milk quality | OZOLEA

To treat or not to treat? Selective treatment in udder health management

Marketing 23 April 2024 News

For many years, and still in many regions in the World today, blanket mastitis treatment has been the routine, both during lactation and at dry-off. It has made farmers confident and helped them boost milk production.

However, switching to selective treatment is now crucial, with the more than ever tough challenge of antimicrobial resistance.

The principle behind selective antimicrobial treatment of non-severe events of clinical mastitis means treating only those cases that will be responsive to antimicrobials.

One step back. Routine treatment can be avoided if:

On-farm udder health management activites have been improved;
Early detection approaches and udder health monitoring are applied;
Incidence and prevalence of clinical cases caused by contagious microorganisms have been reduced.

In a recent review, de Jong and colleagues (2023) reported that, nowadays, where we have confined housing systems, a high percentage of clinical cases are due to environmental, Gram-negative microorganisms. This is why overall management becomes a must to further curb the number of clinical cases.

Severity (mild, moderate, severe) is an important criterion to decide what strategy will suit the case.

For mild cases, dairy farmers would be able to early detect them through milk observation: milk changes, such as presence of milk flakes and color variation, are good indicators. It is worth saying that visible changes are generally limited to the milk.

Concerning moderate cases, inflammatory signs start showing up in the infected quarter(s), while in severe events we will be able to observe changes in the cow (sickness at cow level), in addition to changes in milk and udder.

Systematically treating severe cases has been a well-established practice, reflecting the perceived risks of possible sepsis. However, to encourage prudent use of certain antimicrobial products, many countries have been taking steps to make these products available to dairy producers only upon veterinary prescription.

These law efforts aim at encouraging efficient herd health management and, such as in the EU, collecting information on microbial etiology and sensitivity to support the need of treatment.

According to a recent meta-anylisis (Kurban et al., 2022; de Jong et al., 2023), the percentage of milk samples (collected in the US, Brazil, Canada) not yielding bacterial growth is 40%. Thus, in absence of severe signs, these cases should not be considered for antimicrobial treatment.

Therefore, being able to identify and discriminate different cases is the first, fundamental step for selective treatment, in addition to pre-required efficient farm management.

Some cases have high rates of spontaneous cure; however, there are no guarantees on the success. Thus, two are the possible outcomes: either spontaneous cure, or worsening of the case.

The situation may worsen because, when we see the first signs of a possible case, it means that the tissue is already stressed, for many possible reasons. This stress makes the tissue much more susceptible to potential environmental microorganisms.

Thus, providing a physical barrier to support the mammary tissue can represent an effective strategy to eliminate any doubt.

OZOLEA-MAST can fit properly into a selective approach to mastitis management. In fact, it was designed for timely intervention as soon as milkers/farmers detect the initial stages of a possible mastitis case (i.e., milk flakes and electrical conducitivity changes).

When applied, OZOLEA-MAST creates a temporary film-forming barrier, gining a respite to the mammary tissue from environmental exposure, and thus allowing it to proceed with autonomous regeneration. The benefits of natural regeneration are restored integrity and functionality, which are directly linked to self-defense mechanisms and milk production at full potential.

OZOLEA MAST does not cure or treat clinical cases.

OZOLEA developed several protocols that can benefit different situations, such as chronically high SCC cows, sinergies with antibiotic therapies, drying off, and so forth. All these protocol have one goal in common: working on udder issues to minimize antibiotic usage.

Get in contact with the OZOLEA team to know more on how the product could help you in different cases!

References

1. de Jong E, McCubbin KD, Speksnijder D, Dufour S, Middleton JR, Ruegg PL, Lam TJGM, Kelton DF, McDougall S, Godden SM, Lago A, Rajala-Schultz PJ, Orsel K, De Vliegher S, Krömker V, Nobrega DB, Kastelic JP, Barkema HW. Invited review: Selective treatment of clinical mastitis in dairy cattle. J Dairy Sci. 2023 Jun;106(6):3761-3778. doi: 10.3168/jds.2022-22826. Epub 2023 Apr 18. PMID: 37080782.

2. Kurban D, Roy J-P, Kabera F, Fréchette A, Um MM, Albaaj A, Rowe S, Godden S, Adkins PRF, Middleton JR, et al. Diagnosing Intramammary Infection: Meta-Analysis and Mapping Review on Frequency and Udder Health Relevance of Microorganism Species Isolated from Bovine Milk Samples. Animals. 2022; 12(23):3288. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12233288

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The perfect size of hospital pens is zero cows

Marketing 10 April 2024 News

The perfect size of hospital pen is zero cows.

