Herd Health

Two hundred and 50 dollars. That’s what a single case of clinical mastitis could be costing you. If you’re like most dairy farmers right now, you could find many uses for an additional $250.

Two very different ways of milking cows can teach us some of the most basic lessons for maintaining low somatic cell counts (SCC) and achieving milk quality goals.

Harvesting high-quality milk involves interactions among humans, cows, milking equipment and the environment. Implementing and training staff on milking routine standard operating procedures can influence the outcome, but efforts in the parlor shouldn’t end there.

The lactation curve of milk production on some farms can be complicated. The question of how we get more production from cows comes up in many conversations between nutritionists and their producer customers. A “normal” lactation curve can be broken down to some simple basic principles.

On May 22, 2015, Walmart, one of the largest grocery retailers in the U.S., publicly stated their position on antibiotic use in farm animals. The company stated that “antibiotics should be used responsibly in farm animals” and outlined a specific set of instructions for its producers to accomplish this. Despite the concern about usage of antimicrobials in agriculture, very few studies have described antimicrobial usage in U.S. dairy herds:

When it comes to dry cow vaccinations, I like to think of them as a two-for-one. You’re vaccinating for the health of the cow, but you’re also providing passive immunity for the calf during those first few months of life.