Management Practices Associated with Somatic Cell Counts in Bulk Milk

We evaluated milk quality during the sheep dairy period in the year 2018. The study was performed at fifteen dairy farms with differed breeds and crossbreds under Slovakian usual practical conditions (milking and pasture). At the first and seventh farm purebred Tsigai (TS) ewes were kept, at the eight to twelve farm there were purebred Lacaune ewes (LC) and the thirteen farm were kept crossbred Improved Valachian x Lacaune ewes (IV/LC, with a higher proportion of Improved Valachian), the fourteen farm crossbred Lacaune x East Friesian ewes and the last farm were ewes of the synthetic population of Slovak dairy ewe (SD). The milk yield recording and milk sampling were performed once a month during evening milking as a part of milk recording services. The basic milk composition was determined by MilkoScan FT120 (Foss, Hillerød, Denmark) and somatic cell count was determined using a Fossomatic 90 (Foss Electric, Hillerød, Denmark) after heat treatment at 40 °C for 15 min. We found the highest incidence of SCC on farm 14 with crossbred LC/EF 3.940 x 103 cells.mL-1. Followed by farms 12 and 9 with purebred LC (SCC value of 3.318 and 2.489 x 103 cells.mL-1). Farm 7 with purebred TS reached the lowest value (831 x 103 cells.mL-1). The highest fat content was reached by the purebred TS, with gradual growth from March to July. Crossbreds and the synthetic population of Slovak dairy ewe (SD) had the lowest average fat content, which could be affected by feeding. Similar tendencies were found in protein content.

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The association of milking management practices with bulk tank somatic cell counts

Preventive Veterinary Medicine ◽

10.1016/0167-5877(93)90096-c ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 15 (4) ◽

pp. 235-251 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

W.J. Goodger ◽

T. Farver ◽

J. Pelletier ◽

P. Johnson ◽

G. DeSnayer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Somatic Cell ◽

Management Practices ◽

Somatic Cell Counts ◽

Cell Counts ◽

Bulk Tank

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Machine Learning as an aid to management decisions on high somatic cell counts in dairy farms

Archives Animal Breeding ◽

10.5194/aab-48-138-2005 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 48 (2) ◽

pp. 138-148 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

F. Goyache ◽

J. Díez ◽

S. López ◽

G. Pajares ◽

B. Santos ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Machine Learning ◽

Somatic Cell ◽

Management Practices ◽

Dairy Farms ◽

Dairy Herds ◽

Sources Of Information ◽

Northern Spain ◽

Somatic Cell Counts ◽

Lactating Cows ◽

Cell Counts

Abstract. High somatic cell counts (SCC) is associated with mastitis infection, in dairy herds, worldwide. This work describes Machine Learning (ML) techniques designed to improve the information offered to farmers on animals producing high SCCs according to particular herd profiles. The analysed population included 71 dairy farms in Asturias (Northern Spain) and a total of 2,407 lactating cows. Four sources of information were available: a) a questionnaire survey describing facilities, milking routines and management practices of the farms studied; b) dairy recording information; c) classification of the cows suspected of being healthy or subclinical mastitic according to farmers’ expertise; and d) positive or negative scores with respect to the California Mastitis Test (CMT). The decimal logarithm of the SCC (linear score), lactation number, herd size, lactating cows per milker, milk urea concentration, number of clusters per milker and actual SCC are shown to be the most informative attributes for mimicking both farmers’ expertise or CMT performance in order to identify animals producing persistently high SCCs in dairy herds. However, to improve the identification of cows suspected of being non-healthy, the system uses other information related to management and milking routines. Decision rules to predict CMT performance can provide useful, additional information to farmers to improve the management of dairy herds included in milk recording programs.

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