Lost Milk Production Research Articles

Effectiveness of Intramammary Antibiotics, Internal Teat Sealants, or Both at Dry-Off in Dairy Cows: Milk Production and Somatic Cell Count Outcomes.

Simple SummaryA block randomized trial was conducted in California dairies to evaluate the effect of different treatments at dry-off on the subsequent lactation’s milk production and somatic cell count (SCC). Greater milk production was observed in cows treated with antibiotics and teat sealants at dry-off in comparison to controls, while there was no significant difference in the milk produced by cows that received either antibiotic or teat sealant in comparison to the untreated cows. Different dry cow treatments were associated with a reduction in ln SCC during the first 150 DIM, with the greatest reduction associated with both antibiotic and teat sealant in comparison to controls. Dairies with high SCC may benefit from treating cows at dry-off with AB, TS, or both.Mastitis is the greatest disease challenge for dairy producers, with substantial economic impacts due to lost milk production. Amongst the approaches implemented to control and prevent mastitis on dairies are vaccination, pre- and post-milking teat dips, and treatments at dry-off including intramammary antibiotics and teat sealants. The objectives of our study were to evaluate the effect of different treatments at dry-off on the subsequent lactation’s milk production and somatic cell count (SCC). A single-blinded controlled block randomized clinical trial was conducted between December 2016 and August 2018 on eight herds from four of the top ten milk-producing counties in California: Tulare, Kings, Stanislaus, and San Joaquin. The trial was repeated with cows enrolled during the winter and summer seasons to account for seasonal variability. Eligible cows were treated at dry-off with either intramammary antibiotics (AB), internal teat sealant (TS), AB + TS, or did not receive any treatment (control), and were followed through 150 days in milk (DIM) post-calving. The milk production and SCC data were extracted from monthly test day milk records (Dairy Comp 305, Valley Ag Software, Tulare, CA, USA). Two-piece spline linear mixed models were used to model the milk production (kg) and natural logarithm-transformed SCC. After accounting for parity, breed, season, and dry period duration, the milk model showed a significant increase in milk production (1.84 kg/day) in cows treated with AB + TS at dry-off in comparison to controls. There was no significant difference in the milk produced by cows that received either AB or TS (0.12 kg/day, and 0.67 kg/day, respectively) in comparison to the untreated cows. Different dry cow treatments were associated with a significant reduction in ln SCC during the first 150 DIM. The greatest reduction was associated with using AB + TS, followed by AB, and finally TS in comparison to controls. Dairies with high SCC may benefit from treating cows at dry-off with AB, TS, or both.

Estimating the cost of bovine tuberculosis at the public and farm levels: The case of Samsun Province, Turkey

In this study, the costs of bovine tuberculosis cases at the public and farm levels were investigated in Samsun Province, Turkey. In determination of the public costs of the disease namely tuberculin costs, transportation costs, expenditure on personnel and the amount of compensation paid, were taken into consideration. In determining the losses due to the disease at the farm level, namely losses of milk and meat and the extra costs of animal replacement, were calculated. For the calculations where the disease was detected, information of outbreak and the breed yield averages of the infected animals were used. In 2016, the public cost of the disease was ₺ 652.780, with lost milk production valued at ₺ 563.500, and lost meat production valued at ₺ 37.646 for females and ₺ 6.193 for males. The cost of paid for animal restocking was calculated at ₺ 1.052 per animal. In addition, the total cost of the disease for Samsun Province in 2016 current prices was estimated at ₺ 1.418.971 ($ 403.117).

Stray Voltages In Dairies

A stray electrical current passing through a cow's body may cause reduced milk production and health problems. The electrical current can be caused by poor or faulty wiring, faulty equipment, improper grounding, or originate off the farm and be introduced through the grounded neutral wiring network. Stray voltages are usually low alternating current voltages on the grounded neutral wires of the farm wiring system. Power suppliers may use the terms neutral-to-ground voltage and neutral-to-earth voltage to refer to the problem. Lost milk production and the costs for treatment of the cow's health problems can lead to substantial economic losses. This 3-page fact sheet is a minor revision written by J. A. Watson, R. A. Bucklin, and D. R. Bray, and published by the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, November 2019. AE55/AE019: Stray Voltages in Dairies (ufl.edu)

Space-use patterns highlight behavioural differences linked to lameness, parity, and days in milk in barn-housed dairy cows.