This is true in a perfect dairy system, where eliminating hospital pens could be possible.

However, what dairy farmers can generally aim at is bringing numbers of cows down in the hospital pen. It is a matter of revised overall management on farms.

Having a hospital pen on farms is not the rule, no matter what type of farm. It is just simply necessary in many cases. Nevertheless, along with pros, we do also have cons.

One side effect of hospital pens is that we need to move cows from the milking group, where they have their routine, to another new environment, thus changing their social hierarchy temporarily. And this means higher stress levels for them, plus more challenges for farmers trying to effectively cure animals.

Thus, dairy farmers generally put major effort to minimize the need of moving cows in the hospital pen.

In dairy, mastitis is the disease remarkably affecting animal health, milk production, farmers’ profit, and overall animal health. Hospital pens facilitate treatment of cows with mastitis.

Should we move cows in the hospital pen, independently from the severity of the specific mastitis case?

We have not to. Roughly 85% of mild to moderate cases do not need antibiotic therapy, as justified by milk cultures. At this point, two are the possible outcomes: either self-cure or things getting worse.

In these circumstances, early detection can help farmers to early intervene. And early intervention can help minimize the number of cows in the hospital pen.

This is the perfect situation for the use of OZOLEA’s non-withdrawal, non-antibiotic, non-prescription animal device– OZOLEA-MAST. By intervening timely on early signs of tissue disorders generally appearing before a clinical case, like milk flakes or electrical conductivity changes, with OZOLEA-MAST farmers will be able to provide support and protection to the mammary tissue, allowing it to autonomously regenerate. One good, easy-to-use, harmless, effective solution to reduce the number of cows in the hospital pen and the stress they experience while moving them from pen to pen: treatment will occur right after milking, keeping cows in the milking group.

The benefits of autonomous regeneration are restored tissue integrity and functionality, so that the tissue is able again to produce milk and defend itself properly against infections.

OZOLEA-MAST puts nature against nature, and it is suitable both for organic and conventional dairy farming.

Get in contact with the OZOLEA team to give the product a try in your dairy herd!

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OZOLEA-MAST protocol for drying-off: reasons of double treatment and medium-, long-term benefits

Marketing 15 November 2023 News

Protocol M8 gives indications on the use of OZOLEA-MAST to dry off cows. Using OZOLEA-MAST at dry-off means more milk, better milk quality, improved cow’s performance, and easier management in future lactations.

OZOLEA-MAST for drying-off: why a double treatment?

Today, dairy farmers are called upon further effort to implement overall preventative strategies against antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Moreover, in the EU, antibiotic use at dry-off is now possible only when cows have shown mastitis and udder health issues during the current lactation. Prevention of new intra-mammary infections (IMI) through prophylaxis is no longer possible. Thus, selective dry cow therapy (SDCT) is the right approach.

One of the most frequently asked questions on OZOLEA-MAST is about the reasons why dairy farmers should use it at dry-off. OZOLEA-MAST at dry-off is the answer to the increasing requests for better management on farms and to the need of antibiotic reduction.

The exclusive technology OZOLEA uses to process raw corn germ oil to produce OZOLEA-MAST leads to modification of some of the oil’s fatty acid chains, thereby allowing the product, once in contact with the inner wall of the teat canal, to form a physical film barrier with two main functions:

to create an uncomfortable environment for bacteria and, thus, to slow down the aggressiveness of possible bacterial attacks;
to exert a self-protection for the tissue from exposure to the external environment and from bacterial attack, allowing the tissue to proceed with the natural regeneration process.

OZOLEA-MAST does not carry out pharmacological, metabolic, or immunological action, and it does not treat, cure or prevent mastitis and IMI in dairy animals.

At dry-off and during the dry period, the mammary tissue goes through a physiological process to prepare for all its future functions, including milk production and self-defense. Thus, tissue functionality and integrity are directly involved in self-defence mechanisms and production performance.

By supporting tissue functionality, OZOLEA-MAST allows the mammary tissue to proceed with the autonomous regeneration process at the last two milkings and to complete it during the dry period. Moreover, dairy cows are genetically designed to produce their natural self-defence strategy against potential IMI: the keratin plug (physical barrier to pathogens trying to enter the teat canal) and natural protective factors against infections.

