Due to the wide range of jobs completed on farms, it is often hard to keep your hands clean. Farmers complete a wide range of jobs on a daily basis; wearing gloves will not only protect your hands, but will also prevent bacteria from spreading.

Wearing gloves

Wearing gloves during the milking process can reduce the risk of transferring mastitis causing bacteria. Controlling somatic cell counts (SCC) is a hard enough task without your hands aiding its spread.

A milker’s hands are an easy vehicle for spreading bacteria from cow to cow during the milking process.

After washing your hands, bacteria can still be present. It can become lodged under your nails and in cracks/creases on your hands.

The smooth surface of gloves makes bacteria easier to remove while milking. This reduces the chances of bacteria being spread from cow to cow.

It is important to note that wearing gloves is not a substitute for cleaning your hands, but rather makes it more effective and easier to do.

Protecting your hands

Besides the benefits in reducing mastitis cases within the herd, something that is often underestimated is the protection that wearing gloves offers your hands.

Protecting your hands is just as important as protecting your skin.

Farmers could – and often do – calve a cow, tend to a sick calf, milk their cows, and fix a broken pipe/fence – all before breakfast.

The transfer of a zoonotic disease – from animal to human – can easily happen through cuts on your hands.

Wearing gloves will not only protect yourself, but also the cow you calved and/or the sick calf you treated.

Farmers are also dealing with a number of chemicals and other substances that can damage their skin.

For something that is a relatively cheap product, gloves offer many benefits to farmers.