Lameness is a key health and welfare issue affecting commercial herds of dairy cattle, with potentially significant economic impacts due to the expense of treatment and lost milk production. Existing lameness detection methods can be time-intensive, and under-detection remains a significant problem leading to delayed or missed treatment. Hence, there is a need for automated monitoring systems that can quickly and accurately detect lameness in individual cows within commercial dairy herds. Recent advances in sensor tracking technology have made it possible to observe the movement, behaviour and space-use of a range of animal species over extended time-scales. However, little is known about how observed movement behaviour and space-use patterns in individual dairy cattle relate to lameness, or to other possible confounding factors such as parity or number of days in milk. In this cross-sectional study, ten lame and ten non-lame barn-housed dairy cows were classified through mobility scoring and subsequently tracked using a wireless local positioning system. Nearly 900,000 spatial locations were recorded in total, allowing a range of movement and space-use measures to be determined for each individual cow. Using linear models, we highlight where lameness, parity, and the number of days in milk have a significant effect on the observed space-use patterns. Non-lame cows spent more time, and had higher site fidelity (on a day-to-day basis they were more likely to revisit areas they had visited previously), in the feeding area. Non-lame cows also had a larger full range size within the barn. In contrast, lame cows spent more time, and had a higher site-fidelity, in the cubicle (resting) areas of the barn than non-lame cows. Higher parity cows were found to spend more time in the right-hand-side area of the barn, closer to the passageway to the milking parlour. The number of days in milk was found to positively affect the core range size, but with a negative interaction effect with lameness. Using a simple predictive model, we demonstrate how it is possible to accurately determine the lameness status of all individual cows within the study using only two observed space-use measures, the proportion of time spent in the feeding area and the full range size. Our findings suggest that differences in individual movement and space-use behaviour could be used as indicators of health status for automated monitoring within a Precision Livestock Farming approach, potentially leading to faster diagnosis and treatment, and improved animal welfare for dairy cattle and other managed animal species.

Estimated differences in economic and environmental performance of forage‐based dairy herds across the UK

AbstractDifferences in performance among the areas of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland can provide some insight into the resilience of UK milk supplies from forage‐based dairy herds. This study used a Markov Chain approach to model the average herd in each region between the years 2010 and 2015. The effect of a single unit change in milk production (milk volume, fat yield, and protein yield), fitness (survival, somatic cell count, mastitis, and calving interval) and efficiency (methane) traits on the economic value and GHG emissions intensity (expressed as carbon dioxide equivalents per cow and per kg milk solids) were assessed. Production data were obtained from a total of about half a million milk recorded dairy cows in the UK and the Farm Business Surveys for each region. Across the UK improving the health, somatic cell counts (SCC and mastitis), fertility (calving intervals) and survival of cows will increase profitability and reduce emissions intensity of milk production. In Scotland, herds had higher milk yields but poorer survival, which potentially could be due to poor fertility indicated by a longer calving interval compared to other regions. Herds in Northern Ireland had the shortest average calving interval but the highest SCC, and thus greater estimated mastitis incidence and wasted milk. Notably, England had considerably higher economic values (between 10% and 30%) and emission intensity values (between 11% and 37%) for SCC and mastitis incidence than other regions, due to lost milk production and the higher gross margin. This study provides a framework that can be customized for individual herds to allow assessment of resilience and resource efficiency of milk production not only in the UK but for comparison with international dairy systems.

Cow and herd variation in milk urea nitrogen concentrations in lactating dairy cattle

Milk urea nitrogen (MUN) is correlated with N balance, N intake, and dietary N content, and thus is a good indicator of proper feeding management with respect to protein. It is commonly used to monitor feeding programs to achieve environmental goals; however, genetic diversity also exists among cows. It was hypothesized that phenotypic diversity among cows could bias feed management decisions when monitoring tools do not consider genetic diversity associated with MUN. The objective of the work was to evaluate the effect of cow and herd variation on MUN. Data from 2 previously published research trials and a field trial were subjected to multivariate regression analyses using a mixed model. Analyses of the research trial data showed that MUN concentrations could be predicted equally well from diet composition, milk yield, and milk components regardless of whether dry matter intake was included in the regression model. This indicated that cow and herd variation could be accurately estimated from field trial data when feed intake was not known. Milk urea N was correlated with dietary protein and neutral detergent fiber content, milk yield, milk protein content, and days in milk for both data sets. Cow was a highly significant determinant of MUN regardless of the data set used, and herd trended to significance for the field trial data. When all other variables were held constant, a percentage unit change in dietary protein concentration resulted in a 1.1mg/dL change in MUN. Least squares means estimates of MUN concentrations across herds ranged from a low of 13.6mg/dL to a high of 17.3mg/dL. If the observed MUN for the high herd were caused solely by high crude protein feeding, then the herd would have to reduce dietary protein to a concentration of 12.8% of dry matter to achieve a MUN concentration of 12mg/dL, likely resulting in lost milk production. If the observed phenotypic variation is due to genetic differences among cows, genetic choices could result in herds that exceed target values for MUN when adhering to best management practices, which is consistent with the trend for differences in MUN among herds.

