The global dairy sector came together to celebrate World Milk Day 2022 by conducting social media campaigns and in-person events throughout 113 countries around the world. 

Technology and automation are helping the modern farmer deal with the daily demands of herd and parlor management. There is also technology to help with the identification of mastitis cases within the herd, known as automated mastitis detection (AMD).

Let’s be very clear – we do not use vacuum to “suck” the milk out of the cow. She must give it to us voluntarily. If we want to milk cows more gently, quickly and completely, the goal must be to improve milk flow rates through better stimulation and milk letdowns.

Just 424 out of nearly 3.7 million milk samples tested positive for animal drug residues in the FDA’s annual analysis. Those samples testing positive were rejected for human consumption. That works out to be only one out of every 8,702 samples.

Clearly we have not “solved” the problem of mastitis and the risk it poses to milk quality. While it is tempting to look to the latest sensors, supplements, on-farm tests or other technologies to hit the market to resolve this problem, let’s take a step back and review what we have learned and know to be true about mastitis control.