The Gagnonval Farm in Sainte-Hénédine, Quebec, has been equally owned by brothers Marc and Daniel Gagnon since 1994. If its name rings a bell for you, it’s most likely due to the exceptional quality of milk produced there.

Keeping somatic cell count low isn’t just about producing high-quality milk; it’s about minimizing milk losses and maintaining a sustainable, efficient operation.

Nationally, the average 2024 DHI test-day herd SCC was 181,000 cells per milliliter, unchanged from 2023, according to a summary report from the Council of Dairy Cattle Breeding (CDCB) and compared to previous reports from CDCB and the USDA’s Animal Improvement Programs Laboratory.

A farm decides on its own what its milk quality is. Wait, what? That’s right – the choices made daily determine milk quality. High-quality milk doesn’t happen by accident; it’s the result of intentional decisions in three key areas: 1) the people on the farm, 2) the environment the cows live in and 3) the tools provided to both the employees and the cows to ensure success. Let’s break it down.

Ever since 1894, Minglewood Dairy has upheld a tradition of exceptional care for their cows and land, evolving significantly over the past 130 years.

Routines to maintain udder health change with the transition to automated milking. In a parlor, most of the monitoring of the cow, the equipment, and to some extent the environment, is part of the milking routine. It is completed by the workers in the parlor as they prep, strip and attach milkers. In automated milking, it is important to develop daily routines to monitor those milk quality control points in other ways. 

The parlor is a critical place on a dairy to have productivity and efficiency dialed in 365 days a year. When it comes to leveling up your parlor output, audits are a helpful tool in finding ways to fine-tune and uncover areas for improvement that drive milk harvest success – ultimately impacting the dairy’s bottom line.