As a veterinarian who is passionate about animal health and producing high-quality dairy foods, I am embarrassed as I watch the EU force us (the U.S. dairy industry) to produce milk with an SCC below 400,000. Why haven’t we chosen to establish this SCC level on our own? I know the arguments. Our PMO is focused on food safety, not quality and shelf life issues, and there is no research to date that connects a cell count up to 750,000 with any increased disease risk from human consumption. The problem is today’s consumer views food safety and quality as synonymous – and we need to have the same view. Ironically this SCC reduction mandate is in direct conflict with a major paradigm shift that is currently underway in the U.S dairy industry. What is the paradigm shift? We appear determined to replace the “gold standard” for dairy cow bedding of new, washed, dry sand with something else. I use the term alternative bedding systems to describe everything other than deep-bedded, dry, washed, virgin sand in well-designed freestalls that keep cows comfortable and clean. Dr. Andy Johnson puts it this way, “Once you walk away from the gold standard, you choose your own poison for milk quality problems.”

Many dairy producers rely on footbath programs to help prevent and control infectious claw lesions in their herd. Maximizing the effectiveness of a footbath program hinges on several key factors, including proper footbath design and effective footbath management techniques. “When used correctly, footbath programs can be a highly successful way for dairies to help prevent and control the spread of infectious lesions such as digital dermatitis, interdigital dermatitis and foot rot,” says Dr. Dana Tomlinson, Research Nutritionist, Zinpro Corporation. “However, a poorly managed footbath program can actually cause more harm than good.”

For many dairy farmers, 2009 was a difficult winter in many parts of the country. Snow in December, along with additional storms and extreme cold temperatures, left dairy farmers numerous obstacles to deal with. One of those obstacles is hoof care and lameness. All too often lameness is an underlying issue robbing dairy farmers of profits. It is estimated that every lame cow on a dairy farm costs between $300 and $400 due to lost production, decreased reproductive efficiency and cost of treatment. Research by Dr. Nigel Cook at the University of Wisconsin – Madison showed that January, February and March are the months where lameness caused by infectious lesions is most prevalent (Figure 1). Dr. Cook tracked lameness in ten Wisconsin dairy herds for a 12-month period.

Muddy conditions resulting from wet weather constrain best management practices; animals, feed and the environment can all be negatively affected. Under these conditions, two major ailments can affect dairy cows: mastitis due to environmental bacteria and lameness. Cows with mastitis decrease production, have greater treatment costs and can eventually be culled or die. Lame cows incur higher production losses, lower fertility and greater culling rates.

Mastitis continues to be the most costly disease on dairy farms. It decreases profit as a result of decreased milk yields, treatment costs, discarded milk, premature culling and death, decreased genetic potential and decreased reproductive performance. High somatic cell count (SCC) milk also decreases cheese yield and reduces fluid milk shelf life. The best way to reduce SCC is by focusing on prevention. If your SCC is higher than desired, one way to tackle the problem is to consider forming a milk quality team. Include key employees, veterinarian, dairy plant field representative, dairy equipment personnel, extension personnel, etc. Work with them to develop a systematic game plan for reducing your SCC based on your farm’s information. Mastitis is a disease that is well understood and often an aggressive plan of attack will get it under control.

The LPC test is doing a standard plate count on pasteurized milk. The mastitis pathogens are killed and what remains are organisms that keep on growing in the milk and reduce shelf life. These organisms are not from cows’ udders. They are usually spore–formers, like bacillus or pseudomonas, which live in rubber hoses and some water supplies. If a high LPC count is present (250 to 300 cfu/ml is the usual cut-off point), use the following procedures to ensure you stay below these levels. 1. Milk clean, dry, pre-dipped teats and udders. Sand bedding and muddy lots are big suppliers of non-cow bacteria. Milking wet and/or dirty teats will load up the tank with them.

Producers have a variety of informational tools available to monitor both the mastitis in their herds and the quality of milk being shipped to processors. Somatic cell counts (SCC) are a measure of mastitis in a dairy herd. The SCC will increase in a quarter as a result of an infection. The increase represents white blood cells entering the quarter to fight the infection. The bulk tank somatic cell count (BTSCC) reflects the total number of infected mammary quarters in the herd that are actually being milked into the tank. The bacterial count is another primary measure of milk quality. Bacteria are present in milk as a result of milking infected mammary quarters, contamination from the environment during milking, dirty milking equipment and growth during milk storage.