A pro-active udder health approach is no longer a luxury, but it is important to be able to keep cows producing optimally for at least 6 lactations. Let’s see what results were obtained when a controlled STARTVAC® field study was conducted in a high producing South African dairy herd. The results were rather impressive as it correlated to studies done in other countries.
Oriol Franquesa is a veterinarian specialising in milk quality who has been advising dairy farms for many years all around the world. We asked Dr. Franquesa to help us understand how milk quality has evolved over the last 10 years, since the launch of the first vaccine against bovine mastitis registered by the EMA.
Cheese-producing dairy farm “TAMBO QUESERÍA” is located in the departament of Soriano (Uruguay) in the Santa Catalina area that today is milking 79 cows and has been doing the same for 45 years. They started with 10 cows and currently milk up to a maximum of 120.
Here are the results obtained in a typical dairy farm (which was dealing with the typical problems regarding mastitis in cattle) after implementing a vaccination plan… The owner of the farm decided to try a mastitis vaccine after noticing about the enormous amount of money that mastitis in cattle implies. He started vaccinating one group of animals and asked his veterinarians to calculate the return on the investment. Results showed remarkable reduction in SCC, in the severity of both clinical and subclinical cases and in the costs associated to antibiotics.
Here is the interview with Mr. Peter Edmondson (owner of the company Udderwise), in which he reviewed the major changes that he has seen in the control of mastitis and the prevalence of the pathogens that cause it, since he started to dedicate himself to udder health.
Here’s the story of a typical dairy farm that is dealing with the typical bovine mastitis problems, having all values within the normal range… Until one day, the owner decides to quantify the costs that bovine mastitis represents. Noticing about the enormous amount of money he’s loosing, he decides to try a vaccine in one group of animals and asks his veterinarians to calculate the return on the investment…
During our trip around the world looking for real experiences with bovine mastitis and with the people involved in the fight against this disease, we arrive to Portugal. There, we speak with Adelaide Pereira, João Pacheco and João Sousa, 3 local vets from SEGALAB who explain us the problems they face in their daily work and which solutions help them to improve the situation on the farms.
We have been speaking about the milk industry development and other topics with Tom Greenham, Director at Advance Milking. During the interview, Dr. Greenham described the key factors which have made this change possible, what the industry is like today and the challenges that will face everyone involved in the coming years.
Is vaccination against mastitis in cattle an easy tool to introduce on to our farms? What are the specific benefits that it brings? We are visiting different countries to hear the views of veterinarians and farmers on vaccination against bovine mastitis. What has been the experience in Mexico?
Can a vaccine against bovine mastitis reduce the Somatic Cell count in milk? What are the main problems associated with bovine mastitis that a farmer has to cope with? Is vaccination a solution to mastitis? We are visiting different countries to hear the views of veterinarians and farmers on vaccination against bovine mastitis. What has been their experience?
