. Also watch milk weights and conductivity reports daily. MSU: DhI hot sheet, DeLaval cell counter and CMT paddle. True: Monthly DhI SCC testing and CMT testing on suspicious quarters. How do you detect clinical mastitis? Beattie: Forestripping, udder abnormalities, cow behavior and CMT. Davenport: Strip cup, backed up with CMT. Dellar: Prestripping in addition to observing udders and cow appearance. Kartes: Prestrip every cow, visually check every cow after milking for abnormal quarters. MSU: Stripping as part of milking procedures. True: Forestripping, low production, CMT testing and watch for abnormal udder appearance. Describe your fresh-cow monitoring. Beattie: We monitor each cow closely by checking milk, body temperature and udder swelling. We use the CMT on third milking and treat any positive quarters with Spectramast LC. Davenport: All fresh cows are CMTed, and prefresh cows are checked visibly for swollen quarters or teat damage. For any high counts not attributed to colostrum, we culture and use the quarter milker until results are obtained. Since it is often no growth, any more clinical signs are cultured but treated with an over-the-counter broad spectrum lactating remedy. Dellar: DhI monthly hot sheet, CMT paddle An 87,000 SCC put Circle K Farms in the 2012 National Dairy Quality Awards winners’ circle. Their farm currently has 250 Holstein cows that are milked in a double-16 parallel parlor. In the parlor, milking technicians wear gloves and follow a written protocol, with five of the six milkers being family members. The Kartes’ parlor records daily milk weights and uses conductivity to detect mastitis. Circle K is owned by Brad and Debby Kartes and achieves 24,000 pounds of milk per cow in West Branch, Mich. In addition to the low SCC, the farm’s standard plate count averaged 1,170 in the 12-month period of the application. Pictured are (Back, L to R) Cole, Brad, Debbie and Keith. (Front, L to R) Tucker, Adysen, Lauren, holding Duke; Heather and Hayden Kartes. and PortaSCC strips. We CMT paddle each cow on the fifth milking. If the CMT is good, we pull individual quarter samples and run the PortaSCC on each quarter. When all quarters are below 50,000, the cow’s milk enters the tank. If the CMT is bad, a sample is taken and a culture is performed on farm. Kartes: We milk all fresh cows in the bucket for six days, then we CMT paddle all quarters. We have to get a negative result in all quarters before that cow’s milk goes in the bulk tank. We also heavily prestrip and watch daily milk weights and conductivity levels. If we get a positive, we will on-farm culture that cow and treat her with a lactation therapy according to the pathogen. MSU: After a negative Delvo test for antibiotics, we check SCC with a DeLaval cell counter. True: We use visual monitoring of colostrum and forestripping at freshening. Otherwise, we use monthly SCC testing by DhI, forestripping to monitor for mastitis and vet-established mastitis treatment protocols. We do routine bulk tank culturing for mastitis pathogens. Treated cows are milked in a separate flat parlor. What steps do you take at dry-off? Beattie: Cows are taken off TMR, fed dry hay and milked once a day for five to seven days to lower their milk production, then at dry-off day, they are administered with Albadry Plus, then Orbeseal. Cows are in a bedded-pack barn that is sawdust bedded. They have access to a dirt lot for exercise. The barn is bedded two times per week and cleaned once a week. Two to three weeks prior to calving, the cows get moved to a comfortable straw pack barn. Davenport: Dry cows are isolated from the milking string and fed free-choice 58 NDF grass hay and water. We milk them once daily until production is less than 20 pounds per day. To dry teat, we swab each teat end with an alcohol pad and simultaneously inject one tube of Quartermaster while massaging the quarter. That is followed with a tube of Orbeseal, postdip and a shot of Triangle 10. Cows have access to grass pasture for all but the worst weather. When inside, we use 56 to 58 NDF grass haylage and minerals with refusals to 30-day prefresh cows and heifers. Dellar: A Spectramast DC tube is used in each quarter followed by Orbeseal teat sealant. J-5 vaccine is given at dry-off and one to two weeks before calving. We also monitor the last DhIA score. continued on following page HOARD’S DAIRYMAN January 10, 2013 23
Page 1: Recipient Nominator Don Beattie, Ho

round table discussion - National Mastitis Council

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