Observation concerning functional trimming and hoof care in cows.

Cows lameness is a continuing problem on dairies around the world. The 3 most common reasons for premature or involuntary culling of dairy cows are reproduction, mastitis, and lameness. The economic loss from lameness is due to premature culling, lost milk production, milk discard due to treatment with antibiotics, treatment costs, and reproductive inefficiencies. Lameness is a multifactorial disease and is directly related to how cows are managed. Some of the contributing factors are nutrition, hygiene, cow comfort (freestall management), walking surfaces, time spent standing on concrete, hoof health, and hoof trimming. Prevention is more economical that treatment, but close observation and prompt treatment of lame cows will decrease the duration and thus the cost of each case. Is commonly recommended that all cows be trimmed twice per year, once when the cow is dried off and once during mid lactation. Functional hoof trimming is designed to balance the effects of wear and growth and will be explained more fully later in the paper

Prediction of parturition in dairy cattle using a 2D accelerometer to measure lying behaviour – a preliminary observational field study

There is a trend in the UK towards larger dairy herds increasing the number of cows per stockperson and reducing available time for routine observations. A slightly difficult calving can have an economic loss of £110 with up to £400 for a difficult calving (McGuirk et al, 2007). These losses are incurred in lost milk production, increased labour costs and delayed calving to conception interval. Therefore, it would be advantageous for the stockpersons to have an automated alert of the onset of calving as soon as possible to allow assistance to be given if required and to highlight cows for observation.

Lameness, hoof care and functional trimming in cows - an actual review.

Cows lameness is a continuing problem on dairies around the world. The 3 most common reasons for premature or involuntary culling of dairy cows are reproduction, mastitis, and lameness. The economic loss from lameness is due to premature culling, lost milk production, milk discard due to treatment with antibiotics, treatment costs, and reproductive inefficiencies. Lameness is a multifactorial disease and is directly related to how cows are managed. Some of the contributing factors are nutrition, hygiene, cow comfort (freestall management), walking surfaces, time spent standing on concrete, hoof health, and hoof trimming. Prevention is more economical that treatment, but close observation and prompt treatment of lame cows will decrease the duration and thus the cost of each case. Is commonly recommended that all cows be trimmed twice per year, once when the cow is dried off and once during mid lactation. Functional hoof trimming is designed to balance the effects of wear and growth and will be explained more fully later in the paper

Immune surveillance of mammary tissue by phagocytic cells.

The leukocytes in milk consist of lymphocytes, neutrophil polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) and macrophages. Lymphocytes together with antigen-presenting cells function in the generation of an effective immune response. Lymphocytes can be divided into two distinct subsets, T- and B-lymphocytes, that differ in function and protein products. The professional phagocytic cells of the bovine mammary gland are PMN and macrophages. In the normal mammary gland macrophages are the predominate cells which act as sentinels to invading mastitis causing pathogens. Once the invaders are detected, macrophages release chemical messengers called chemoattractants that cause the directed migration of PMN into the infection. Migration of neutrophils into mammary tissue provides the first immunological line of defense against bacteria that penetrate the physical barrier of the teat canal. However, their presence is like a double-edged sword. While the PMN are phagocytosing and destroying the invading pathogens, they inadvertently release chemicals which induces swelling of secretory epithelium cytoplasm, sloughing of secretory cells, and decreased secretory activity. Permanent scarring will result in a loss of milk production. Resident and newly migrated macrophages help reduce the damage to the epithelium by phagocytosing PMN that undergo programmed cell death through a process called apoptosis. Specific ligands on the neutrophil surface are required for directed migration and phagocytosis. In response to infection, freshly migrated leukocytes express greater numbers of cell surface receptors for immunoglobulins and complement and are more phagocytic than their counterparts in blood. However, phagocytic activity rapidly decreases with continued exposure to inhibitory factors such as milk fat globules and casein in mammary secretions. Compensatory hypertrophy in non-mastitic quarters partially compensates for lost milk production in diseased quarters. Advances in molecular biology are making available the tools, techniques, and products to study and modulate host-parasite interactions. For example the cloning and expression of proteins that bind endotoxin may provide ways of reducing damaging effects of endotoxin during acute coliform mastitis. The successful formation of bifunctional monoclonal antibodies for the targeted lysis of mastitis causing bacteria represents a new line of therapeutics for the control of mastitis in dairy cows.