OZOLEA-MAST simply puts nature against nature, with no use of active substances. Natural processes do not occur instantaneously: this is why OZOLEA-MAST needs to be applied twice at dry-off.

What OZOLEA-MAST allows farmers to achieve in the dry period is the combination of natural keratin plug, autonomous production of protective factors, udder health monitoring, and effective environmental management. This is all what the strategy against AMR is asking dairy farmers for.

OZOLEA-MAST for drying-off: what benefits?

The medium- and long term benefits are several.

The individual somatic cell count (SCC) in the future lactation will tend to maintain lower, and steadier values for at least 4 months, also depending on the last SCC before drying-off. This is the outcome of a field study conducted in 2017 on 30 cows dried off with OZOLEA-MAST (Group O, Figure 1) and compared with other 30 cows that were dried off through a blanket dry cow therapy (BDCT) (Group A, Figure 1). All cows were suitable for SDCT, and the last SCC measured before drying-off was <400,000 cells/ml.
OZOLEA observed a carry-over effect from the time of drying-off throughout the first 4 months of lactation, allowing dairy farmers to reduce antibiotics at dry-off. Moreover, in the third and fourth months after calving, there was a statistically significant difference between SCC scores measured in cows treated with OZOLEA-MAST (108,870 and 219,910 cells/ml, respectively for month 3 and 4) and those for cows treated with BDCT (501,830 cells/ml and 546,640 cells/ml, respectively for month 3 and 4), which indicates also better performance in terms of udder health. Group O showed SCC values around 200,000 cells/ml for the first four months after calving.

Behind steadier and long-lasting SCC values, there is a functional and intact mammary tissue, able to sustain good milk production performance for longer periods. Furthermore, the epithelium at mammary level is functional and intact, thus allowing proper self-defence mechanisms: this is particularly relevant in first post-partum periods, when susceptibility to infections and udder problems.

Improving SCC values also means more profit: in Ireland, Geary and colleagues (2013)^1,2 calculated an increase of the national dairy industry profitability by € 37.7 million per year by reducing SCC by 10%. OZOLEA-MAST is a strategy to improve profit, both at dry-off and in lactation. In addition, lower SCC levels are correlated by scientific research to better milk quality.

SCC is used by dairy farmers for culling decision-making processes. With the innovative approach of OZOLEA-MAST, farmers can work on SCC management both at dry-off, as we have seen above, and during lactation. Cows with lower SCCs, close or below the farm’s target threshold, will be maintained in the herd for longer periods, with consequent reduction of culling rates and improvement of cow’s longevity. Long-aging, high performing cows will better contribute to overall farmers’ profit as there will be less need of replacement heifers (so, optimised costs).

Concerning AMR, resistant strains on dairy farms have been a hard challenge. However, genes associated with resistance in microorganisms are lost when there is no antibiotic substance insisting on the microbial population. This means that, as OZOLEA-MAST is non-antibiotic and is applied along with effective herd management strategies, its use over long periods can lead farmers to reduce both antibiotic usage and the occurrence of cases caused by resistant pathogens, thus contributing to the fight against AMR. In this ever challenging environment, OZOLEA-MAST gives multiple long-term benefits in a changing and increasingly demanding dairy environment.

OZOLEA-MAST double treatment at dry-off is aimed at allowing natural physiological processes autonomously. This requires time, for this reason the application must occur twice. As we have seen above, medium- and long-term benefits are several: a smaller effort for a long-standing dairy vision.

How to apply OZOLEA-MAST at dry-off: Protocol M8

References

¹ A. Naranjo-Lucena, R. Slowey, Invited review: Antimicrobial resistance in bovine mastitis pathogens: A review of genetic determinants and prevalence of resistance in European countries, Journal of Dairy Science, Volume 106, Issue 1, 2023, Pages 1-23, ISSN 0022-0302. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2022-22267

² U. Geary, N. Begley, F. McCoy, B. O’Brien, L. O’Grady, L. Shalloo. Estimating the impact of mastitis on the profitability of Irish dairy farms. Ir. J. Agric. Food Res., 52 (2013), pp. 221-228. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3920/978-90-8686-742-4_36

³ M.J. Vilar, P.J. Rajala-Schultz, Dry-off and dairy cow udder health and welfare: Effects of different milk cessation methods. The Veterinary Journal 262 (2020) 105503. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tvjl.2020.105503

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Michael Dullea, Irish dairy farmer, shares his experience with OZOLEA-MAST

Marketing 17 October 2023 News

Among Irish dairy farmers, the interest in using our no-withdrawal veterinary device OZOLEA-MAST to tackle minor udder problems has been growing in the last two years. In 2022, some of them pioneered its use in the Irish dairy system with great success.

