Herd Health

Management practices and nutritional strategies during the transition period have a significant impact on the health and productivity of the dairy cow and, as a consequence, influence both the profitability and longevity of the herd.

High bacteria counts in your bulk tank milk can be very frustrating to all parties involved. In today’s milk market, these higher bacteria counts can also jeopardize your milk quality premium, as many cooperatives have bundled the different tests together.

Robotic milking technology can make many dairy operations more efficient, but only if producers have excellent cow management strategies in place to ensure successful milk production.

The use of a laboratory to identify and diagnose mastitis has been in practice for decades by veterinary practitioners focused on animal health in dairy production animals. As such, it remains one of the most powerful tools to this day in achieving excellent udder health.

The milking parlor is the “heart” of your operation. It’s the harvest point for you and your herd’s hard work – but with all the other complexities of running a dairy, it can be taken for granted and overlooked.

As management and genetics improve, the average bulk tank somatic cell count (SCC) may decline. Bulk tank SCC is a combination of the milk of all cows, so high-SCC cows are diluted by low-SCC cows.