As we get closer to the housing period for cows and towards the end of the lactation, ensuring quality milk is essential, as cows’ production is slowly beginning to die off.

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.

Cows’ nutrition is important at this time of the year, and they should now be receiving around 16kg dry matter (DM).

This may be difficult to achieve purely on grass and meal, so high quality silage should be added to drive on solids and maintain condition.

Controlling somatic cell counts (SCC) should be a priority and this 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, and can enter milking equipment through dirty teats during milking.

Controlling thermoduric bacteria in late autumn should be prioritised, as its risk increases at this time of year and 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 – many herds will be due a milk liner change now;
  • Descale the milking machine regularly (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)

Ensuring quality milk

According to Teagasc, many problems with high total bacteria count (TBC) or thermodurics are caused by inadequate levels of detergent being used for washing.

This is likely to happen when automatic washing systems have not been checked for some time, leaving lines and detergent levels go astray.

At this time of year, farmers should consider organising their last milk recording of the year and get a plan in place for drying off.

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 given an antibiotic at drying off.

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

This is another reason why farmers should not let their SCC slip at this time of the year, as it may affect the number of cows you have selected for selective dry cow therapy (SDCT).

If you already have your final milk recording done and you see a spike in your bulk tank SCC, it should not be ignored, and farmers should consider stripping all the cows before milking to try and find the cause of the problem.

The longer you leave it, the more costly it will be in terms of milk price and drying-off.

A simple way of testing cows for high SCC or early mastitis is to carry out a California milk test (CMT), which 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 it sticks to the paddle, there is an issue in the quarter and could mean the SCC of this quarter is over 2,000,000 cells/ml.

The message is simple at this time of the year – don’t ignore any hygiene issues and act straight away, as you will end up paying for it during drying off or at the following lactation.