Hygiene and management is critical in producing quality milk at this stage of the lactation.

Litres will begin to ease up, but cows will be producing high protein and fat percentage quality milk during the final few months of the year.

That means that from here until drying-off, producing milk to the highest standard may make a significant difference on the end of year's profits.

Producing quality milk from now until December is going to be largely dictated by a farmer's ability to extend the grazing rotation and maximise grass intakes without hindering on building farm covers.

At this time of the year, it is important to keep quality milk at the forefront to avail of bonuses in your milk cheque and to receive a good milk price.

Allocating around 18-19kg of dry matter (DM)/cow at the minute with poor grass growth in many parts may be difficult to achieve purely on grass and meal.

Anyone with poor average farm covers should add high quality silage to cows' diets to drive on solids and maintain condition.

Controlling somatic cell counts (SCC) should be a priority, which will only be achieved through constant monitoring as SCC will rise with increased infection levels in a herd.

A rise in total bacterial count (TBC) and thermoduric bacteria generally arises from milking routine issues, such as inadequate washing of the machine or poor hygiene standards while milking.

Thermoduric bacteria are heat-resistant bacteria in milk that survive pasteurisation and are present in dung, soil. and animal bedding. They can enter milking equipment through dirty teats during milking.

TBC and thermoduric bacteria should be managed as follows:

The main thing is keeping the cows' environment clean, particularly yards and roadways;
Change liners and rubber-ware in parlour before they deteriorate;
Descale the milking machine at least once a week;
Perform thorough cleaning of the milking machine and bulk tank, making sure no residue is visible;
Disinfect the milking machine with paracetic acid as the final rinse;
Make sure you are using a clean filter sock during washing;
Ensure your hot water is at a sufficient temperature (75-80°C).

TBC or thermodurics are generally caused by inadequate levels of detergent being used for washing and is likely to happen when automatic washing systems have not been checked for some time, letting lines and detergent levels go astray.

At this time of year, farmers should consider organising their another milk recording to get an idea of the best and worst performers in the herd as grass will begin to get scarce and building covers for next spring should be on the mind.

Cows that have had a bad history of mastitis or have had a consistently high somatic cell count (SCC) over the last year should be considered for early culling or marked for an antibiotic at drying-off if they have had a higher SCC than the threshold you have set.

Cows that have had no history of mastitis and have produced high quality milk with a low SCC throughout the year should not require an antibiotic, and should just be given a sealant at drying-off.

Whether you have completed a milk recording recently or not, high bulk tank SCC should not be ignored, and getting to the root of the problem by stripping all the cows before milking should be carried out as SCC will generally not settle without intervention.

California milk testing (CMT) is a handy measure when bulk tank SCC spikes and involves squirting a drop of milk from each teat into a tray and swirling it back and forth to see how the milk reacts with the reagent.

If a thickness becomes evident when swirling and when emptying the wells solution or it it sticks to the paddle, there is an issue in the quarter. It could mean the SCC of this quarter is over 2,000,000 cells/ml.

There is still plenty of milk solids to be delivered on farm and a spike in SCC or problems with TBC and thermoduric should not be ignored, as through good grassland management, nutrition intervention, and hygiene on farms, the season can be finished on a high.