Michael Dullea from Clonakilty (Co. Cork) is one of the pioneers. The herd is 120 cows large, and they are under conventional dairy farming. In 2022, Michael noticed our Facebook ad and immediately contacted us.

His interest was on both the most common protocols for lactation issues: M1 for the presence of milk flakes and M3 to manage chronically high SCC. How did the trial go on Michael’s farm?

“First, I treated two cows following protocol M1, and they both recovered 100%”, Michael said. “I also did try OZOLEA-MAST on high SCC cows. I must say that I am very pleased with the results: the cell count dropped in three cows, and, after the treatment, their milk was at a very satisfactory condition. Another cow had to be treated with antibiotics as she was a re-offender. We needed to cull her. Timely intervention is very important, but I am very impressed with your product! It is by far the best non-antibiotic product I have ever seen.”.

With OZOLEA-MAST, dairy farmers can achieve short-term benefits such as no milk losses, reduced antibiotic usage, reduced profit erosion. In the long run, the great benefit concerns the reduced occurrence of more severe mastitis cases… and dairy farmers know what this really means for their management!

OZOLEA would like to thank Michael Dullea for sharing his precious experience with OZOLEA-MAST!

info@ozolea.it

+39 329 27 36 358 (for texts or calls on WhatsApp)

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OZOLEA solutions for udder issues available for dairy cattle in Ireland

Marketing 1 December 2021 News

Looking for no-withdrawal solutions to save your milk? OZOLEA-MAST now available in Ireland

OZOLEA’s leading product, OZOLEA-MAST, is now available also for Irish dairy farmers.

Dairy Direct, Irish specialists in controlling on farm bacteria counts through technical knowledge and the application of quality products, started distributing OZOLEA-MAST in Ireland.

Founded in 2011, Dairy Direct’s mission is to bring to the market a range of products, technology and knowledge to provide Quality milk results to Dairy farmers.

“We believe in best practise milking routines and products for prevention rather than cure, and see OZOLEA-MAST as part of these protocols“ – Kathryn Kenneally, Director at Dairy Directs.

There are around 18,000 dairy farmers in Ireland, milking more than 1.55 million dairy cows every day (Teagasc, 2020). The Irish dairy industry also plays an important role in Ireland’s wider economy by supporting over 60,000 jobs in rural, regional and urban areas (Fitzgerald, Dairy in the Irish economy, 2019).

With Irish milk production being mainly a grass-based system, milk producers focus on dairy sustainability.

A system that may welcome the introduction of no-withdrawal tools such as OZOLEA-MAST.

OZOLEA-MAST is a non-drug veterinary device for intra-mammary use in dairy cows. It can support the residual competence of the animal to allow it to fully perform at its natural abilities, by supporting the body’s natural defenses.

OZOLEA-MAST is composed of a single ingredient: a pure food-grade vegetable oil, bio-engineered with exclusive OZOLEA technology, which modifies some of the oil’s fatty acid chains, thereby allowing the product, once in contact with the inner wall of the teat canal, to form a physical film barrier with two main functions:

to create an uncomfortable environment for bacteria, thus slowing down the aggressiveness of their attack;
to protect the tissue from exposure to the external environment and from further bacterial attack, allowing it to naturally regenerate.

To ensure the best protection and optimize regeneration of the tissue, OZOLEA developed protocols with indications for the proper use of the product in different situations.

In fact, OZOLEA-MAST can be applied at the very first signs of tissue imbalance (milk flakes, or variations in electrical conductivity), or to support antibiotic-tissue synergies. Depending on the causes, it can help you reduce the somatic cell count, even when you experience chronically high values. Moreover, it can be introduced on those farms ready for selective dry cow treatment.

OZOLEA-MAST goes hand in hand with the best herd management practices.

What has OZOLEA-MAST to do with milk quality? A lot. It helps the farmer reduce antibiotic usage and the risks associated with them. It assists with the lowering of Somatic Cell Count both at individual cow and bulk tank level. Therefore, OZOLEA-MAST can benefit also dairy processors and dairy consumers.

