The bank holiday is generally just another weekend for farmers, but any farms that did sway from their routine need to be mindful of rising cell counts.

It is important that farmers take some well-deserved time-off, but have relief milkers lined up and talk over your standard operating procedures, because mastitis-causing pathogens will thrive on any inconsistencies in your daily routine.

If these pathogens are not controlled at this time of the year, an outbreak of mastitis can have a serious impact on the milk cheque.

This would be far from ideal considering cheques are already down as production drops in line with the drought.

According to the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF), average somatic cell counts (SCC) are sitting at 184,000 cells/ml as of Friday, July 31.

Mastitis control

Animal Health Ireland's CellCheck programme manager, Dr. Ryan Duffy said that mastitis is one of the most common infectious diseases seen on Irish dairy farms, but one that is avoidable.

He reminded farmers to keep their milking routines consistent and cow-focused, stating that mastitis-causing bacteria is "constantly looking for an opportunity to wreak havoc to your SCC".

The programme manager reminded farmers that gloving up is an absolute must at this time of the year despite the heat, as contagious mastitis can often spread via the milker’s hands.

Dr. Duffy said: "Gloving up, ensuring clean and dry teats, ample teat disinfection, and milking problem cows last are simple habits, but done every time, they make a real difference to udder health and cell counts.

Considering that post-spraying can reduce contagious mastitis by 50%, farmers have being reminded not to take shortcuts at this time of the year.

Little things like opening the gate and spraying as cows walk out of the parlour can lead to issues, as applications will be uneven.

With all the dust rising over the last few weeks, and dry weather still forecast, it might also be worth considering pre-spraying.

While the dry weather does continue, ensure adequate fly control is in place, as flies will also spread contagious mastitis.

If the milk liners in the parlour have not yet been changed they should be done now, after 2,000 milkings, the rubber will become brittle and lead to milk quality issues.

If your liners have been changed and are slipping or squawking, or if you notice they are slow milking, you should get your vacuum reserve evaluated as as soon as possible.

At the end of the day, all the correct practices can be in place and a cow may still get mastitis, so keep a look out for any early signs such as clots, changes in the milk, heat, or swelling in the quarter, or a cow off form.