4 steps to better milk quality

Invest time to improve milk quality where you'll get the most bang for your buck.

Today’s tighter margins make milk producers more aware than ever of the importance of milk quality. They know that subclinical mastitis cuts milk production, they’re aware of consumer concerns about food quality and safety, and they certainly know that they must take every opportunity to improve production and profit margins.

What can you do if your average bulk tank somatic cell count (BTSCC) robs you of profit? These four steps and answers to the questions help you invest your resources in areas where you’ll get the greatest return.

Involve your herd veterinarian at each step. The person knows which practices on your dairy affect milk quality and can help you develop a plan to improve them.

1. Conduct an audit.

Q. Do you know your milk quality status at any given time?

Q. What is your monthly BTSCC? And your standard plate counts for the last 12 months or more?

Q. Do you have DHIA records with monthly SCC information? What about mastitis treatment records and treatment outcomes?

Information that these records supply helps you set realistic goals for milk quality and evaluate your ability to meet those goals.

2. Perform a risk assessment.

Your herd veterinarian or other third party can help you pinpoint potential point sources of infection with information from your DHIA records, monthly individual cow SCCs and disease-event records.

Three traditional areas most influence milk quality and mastitis: the milking system, milking procedures and the cow environment. Evaluate each of these for potential hazards that contribute to mastitis.

Equipment

Q. Do you have a regular maintenance schedule as recommended by the manufacturer?

Q. Do you evaluate the function of critical components regularly?

Q. Do you routinely inspect and replace rubber items?

Q. Are inflations changed according to manufacturer’s recommendations. For rubber inflations, that’s every 800 milkings.

Q. Are milk hoses and airlines changed when you see cracks or leaks?

Milking procedures

Most herds have room to improve practices in this area. Consider forestripping. It’s become one of the least adopted milking procedures as dairies forego its benefits for perceived improved milking efficiency.

Inadequate stimulation of milk letdown in the absence of forestripping can increase machine on-time. This can lead to chronic teat lesions, which can increase the rate of new infections.

Q. Is your teat dip doing a good job?

Select dips that have passed the National Mastitis Council (NMC) testing protocols. Also consult with your veterinarian and other producers who have successful mastitis control programs.

Q. Is teat dip application thorough?

Cup dipping provides more uniform application than does spraying which often only covers the teat surfaces visible to the applicator.

To test if dip is properly applied, wrap a paper towel around the teat after dip application. Dry areas on the towel indicate surfaces where dip didn’t contact teat skin.

Q. Are teats clean and dry before milking unit attachment?

Many herds that use premilking teat dipping to control environmental mastitis don’t adequately clean or dry teat ends. Since this is where bacteria enters the teat to initiate a new infection, teat-end cleanliness is critical.

To assess teat-end cleanliness prior to machine attachment, swab or blot the teat ends after they’re dried. If dip or dirt appear on the swab or towel, then teat ends aren’t properly dried or cleaned.

Q. Is postdip applied immediately after units are removed?

The vacuum to individual milking units should be shut off prior to removing them.

Q. Are cows encouraged to stand for at least 30 minutes after milking by offering fresh feed?

This gives teat openings time to contract. If so, there’s a barrier to environmental organisms.

Cows’ environment

It must be clean, dry and comfortable. Evaluate all animal environments from maternity pens to calf housing to dry cow and lactating cow facilities for their impact on milk quality and mastitis.

Q. How often is bedding changed? Is it routine practice to clean out freestalls when cows are being milked?

Q. Are stalls sized properly to promote udder health?

Q. What practices do you employ when cows are dried off to promote udder health?

Assess the status of animals entering your herd.

Q. If you plan a herd expansion, or are in the midst of one, do you have a plan to screen purchased animals for mastitis and other disease causing organisms?

3. Formulate a plan.

Once you have identified the weak areas —or critical control points —relevant to your dairy’s milk quality, formulate a plan to correct those weaknesses with your veterinarian’s input.

The New York State Cattle Health Assurance Program (NYSCHAP) helps dairies establish herd biosecurity programs. To enroll in NYSCHAP, talk to your veterinarian.

4. Monitor milk quality and mastitis parameters regularly.

Reevaluate the entire process on a regular basis or when your monitoring benchmarks indicate possible problems. Make adjustments and retrain milkers when necessary.

Quality milk doesn’t just happen. Like any enterprise on your dairy, optimal performance requires planning and constant evaluation.

By Frank Welcome, Veterinarian
Quality Milk Promotion Service (QMPS)
Northeast Dairy Business Communications
Cornell University PRO-DAIRY