OZOLEA-MAST is also the right tool for economic sustainability, since, being a no withdrawal solution, it allows to deliver more milk and improve farmer’s profit.

Read “Reducing antibiotic usage in dairy cattle: OZOLEA five years after its foundation” and visit OZOLEA on Instagram and Facebook for more stories about OZOLEA-MAST.

OZOLEA-MAST is also a suitable tool for organic milk production: in April 2021, it was approved as a compliant input for organic dairy farming in Wisconsin.

Now that EU dairy farmers are facing a new regulatory framework on Veterinary Medicinal Products, new solutions are needed to deal with major udder issues in dairy cows.

If you would like to find out more about the OZOLEA-MAST product, please contact Dairy Direct (contact info below).

Dairy Direct Ltd

Pottlerath
Kilmanagh
Co. Kilkenny

Phone: (0818) 303 081

Email: info@dairydirect.ie

Web: www.dairydirect.ie

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Counting differential somatic cells for better health management and milk quality

Marketing 14 July 2021 News

Somatic cell count (SCC) is an extremenly useful indicator for dairy herd management. It bears a wide range of information on the health status of the herd, and, when determined in individual cows, it tells a lot about udder health status.

Monitoring SCC during each lactation at cow and herd level is a fundamental step to take on any dairy farm.

Recently, mastitis diagnosis has been further improved by differential somatic cell count (DSCC). It gives an accurate feedback on the health status of each animal, better addressing therapy decision for a more prudent use of antibiotics.

If we aim at identifying the inflammation status of the mammary gland, SCC is a valid quantitative indicator. However, it does not provide details on how each type of cell population [polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN), lymphocytes, and macrophages] is distributed. Getting information on this distribution is substantial since it reflects the extent of the inflammatory response in the cow.

And this is a good story to tell in the next weeks.

Moreover, there is scientific evidence¹ also suggests that different proportions of these cell populations, in specific SCC ranges, potentially modify the final characteristics of dairy products. They can also influence different species of environmental microorganisms, such as Clostridia, that are known for their ability to create defects in dairy products.

Stocco and colleagues (2020)¹ investigated the impact of different levels of DSCC on milk components (fat, protein, casein, casein index, lactose), and explored the combined effect of DSCC and SCS on these traits. This is the first study to go deep into these aspects from individual milk samples.

The results achieved showed the association between modifications in milk composition with different levels of DSCC.

One key aspect is that DSCCs were divided into different classes on the basis of a threshold set up to identify mastitis: this allowed to discriminate the specific interval in which milk composition changes.

Early DSCC rises affected fat and lactose particularly, and this was true across DSCC levels. At very high DSCC values, protein and casein dramatically decreased, while casein index was affected when DSCC was combined with low or high somatic cell score (SCS). Moreover, a positive association between DSCC and lactose was identified. Lactose, as casein index, varied upon high and low SCS and according to DSCC classes.

Thus, the interaction between SCS and DSCC provides an additional benefit: either alone or in combination with SCC, DSCC could be used to monitor milk quality along the dairy supply chain, as a strategic tool for antimicrobial reduction on dairy farms and at processor level to assess the economic value of milk.

¹Stocco, Summer, Cipolat-Gotet, Zanini, Vairani, Dadousis, Zecconi, 2020. Differential Somatic Cell Count as a Novel Indicator of Milk Quality in Dairy Cows. Animals 2020, 10, 753; doi: 10.3390/ani10050753

²Somatic cell count: to what extent does it affect the dairy sector profitability?
https://www.ozolea.it/somatic-cell-count-to-what-extent-does-it-affect-the-dairy-sector-profitability/

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How SCCs affect the shelf-life of UHT processed milk

Marketing 7 July 2021 News

Lowering somatic cell count (SCC) of the milk delivered can really benefit any player of the dairy industry. From animal health and welfare perspectives, management strategies aiming at the reduction of SCCs (both individual and bulk tank) would mean less udder issues to be prevented and controlled¹.

High SCCs in milk are a limit also in dairy processing². Last week, we also discussed how better herd management could help improve farmer and processor profitability³.

High SCC values affect all dairy products, fluid milk included, in particular its shelf-life and quality.

Increased SCC (>200,000 cells/ml) is associated with, but not only, subclinical mastitis, and consequent enzymatic activity which is deleterious to milk components.

