STOCK MASTITIS
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Somatic cell counts – how low can you go
ike many farmers on smaller holdings Sandra and Les Wallace, and their son Brent are kept pretty busy, with their fingers in several pies, and multiple income strands. While their 79-hectare property at Towai, 75ha effective, half way between Whangarei and Paihia, is not really big enough to have a 50:50 sharemilker, their son Brent has taken up that role while running his own rural contracting business. Les helps to milk the 170-odd cows, and in exchange for his labour, he and Sandra get to raise all the calves. With several runoffs nearby Sandra finishes some calves for beef, some grow on as replacement animals, as well as growing crops and supplements. With a tractor of his own, Les also subcontracts to Brent and his business. Their daughter Ashleigh lives close by and works for Fonterra. As she is able to work from home this sees Sandra also looking after her grandchildren at times during the week. The Wallaces’ Friesian dairy herd may be smaller but they consistently have a low bulk milk somatic cell count (BMSCC). Over the 2020/2021 season it clocked in at an average of 94,858 cells/ ml. This shows their animals have few mastitis problems. The herd’s Somatic Cell Count remains well under their northern benchmark group average, only coming close toward the end of the season in April each year, and putting their farm in the top 25% of suppliers in the Northland region. This saw their practices in the spotlight
at the SMASH (Small Milk and Supply Herds) field day held on their property recently. There Steve Cranefield from vet medicine company AgriHealth highlighted their good SCC record, and gave insights into mastitis and ways farmers can improve their animals’ health, while reducing infection in the herd. Sandra puts their success down to several things including keeping up high hygiene standards and keeping water well away from the animals during milking. “Don’t clean their teats unless soiled with wet cow muck. Always dry cup and keep your hands clean and dry as much as possible,” she advises. Teat spraying is also important with every teat, every cow, every milking something of a mantra for them. For this they use an iodine-based teat spray which includes manuka honey. Good for general teat conditioning it also reduces the already low risk of spreading staph aureus – more on that later. The Wallaces also use both blanket dry cow treatment, and teat seal at dry-off. Teat sealing is considered good practice, as is using dry cow treatment on quarters that are known to be infected. However, with rising concerns globally over antimicrobial resistance, blanket dry cow treatment is no longer seen as acceptable by the New Zealand Veterinary Association. While not mandatory, Cranefield says resistance concerns are seeing a move away from blanket dry cow treatment and he encourages farmers to aim at keeping their SCC count low throughout
Working practices of the Wallace family on their Northland farm were the subject of a Small Milk and Supply Herds field day held on their property recently. Delwyn Dickey reports. Steve Cranefield talks somatic cell counts.
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Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | November 2021
