Canadian Quality Milk On-Farm Food Safety Program - Centre ...

Canadian Quality Milk
• In tie-stalls, install the water bowl over the manger to prevent overflow on the
bedding.
Maintain stalls:
• Keep stalls clean, dry and drainable.
• Clean stalls at least 2 times a day and rake as required to maximize cow
cleanliness, comfort and use.
• Regardless of whether the stall surfaces are concrete, rubber mats or
mattresses, keep them covered with a layer of fresh bedding.
Ensure stall bedding materials are absorbent, comfortable and do not encourage
bacterial growth. Two choices of bedding materials are:
• Organic (e.g. sawdust, shavings, straw, earth).
• Inorganic (e.g. sand, gravel, quarry or limestone dust).
Limit access to manure-cleaning equipment.
Test it: To test stall comfort, kneel down where your cattle have to lie. Rock back and
forth; the surface should be comfortable and cushion your knees. If it hurts your knees to
fall on this surface, your cattle will be reluctant to use this area. If after 10 to 20 seconds
your knees are wet or dirty, udders will get dirty as well. In both cases, bedding
management should be improved.
All cattle should be kept clean to reduce hazards associated with meat safety due to
manure accumulations on hides when the animals are shipped. The best management
practices described above also apply to keeping animals’ hides clean.
1.3.1.2 Exercise Yards and Dry lots
Exercise yards and dry lots are areas that can be a source of manure-based bacteria.
Restrict cattle access to manure and runoff storage by fencing cattle out of these
areas.
Design exercise yards for animal safety and cleanliness. Consider paved or mudcontrol
materials where yards are perpetually wet and where traffic is heavy.
Divert clean water (uncontaminated), such as water from rain, snow, snowmelt, roofs
and eaves before it comes in contact with manure on exercise yard.
Contain contaminated runoff by channeling it (e.g. from stored manure) to liquid
manure storages or to artificial wetlands.
Keep paved areas clean by regularly removing manure to manure storage area.
Maintain forage cover in grassed exercise yards by managing the lot using a
rotational grazing management system.
1.3.1.3 Laneways
Ensure laneway and loading area for milk pick-up are free of manure contamination,
at the time of milk pick-up.
June 2010 1—7