Clinical and laboratory findings in cases of toxic mastitis in cows in Northern Ireland

This paper describes the clinical and laboratory findings from 264 cases of toxic mastitis in cows in Northern Ireland between October 1995 and May 1997. Nearly all the cases occurred...

An investigation into the use of machine learning for determining oestrus in cows

Abstract A preliminary investigation of the application of two well-known machine learning (ML) schemes — C4.5 and FOIL — to detection of oestrus in dairy cows has been made. This is a problem of practical economic significance as each missed opportunity for artificial insemination results in 21 days lost milk production. Classifications were made on normalised deviations of milk volume production and milking order time series data. The best learning scheme was C4.5, which detected 69% of oestrus events, albeit with an unacceptably high rate of “false positives” (74%). Further work based on the use of a progesterone assay to provide a more accurate oestrus reference is suggested, along with the inclusion of more monitored variables and an analysis of their relative contributions to the learning process.

The cost of summer mastitis.

The incidence of summer mastitis on 95 dairy farms in southern England was monitored in the summer of 1987. Data on the type of animal infected, the fate of the animals immediately and over the succeeding lactation, and the procedures used in treating the infections were collected for 144 cases. Twenty-five per cent of cases were attended by veterinary surgeons. Most of the animals received parenteral antibiotics and on average each received five tubes of intramammary antibiotic. The incidence of infection was highest in pregnant and calving heifers, more than 2 per cent of the animals at risk, and lowest (0.04 per cent) in calves, although more than twice as many dry cows were infected. Over half of the farms reported summer mastitis, with 36 per cent suffering more than one case. The greatest economic loss, 49 per cent of the total, was from lost milk production; and 37 per cent was from lost animal value, cull and calf losses. The average loss was 192 pounds per case. Using national incidence data from England and Wales, the cost to the UK dairy industry in 1987 was 6.22 million pounds.

Economic effects of mastitis prevention strategies for dairy producers

Summary For efficient disease management in dairy production, the influence of disease prevention strategies on farm profitability must be known. A survey of mastitis control practices, milking machine function and maintenance, and cow environmental conditions was conducted with 406 dairy producers on the Michigan Dairy Herd Improvement-somatic cell counting program responding. These survey data, in conjunction with Dairy Herd Improvement production data, were used to develop a model estimating the marginal value products of mastitis control practices. Lost milk production associated with increased somatic cell count was calculated for each herd. Mastitis control practices, milking machine function and maintenance, and cow environmental conditions were used as independent variables in an analysis of covariance model with lost milk production as the dependent variable. Variables significant in explaining changes in production from increased somatic cell count were the use of teat dip, use of sanitizer in the wash water, milking cow bedding, summer nonlactating cow housing, summer calving locations, type of regulator, alternating pulsation, and rolling herd average milk production. The marginal value product (change in revenues received) from the use of iodine, chlorhexidine, and quaternary ammonium-type teat dips were $13.79, $16.09, and $22.17/cow/year, respectively, and these changes were statistically significant. However, sanitizer in the wash water was associated with a decrease in production. Management practices that have previously been shown to be economical and did not appear in the final model included nonlactating cow therapy and single-use paper towels.

N-Acetyl-B-D-Glucosaminidase as a Predictor of Milk Loss and Recovery Following Clinical Mastitis

Clinical mastitis is becoming more important as management improvements have resulted in greater control of nonclinical pathogens (2,11). Economic losses due to clinical mastitis include decreased milk production, discarded milk, loss of animals due to culling or death, therapeutic costs, veterinary fees, and labor (1,5). Clinical mastitis cases vary greatly in lost milk production, duration of treatment, duration of clinical signs, and risk of culling from the herd. At the onset of signs, it is difficult to predict which cases will be most severe. Accurate early prognosis for mastitis has economic value. This study was conducted to assess the ability of a single milk NA Gase level (obtained at clinical onset) to predict severity of mastitis.

Epidemiology of Bovine Salmonellosis

Salmonellosis is a disease with great economic and public health impact. Depending upon which salmonella serotype is involved in the disease process, there are also other associated problems: high morbidity in affected herds, abortion sequels, the problems of carrier cattle and the reoccurrence of salmonellosis in herds. Moreover, survivors of outbreaks are often unthrifty and take longer to reach marketable weight or do not regain lost milk production. Along with the lost revenues from decreased milk production are the costs of therapy and replacement animals, and public health problems leading to restrictions on the sale of milk and / or meat products.