RAISING THE BARR ON MASTITIS PREVENTION
This article appears in Dairy News,
July 14th 2009 issue, pages 30-31.
PHOTO: Dairy consultant Dave Malcolm (left) and Waikato dairy farmer Mark Barr (right) tackle poor teat condition and mastitis issues through improved teat spraying technique.
At the beginning of June Mark Barr, a 25 year dairy farming veteran from Pokuru near Te Awamutu, was in a serious pickle.
The bulk somatic cell count in his herd of 780 cows was peaking at 400,000 after creeping up for a couple of years. He had about 30 cows out of the herd with mastitis and was getting one or two new cases of mastitis a day. And, although he didn't realise how bad it had become, his cows had very poor teat condition.
Mark hasn't done the calculation of how much revenue he was losing from having 30 cows out of the herd - although accepted figures show that on a $4.50 payout every clinical case of mastitis costs the farmer $600. His biggest threat was that sustained bulk somatic cell counts of 400,000 are too high and dairy company Open Country was on the verge of rejecting his milk supply.
Open Country recommended Mark get Dave Malcolm of Dairy Consultants Ltd in to help solve the problem. Dave says Mark is a well organised farmer who runs a very tidy operation with excellent cows, facilities and staff.
When Dave first visited it was immediately apparent the cows' teats were in poor condition with many cracked and chapped and some showing damage to the teat ends. As is often the case, an independent eye is sometimes needed to point out the obvious. Mark and his staff had not noticed the gradual deterioration in teat condition over some time.
Dave concluded the mastitis problems were primarily due to this poor teat condition. Further investigation showed there was excessive milking vacuum and poor teat spray application.
Dave recommended three simple measures:
1. Manual spraying to ensure proper teat coverage. Mark says it's not a lot more work than automatic spraying and he plans to stick with it for six months.
2. Switch to Deosan Teat-Ex, a chlorhexidine-based spray with a special formulation of gentle surfactants that can result in dramatic changes in teat condition from dry, chapped and scabby to soft, supple and smooth within days.
3. Reduce the vacuum pressure on the milking cups as it was too high.
[PHOTO] Problem teats, one week after changing to manual spraying with Teat-Ex - showing excellent and still improving condition.
The results were immediate and dramatic:
• Incredibly not a single new case of mastitis since the measures were put in place - "no clinicals or anything, touch wood" says Mark.
• Within one week the cows' teat condition improved "like you would not believe" says Dave - they became soft, supple and smooth. "I did not realise how bad they were until I saw the improvement," says Mark.
• One month later the bulk somatic cell count was down to 300,000 and trending down. "We want to get it back to 100,000 by spring," says Mark.
• Finally the 30 cows that were out with mastitis have nearly all been rehabilitated back into the milking herd.
Dave says farmers (and their accountants) need to realise teat sprays are not just commodity products, a line on an expenses sheet to be minimised or reduced. In fact, the right teat spray properly used will prevent mastitis, which can be one of the farmer's biggest operating costs as well as putting all revenue at risk. On the upside, some dairy companies are now offering a premium on low cell count milk that can add thousands of dollars to a farmer's income.
"In a crisis management situation like this one, there's only one teat spray to use - and that's Teat-Ex," says Dave. "There is much debate about the relative advantages of iodine and chlorhexidine-based teat sanitisers. I go for chlorhexidine every time as its neutral pH is milder on skin than acidic iodines and chlorhexidine is demonstrated to bind to the teat skin and provide more persistent activity than iodine. Teat-Ex's unique blend of chlorhexidine and surfactant, a glycerine emollient, give rise to a beautiful teat condition."
Dave says the teat is the primary defence against bacteria entering the udder and causing a mastitis infection. There are a number of reasons for this:
1. Healthy teat skin is coated with protective fatty acids which slow the growth of bacterial pathogens. In dry and damaged teats this protective coating is lost.
2. Dry, cracked teat skin allows more bacteria to survive on the teat, especially the troublesome Staph. aureus and provides good hiding places for them to escape the action of teat disinfectant.
3. Thickening or roughness of the skin around the teat opening compromises the natural ability of the teat to physically seal off and prevent bugs penetrating the teat canal.
Teats in good condition are soft, supple and smooth. Signs of damage include skin cracks or sores anywhere on the barrel of teats or rough skin around teat openings. If more than 1 in 20 teats show some damage corrective action must be taken.
Dave sees many farms in his role as mastitis researcher and consultant. It is obvious that most farms with mastitis under control and a seasonal average bulk somatic cell count of less than 150,000 cells/ml have healthy, soft and supple teats. On the other hand many farms with major mastitis problems have teats in poor condition with cracks, chaps and roughness around the teat end. In some of those farms with faulty or no teat spraying, this damage can be severe.
The good news for Pokuru's Mark Barr is that his farm's mastitis issues are now fully under control and his cell counts are tracking down. With Open Country now paying a premium of 3-4 cents a kilo for low cell count milk Mark's ultimate goal is to achieve that target low cell count which he says will earn the farm an extra $8-10,000 a year.
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