Mastitis

Cows with healthy udders have less mastitis, are easier to milk, and produce more. We are targeting mastitis cases in less than 10% of the herd every year.

Early season challenges in 2020 with the teat sprayer caused an increase in mastitis cases during spring that we struggled to reduce for the remainder of the season.  78 cows were treated for mastitis throughout the year (19% of the herd, compared with 14% last season). Although Somatic Cell Count (SCC) was lower in 2020/21 at 144,000 cells/ml milk, the number of cows treated for mastitis was higher.  Thresholds have been lowered for cows receiving Dry Cow Therapy (DCT) to 120,000 cells/ml milk, one or more infections during the year and any cow over 7 years old.

With an increased focus on culling cows with mastitis and high SCC, along with a desire to achieve over 90% of milk supplied at <150,000 SCC our mastitis cases have remained low so far in the 2021/22 season.