osterkamp dairy milk quality program - AgWeb

WORKING AS A TEAM TO IMPLEMENT MILK QUALITY PROGRAMS:
OSTERKAMP DAIRY MILK QUALITY PROGRAM
Mark Osterkamp 1 , Eduardo Garbarino 2
1 Osterkamp Dairy, Hereford, Texas, USA
2 Progressive Dairy Health Services, Clovis, New Mexico, USA
Osterkamp Dairy is a 2500 cow dry lot dairy located in Hereford, TX. It is a family
owned and operated dairy that started with about 100 milk cows in 1922 in Bellflower,
CA, which is a half hour south of Los Angeles. Soon after the dairy began, an outbreak of
foot and mouth disease occurred and the entire herd was depopulated. The family restarted
the dairy in Santa Anna, CA shortly after, and in 1961 Joe Osterkamp moved 300 milk cows to
Chino, CA. Tom Osterkamp took over Osterkamp Dairy and moved to Hereford Texas in
2003, milking about 1700 cows. Over the last six years we have been able to increase the
herd size to 2500 with very little animal purchasing. Along with Veterinarian Eduardo
Garbarino of Progressive Dairy Health Services in Clovis, NM, we have been working as a
team to implement a milk quality program since 2005. The ability to control and manage
mastitis outbreaks and the uses of specifically designed protocols (treatments, routines, animal
handling, etc.) has been a contributing factor to that end. In addition, having a milk quality
program in place has allowed the dairy to maximize income per cwt of milk sold.
Dairy Layout and Overview
The dairy currently milks approximately 2500 Holstein cows which are housed in nine
milking pens of 275 cows/pen. An additional 3 pens with capacity for 40-50 cows are used
for hospital, fresh and special needs cows. In addition, there is also a single 20 hospital
barn where all fresh cows and hospital cows are milked by the fresh and hospital manager
and his assistant. Cows are fed a TMR delivered twice a day. Currently milk production is about
78 lbs, Fat 3.7%, Protein 3.3%, SCC 175,000 cells/ml, Pregnancy Rate is 21%, Culls before 30
days in milk is 3% and overall culling rate is 25.2%.
Environment
Cows are housed in double sloped dry lot pens with shades and head locks.(Figure 1)
Weather permitting, pens are groomed on a daily basis with a box scraper.(Figure 2) On
occasion a honey wagon will run after a rain, drizzle, or snow. As part of regular
maintenance, holes in the pens are filled with dirt trying to keep an even walking surface
for the cows. See below the scraping schedule and a sketch of the pen and how the dirt is
moved.
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Pen layout example. Figure 1.
cement
water water water
dry manure for bedding 1/2 to 1 in.
Shade is also included
shade
wet manure for drying 1/2 to 1 in.
Scraping schedule. Figure 2.
Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat. Sun.
Valentin (Day) Milk xxxxxxxx Milk p8 - p15 Milk xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx
p1 - p5 All Pens Hef All Pens
p8 - p15
Dry
Hugo (Night) Milk xxxxxxxx Milk xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx Milk Milk
p6 - p7 p1 - p4 p1 - p4 p23 - p7
Milking Equipment
The milking equipment consists of standard stainless steel DeLaval claws with Milk Right
shells and liners. Universal pulsators with pulsation rate set at 60:40 are used. Universal
automatic take-off settings are described in figure 3. The vacuum is set at 12.75 "Hg at the
teat end.
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Take-off settings. Figure 3.
Milk Flow
Lb/Min.
Threshold 0.41
Take-off
Sec.
Time 30
Neutral
Sec.
Time 125
EV Delay
Sec.
Time 2.5
Milking Routine and Milker Meetings
Milking routine
Cows are milked twice a day in a double 35, parallel parlor. The milking routine is a complete
routine under a territorial arrangement. Milker #1 pre-dips from cow #1 to cow #13 then goes
back to cow #1 and strips to cow #13, walks back wiping from #13 to #1 and finally hangs
machines from #1 to #13. See graph 1. Milker #2 does the same routine from cow #14 to cow
#24 and milker #3 repeats the same steps from cow #25 to cow #35. Milker #3 has fewer
machines because he is in charge of filling the line when the pusher is not in the pit. One pusher
completes the team and his responsibilities include: prepping the cloth towels, filling the post dip
cups, helps filling the lane, and bringing the pens to the barn. The pusher does not help in the
milking routine other than the post dipping process.
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Milking routine. Figure 4.
