Milk recording has a vital role to play on dairy farms, with the information obtained being invaluable to dairy farmers.
With a focus on using selective dry cow therapy (SDCT) on farms, having data or information on each cow is important to ensure that it used correctly.
Along with aiding in the control of milk quality and cell counts, the recording of cows is also vital to ensure that they are performing to the level they should be.
This data can be used to select cows to breed replacements from and cows that should be getting beef sires.
It will also have an important role to play in the selection of cows for culling from the herd.
Milk recording
The latest data from the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) shows that 867,877 cows have been recorded so far in 2023, which is 3.9% ahead of 2022.
For the same period in 2022, some 835,624 cows had been recorded.
Based on the data, 7,894 herds have completed a milk recording in 2023.
Cell counts
Cell counts appear to have been an issue on many farms throughout the spring, with a number of factors likely contributing to this.
Firslty, a lot of farmers used SDCT for the first time on their farms, and it is possible that it was misused or used on the wrong cows.
It is important that milk recording data is used and a discussion is had with a vet and milk quality advisor to set the threshold for each farm.
Secondly, the weather and the fact that many cows spent a lot more of the spring housed rather than at grass could have contributed to cell count issues.
Milk recording information is important in order to get cell counts under control, but farmers should also be performing a California Mastitis Test (CMT) on cows.
This will identify which quarter is to blame for cell count issues and then this quarter can be treated.