Dairy Focus Blog
Something has changed
“Something has changed. I just can’t figure it out – it’s not wet, and there is no mud.”
This was Jeff’s first comment when I returned his phone call couple of months ago.
Jeff* and his wife Karen* milk 650 cows through a 60 stand rotary dairy in Northern Victoria.
They had done a lot of work to get their mastitis to where they were now reasonably comfortable – Bulk Milk Cell Count (BMCC) sat between 100,000 and 110,000 cells/ml, and clinical case rates of mastitis were well below the Countdown trigger point of 2 cases per 100 milking cows per month.
Sometimes, things can change!
“I don’t know what it is, but something isn’t quite right!”
Tim* milks about 450 cows in a rotary dairy in North East Victoria, and it had been some years since we had worked on mastitis control with him.
“The cell count is still good, but we are now getting too many cases of clinical mastitis, and I reckon the teat ends don’t look as good as they were when you were last here.”
Keep an open mind
During the milking process in any dairy, there are a substantial number of factors which can influence the risk of mastitis infections.
The Countdown Farm Guidelines and the supporting Countdown Technotes describe these factors very well, and also how to measure and assess them.
It takes a reasonable amount of time to conduct all the necessary assessments during milking, and it may not always be possible to complete all the tasks in one milking – especially if it is a relatively short milking or there is only one adviser conducting the assessment.
When old becomes new
Split calving and long lactations have become the norm in much of our industry now, so it was a bit of a surprise when we were contacted recently by a farm in Gippsland that is strictly seasonal, meaning the whole herd is dried-off and milking ceases completely over the dry period until calving starts.
As part of our normal process, a history of Bulk Milk Cell Counts (BMCC) for the last two years was obtained for this herd and then charted with a trend line included.
It is normal, isn't it?
Recent milking time visits to a number of different dairy sheds have reminded me that “normal” means different things to different people.
Cup removal is always an interesting part of the milking routine to observe – in both manual and automatic systems.
When frustration sets in!
“I culled the 10 highest cell count cows and the cell count didn’t change – not at all!”
Leon* was frustrated – very frustrated!
He milks about 300 cows in Northern Victoria with a spring/autumn split calving system, and I could hear the frustration in his voice.
Leon supplies a processor where the premium payment threshold for Bulk Milk Cell Count (BMCC) is 250,000 cells/ml. The farm has been constantly in and out of premium band for a couple of years now, and nothing he has done has solved the problem.
It is tiny, but it is important
It is only a tiny part of your milking plant, and it can sometimes be very unobtrusively placed, but it is critical to the ability of your milking plant to function correctly.
Naturally this tiny part of your plant is the claw air admission hole.
Is your "Plan B" ready?
It really shouldn’t have been this dry - after all, it was the last week in June and it was Gippsland!
In fact, the only problem we had as we walked across the designated calving paddock on that day was the icy wind which was intent on going through anything in its path rather than around it!
The paddock was a great choice for calving - it was close to the house as well as to the dairy yards and facilities, plus it was well drained, with a clean pick of pasture.