Milkers are evaluated once a month for routine compliance. This is done by the dairy manager
using a standardized evaluation form. (Figure 5) The goals of the evaluations are to detect areas
that need improvement in the routine, determine if the milkers are entitled to receive the quality
bonus offered by the dairy, and document as well as discuss areas of improvement. Results of the
evaluation are used as a basis for the subsequent milker meeting. In addition, the milkers need to
have a satisfactory evaluation in order to receive the milk quality bonus.
As an aid to stimulate parlor consistency for all the milkers, the manager keeps track of how
many cows are pulled for mastitis by each milker. This information is posted for the milkers to
see and allows management to detect differences among employees in the parlor. If large
differences exist among milkers, they are addressed in the meetings or with the particular
individual. Since we initiated this protocol, large fluctuations in bulk tank somatic cells have
drastically been reduced.
Milker meetings
Every 3 months a 1 hour milker meeting is scheduled with each shift (day/night). In each
meeting, milk quality information (SPC, LPC, Coli and SCC) is presented for the last year to
date and the previous month. The aim is to teach the milkers how to interpret the information
presented (graphs, tables, etc.) from a learning perspective and for improvement on the job. In
addition, the milkers are educated regarding the current milk quality bonus standards set by the
Co-op. In order for the dairy to receive a bonus, 25% of the milk loads are tested, in which 75%
of them need to be below the Co-op thresholds (SPC

addition the veterinary practice provides a milker meeting school for all new milkers. In this
meeting we explain the milking routine step by step and a thorough understanding of the
importance of cleanliness and consistency in the parlor. An explanation of what the dairy expects
from the milker and what the milker should expect from the dairy is also covered. The idea is to
present rules and expectations clearly and upfront with the hope that by good communication we
will achieve better compliance.
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Evaluation form. Figure 5.
Osterkamp Dairy - Milker Evaluation
Date: ____________________________
Milkers Name:________________________
Shift: ___________________
Cow Handling V.Good Good Needs Improvement Poor Quiet with no aggressions
Pre-Dip: V.Good Good Needs Improvement Poor All 4 teats completely
Strip: V.Good Good Needs Improvement Poor 2-3 squirts per teat
Wipe: V.Good Good Needs Improvement Poor Circular motion. Are teats clean after wipping?
Timming: V.Good Good Needs Improvement Poor Time between Pre-Dip and Wipe >30 sec
time between Strip and Attach 1-2min
Attach: V.Good Good Needs Improvement Poor Are units align and no air allowed when attaching
Re-Attach V.Good Good Needs Improvement Poor Is the milker looking for squaks and unaligned units?
Detach: V.Good Good Needs Improvement Poor Is the vacuum shut off before detaching?
Post-Dip: V.Good Good Needs Improvement Poor All 4 teats completely
Comments:
Evaluator: _________________________ Milker Signatu__________________________
Action plan for non-compliance: Each person will receive a warning if evaluation is Poor in one
or more items. At the first warning the manager will address the problem with the milker.
After the second warning, the milker looses the monthly bonus.
After 3 warnings a person could be fired.
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Mastitis Control and Treatment
All milk from fresh and mastitic cows is sampled and plated on blood agar and mycoplasma
media. All mastitis cases are treated with a standard intramammary antimicrobial. Cows with
hard quarters are also treated with an intramammary antimicrobial and an anti-inflammatory.
Cows that appear to be sick are given systemic therapy, rumen drench, and intravenous fluid
therapy in addition to an intramammary antimicrobial and an anti-inflammatory.
Dry Cow Management
All cows receive a standard dry cow tube shortly after their last milking on each teat. Cows are
dipped with the same barrier dip used on the milk cows and moved to the dry pen. Cows are dry
for 60 days.
Culling Policy
Cows are evaluated on an individual basis before treatment. Items like days in milk, milk
production at last test, times with mastitis, reproductive status (open/pregnant), other health
issues (lameness) are taken into consideration to decide the future of each cow.
Summary
Communication between the dairy and the milkers is the key for successfully implementing a
milk quality program. Monitoring milkers for positive and/or negative reinforcement is an
important part of motivating employees. As a result of working as a team between the dairy
manager, veterinarian and milkers, Osterkamp Dairy has achieved all but one (52/53) milk
quality bonuses from June 2005 up to November 2009. Additionally and harder to quantify,
somatic cells has been consistently lower than at the start of the program, udder health has
improved, and culling due to mastitis has been reduced.
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