It is the time of the year where somatic cell counts (SCC) can start to rise and impact the herd's profitability if not monitored.

In fact, SCC is already on the rise, with the average level in the back end of September sitting at 189,000 cells/ml according to data from the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF).

More worryingly, the data shows that 35% of the national herd have an average SCC level between 201,000 cells/ml and 400,000 cells/ml.

A further 9% of Irish dairy herds have an SCC above 400,000 cells/ml.

Farms that surpass the 200,000 cell/ml mark, will start to lose out on bonuses, which the majority of co-ops pay out.

If they climb above 300,000-400,000 cells/ml, they may start to see their milk cheque penalised.

This impact on the milk cheque is a hard hit in a year like this where cashflow will be negative as it is.

Munster Bovine

Munster Bovine held a webinar this week providing advice to farmers to help combat the issue of these rising cell counts.

The webinar featured Munster Bovine's technical manager and veterinary surgeon, Dennis Howard; dairy and beef geneticist, Alan Twomey; and veterinarian consultant, Elaine Dennehy.

Twomey spoke on a new report from Munster Bovine which outlines the probability of future cures.

The report is sent after each milk recording, and goes back through five years' worth of milk recordings, colour coding each cow based on the probability of her being cured.

The chances of curing a cow also depends on the actual value of her SCC, with a lower probability the higher she is.

It also depends on which lactation she is in, as a cow in her third lactation will only have half the odds of being cured as a cow in her first lactation.

Also factored in is the time of year, as it will be easier to cure a cow late in the year rather than in mid-lactation.

The report defines a 'cured cow' as a cow who has had two out of three of her recordings below 200,000 cells/ml since the first spike.

Meanwhile, a cow which is not cured will only have one out of three of her next recordings below 200,000 cells/ml.

For example, a cow that spikes at 320,000 cells/ml, then records 150,000 cells/ml in the next test, 260,000 cells/ml in the test after, and 120,000 cells/ml in the last test, would be considered 'cured'.

However, a cow that spikes at 420,000 cells/ml, then records 140,000 cells/ml, followed by 380,000 cells/ml and then 450,000 cells/ml, would be considered not cured.

The cows above are the same age, had the same SCC at time of recording, but is one more curable than the other?

According to the report, cow A had a 40% chance of curing, while cow B had a 20% chance of curing.

In reality, Cow A did cure, while cow B did not cure.

Therefore, cows with a low chance of curing should be added to the cull list, as they are more than likely spreading infection through the herd.

Meanwhile, cows with a good chance of being cured should receive the proper treatment, while hygiene should also be looked at in the parlour and shed.

GenoCells

A handy tool for deep diving into SCC levels is Munster Bovine and Progressive Genetics joint GenoCells programme.

Genocells is considered a support tool for managing SCC, as it uses a single bulk tank milk sample to identify the cows contributing most to the SCC in the tank.

Agriland caught up Genocells at the National Ploughing Championships to see how the programme works.

The technology works by extracting DNA from somatic cells present in the milk and matching it against the genotypes of the cows contributing milk to the tank.

Using milk recording yield data and bulk tank SCC results, the programme helps farmers identify the percentage contribution each cow is making to the overall SCC level.

As somatic cells are the only milk components that contain DNA, the percentage of DNA that each cow contributes to the overall DNA volume in the bulk tank is equivalent to the percentage of somatic cells that each cow contributes to bulk tank SCC.

Genocells SCC results are reported using banding: 0-50; 51-199; 200-249; 250-499; 500-999; and 1,000+.

Results are made available through the ICBF HerdPlus app and website, providing farmers with a clear indication of the top cows contributing to the bulk tank SCC.