Lipases stemming from somatic cells and working on triacylglycerides are involved. Their chemical action leads to sensory defects and rancidity. Research⁴ reports that, even after pasteurization, high SCC milk shows increasing lipolytic activity, which can be identified in sensory analysis tests at certain levels.

Moreover, these defects are related to increased proteolysis rates in milk with high SCC. Proteolysis leads to the release of peptides that influence sensory changes in milk with bitterness.

All these enzymatic activities globally affect the shelf-life of processed milk. Thus, it is possible to extend the shelf-life of milk at the very beginning of its production process – on dairy farms.

Fernandes and colleagues (2008)^5,6 explored the effects of SCC on ultra-high temperature (UHT) milk, which can be stored at room temperature. If the ultra-heat treatment leads to achieve a commercially sterile product, it does not eliminate somatic cells.

Fernandes and colleagues studied the effect of SCCs on casein fractions in raw milks categorized accordingly to their SCC content (200,000-800,000 cells/mL) and assessed UHT processed milk at different time intervals during storage. SCC content showed effect only on beta-casein reduction, in particular as an increase in the proteolysis of UHT milk.

In another work, Fernandes and colleagues investigated lipolysis, proteolysis and viscosity of UHT milk with different SCCs at specific intervals during storage. Fatty acids increased as a measure of lipolysis, while casein degradation and viscosity were not affected by SCC content, although they increased during storage. After 120 days of storage a negative relationship was observed between SCC and casein, thus indicating that high SCC value can increase proteolysis in UHT milk by the end of its storage period.

Zhang and colleagues (2015)⁷ explored the efficacy of microfiltration for the extension of the shelf-life and quality improvement of UHT milk. These authors were able to observe a longer shelf-life in microfiltered UHT milk with respect to non-microfiltered UHT milk (by 21 days in case of low SCC raw milk and 63 days for the product obtained from high SCC raw milk). Raw milk samples, collected from cows with mastitis, were 391,000 cells/ml and 3,300,000 cells/ml.

From an economic point of view, does it make sense applying further treatments to reduce the SCC content in raw milk? We firmly believe that this is not the way.

OZOLEA approach aims at reducing the number of times it is necessary to intervene with powerful solutions, such as antibiotics, by improving global dairy herd management and efficiency and reducing also SCC with simple strategies and tools, without additional costs for dairy farmers.

It is for this reason that OZOLEA-MAST was created, to support dairy farmers towards sustainability and efficiency.

¹ Recurrent mastitis in dairy cows: the role of bacterial biofilms.

https://www.ozolea.it/recurrent-mastitis-in-dairy-cows-the-role-of-bacterial-biofilms/

² Lowering somatic cells in our milk for better processing.

https://www.ozolea.it/lowering-somatic-cells-in-our-milk-for-better-processing/

³ Somatic cell count: to what extent does it affect the dairy sector profitability?

https://www.ozolea.it/somatic-cell-count-to-what-extent-does-it-affect-the-dairy-sector-profitability/

⁴ Bezerra et al., 2020. Effect of high somatic cell counts on the sensory acceptance and consumption intent of pasteurized milk and coalho cheese. Food Science and Technology

https://doi.org/10.1590/fst.21620

⁵ Fernandes, Bovo, Moretti, Rosim, De Lima, De Oliveira, 2008. Casein fractions of ultra high temperature milk with different somatic cell counts.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1590/S0100-204X2008000100019

⁶Fernandes, Moretti, Bovo, Lima, Oliveira, 2008. Effect of somatic cell counts on lipolysis, proteolysis and apparent viscosity of UHT milk during storage. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-0307.2008.00422.x

⁷ S. Zhang, L. Liu, X. Pang, J. Lu, F. Kong, J. Lv, 2015. Use of microfiltration to improve quality and shelf life of ultra-high temperature milk. Journal of Food Processing and Preservation

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jfpp.12651

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Clean cows make clean milk: tips and tricks

Marketing 10 March 2021 News

Last Monday we had the opportunity to attend the webinar presented by Jim Davenport, New York dairy producer and National Mastitis Council member, and hosted by the US leading dairy magazine, Hoard’s Dairyman.

Jim Davenport shared the tools used in his dairy farm, Tollgate farm, to ensure only the highest quality milk goes into the tank. Tollgate is one of the 10 family dairy farms that produce the milk for Hudson Valley Fresh Dairy, a local reality that provides dairy products (milk, cream, yoghurt) to consumers with a particular attention to freshness and quality.

