dairy case managers get 'up close' with the cows - Swiss Valley Farms

TIPS ON HOW TO GET YOUR SCC DOWN
By now, you have heard all the buzz surrounding the
United States complying with the European Union’s
400,000 SCC standard, most likely by this fall. This
means any plant that exports dairy products to the E.U. or sells
milk, cream or whey to another plant that exports to the E.U.
will have to meet this standard based on every individual milk
producer who contributes to the load of milk going into that
plant.
The bottom line right now is this. If your herd’s SCC
hovers around 400,000 or is consistently over it, now is the
time to start working on getting your SCC counts down.
I believe the best source of information on mastitis and
milk quality is the National Mastitis Council and you can visit
them online at www.nmconline.org.
Here are my suggestions for getting those counts down.
The most important factor in preventing mastitis is
keeping your cow’s environment clean and dry. This requires
clean and dry stalls especially after milking, when cows tend
to lie down and the teat end is most susceptible to pathogens.
Keep your barn yard clean and as dry as possible. Keep cows
out of ponds and under trees in the warmer months. Fence
these areas off, if possible.
How’s your ventilation? Maintaining proper ventilation is
important. Also, keep insects under control and prevent over
crowding. All of these are beneficial to cow comfort and will
aid in increased milk production along with reduced SCC,
which will also be a benefit to your milk check every month.
Proper milking procedures are extremely important.
Milking a clean, dry and properly stimulated teat is the goal
each time you place the milking unit on the udder. It is a good
idea to remove udder hair. This helps in having less manure
and dirt to remove at the time of milking. Milkers should
always wear gloves and use individual paper towels or cloths to
prevent the spread of mastitis. The application of a pre-milking
disinfectant is recommended and will help properly stimulate
the teats for proper milk let-down. Examine foremilk to catch
any problem cows and to prevent the spread of clinical mastitis.
If possible, milk problem cows last.
Properly attach the milking units and align and when
manually removing units, shut off the vacuum to prevent
injury to teat ends. A post-dip treatment should be used and
something that is often overlooked is cleaning and maintaining
the teat dippers and the transfer jugs. We must be conscious of
cleanliness at all times.
The time to catch cows and to prevent the spread of
mastitis is during milking. A great tool in identifying the
by Ron Brenner, SVF Field Supervisor
seriousness of the infection is the CMT (California Mastitis
Test), which is the cheapest and most effective. Decisions on
when and if to treat need to be made and records need to be
kept on cows treated. Cows that do not respond to treatment
need to be culled.
It is essential that you maintain your milking equipment
and have it serviced monthly, bi-annual and yearly. Inflations
and other hoses need to be replaced as needed. We really need
to remind ourselves how important the milking equipment
is and have it working properly. This equipment has a direct
impact on your milk check.
Another improvement we have seen in SCC counts on
farms has been the use
of dry cow treatments.
Dry cows off abruptly
and dry treat each quarter
immediately following
the last milking. Disinfect
the teats and scrub the
teat-ends before infusion
and after infusion use a
post-milking teat dip.
We need to keep these
cows in a clean and dry
environment as often
times these cows are
neglected. This is also
important with our
heifer housing.
It is a good idea
to enroll in DHI to
help in record keeping.
These programs can help in
Ron Brenner
identifying problem cows along with monitoring the number of
infections. It is essential that you counsel with your Veterinarian
on treatment plans and overall udder health.
I have tried to highlight some important issues in reducing
Somatic cells, but there are numerous issues that I have not
included. As a member of the field staff, I can say that it takes
a lot of little changes that add up to see a noticeable difference
in your SCC average for the month. There is no silver bullet for
preventing mastitis, unfortunately, only consistency and hard
work.
As always, your Swiss Valley field rep is there to help you,
so give him or her a call if you need any assistance.
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SWISS VALLEY FARMS DAIRYMAN