Hudson Valley Fresh also sells dairy products in New York city.

Jim is a fourth-generation dairy farmer. He got a degree in engineering at the University of Connecticut and worked as DHI supervisor for some years before getting back to dairy farming, where his heart has always been.

The attention to detail allowed the family farm to be awarded with platinum milk quality awards from the National Mastitis Council. The only dairy farmer in the nation ever to do so, as you can read here.

Let’s have a look at basic information about the Tollgate farm, located in Ancramdale since 1993. There are 64 milking cows in Tollgate. The herd consists of 70 purebred Holsteins, with a few Ayrshires descendant from Jim’s grandfather’s herd started in the 1930s.

The family manages 140 acres and began shipping milk to Agri-Mark cooperative in 1986. The family puts a lot of effort in maximizing forage in cattle ration (<70% homegrown forage diet). Their milk has an interesting average somatic cell count (SCC) – 33,683 cell/ml from 2020 Agri-Mark Cooperative Data.

What to do to make the cows produce clean milk? Here the points to ponder:

the cow’s environment must be a challenge free zone;
the dairy farmers should know each cow’s udder health;
the cow’s teat is the most important milk contact surface on the farm;
teat-dipping plays a strategic role in hygiene.

At Tollgate farm, the family pays great attention to the cleanliness of the stall. Here is where the cows generally spend much time, thus it should always be a clean, dry environment – a tough enemy for bacteria.

In Davenport’s dairy farm, scrubbing away the dirt, investing a lot in fresh sawdust bedding and carrying out good stall maintenance are key actions to make the environment hostile to microorganisms. It is worth noting that here the cows find every morning, after they get back from the exercise, fresh and dry sawdust and a clean place.

Outside Tollgate, when Jim was a DHI supervisor he had the opportunity to check over 70 herds, and two of these were large dairy farms (3000 dairy cows) with really low SCC.

What did these large farms have in common? Attention to cleanliness, carried out daily with stall maintenance every day, keeping a constant eye on udder hygiene.

The most important milk contact cow surface on the farm is the cow’s teat. At Tollgate, udder is always pretty clean: this is due to their attention to udder hygiene before and after milking.

Udder health is worth attention. Properly conducting the California Mastitis Test (CMT) would help identify major udder problems with good accuracy at quarter level. At Tollgate, CMT is used to screen all the fresh cows before they enter the tank. It takes time to get acquainted with the CMT, it is a matter of practice and experience.

When the cow does not show a good result at CMT, milk is cultured. 65% of cultures tests negative: the cow being healthy and with robust immunity will help, also in case of treatments when necessary.

The thing Jim wants to know about each cow is the individual SCC: this value influences the bulk tank SCC and it is an important indicator of the cow’s udder health status.

At Tollgate, there are no major issues with pathogens: E. coli and Klebsiella are extremely rare, while they had some gram-negative bacteria and no occurring environmental microorganisms.

Things to do before and after milking are also important to produce clean milk. The first step at Tollgate farm, before forestripping, is checking each cow’s udder. The point is to detect moisture and dirt by grabbing the teat and observing it, and eventually removing undesired dirt.

Then they proceed with the milking routine: they forestrip, then pre-dip with a non-return dipper. After waiting for around 60 seconds, they dry the teat with a paper towel and then attach the cluster with minimal or no air intake: the machine must be positioned properly for even milkout. Finally, they remove the cluster when the vacuum has been completely released and post-dip.

A proper dipping is critical since it helps the dairy farmer to wash away and kill any potential bacteria. The goal at Tollgate is to attach the cluster to perfectly clean teats.

Washing routine involves any tool used to check the cows (CMT paddle) and the dipper. Left-over dip is thrown away, while the fresh product is at good storage conditions.

Jim gave us a good idea of the importance of cow teat as a milk contact surface.

Imagine you are a microorganism, attached to the teat and you are hungry, thirsty and in dry and hostile environment. Then comes the teat dipper that washes you down to the floor, while the iodine oxidizes your cell wall until you blow up.

Being in “bacteria’s shoes” in this case would not be a good sensation: thus, on our dairy farms we must do anything in our power to make bacteria uncomfortable.

“It is not rocket science, but you have to care”, Jim would say. Even more than this if we run an organic dairy farm.