Welcome to
our Adviser Bulletin for November 2007
This issue features:
-
Cost of mastitis escalates with milk price rises
-
How
many clinical cases is too many?
Significantly higher milk prices
this season have caused the cost of clinical cases of mastitis to increase
substantially. Countdown has recalculated the cost of clinical mastitis cases in
the light of current milk prices because the two biggest costs of clinical
mastitis are discarded milk and reduced milk production for the rest of the
lactation (see table).
|
Cost Item |
Application |
$ |
|
Cost of treatment
Intramammary
antibiotics
Injectable
antibiotics
Vet visit
Extra time in the
shed |
3 tubes @ $4
$20 for 1 in 10 cases
$120 for 1 in 20 cases
10 min/milking for 6 milkings @ $25/hour |
12
2
6
25 |
|
Discarded milk |
7 days at 24 litres/day @ 40 cents/litre |
67 |
|
Decreased yield for remainder of lactation |
For cases in early lactation, allow 3.4%
reduction in 300 day yield of 5500 litres is 190 litres @ 40 cents/litre |
76 |
|
Risk of mortality |
1 in 200 cases, cow value $1000 |
5 |
|
Risk of culling |
7 in 100 cases @ $500 |
35 |
|
Rusk of contaminating the vat with antibiotic
residues |
3000 L in 1 in 1000 cases |
1 |
|
Total |
|
229 |
The cost of an average clinical case
has gone up from $170 to $230 at today’s milk prices. In a high producing herd,
the extra discarded milk and reduced milk production over the rest of the
lactation is likely to drive the overall cost even higher.
Experience has shown that whilst most farmers appreciate the “hassle and
frustration” factor of clinical mastitis, many farmers are not fully aware of
the economic impact of clinical mastitis on their farm. This is often because
they may not have stopped to tally up just how many clinical cases they have
been experiencing.
It is generally not a difficult task to work out where they stand, because all
farmers should have treatment records for their QA program, and many will record
these cases in their on farm computer software. In most cases these records can
double as QA records, meaning the events only have to be recorded once.
Often a quick “back of the envelope” calculation will yield surprising results –
generally a far greater cost than most farmers have thought!
The significant increase in economic impact of clinical mastitis also creates
extra opportunity for advisers to work on the problem with their clients.
2 How many clinical cases is
too many?
Responding to farmer comments about
the level of mastitis in their herd can sometimes be tricky. Is there actually a
problem with clinical cases? If so, how big is the problem?
Experience has shown that impressions aren’t always reliable, and the ability to
benchmark case rates against the Countdown ‘triggers’ provides a reliable and
meaningful method of assessment and comment.
Countdown advises farmers and advisers to take action if the herd reaches one of
the following ‘triggers’:
• more than 3 clinical cases per
50 freshly-calved cows
• more than 5 clinical cases per 100 cows in the first month of lactation
• more than 2 clinical cases per 100 cows per month during lactation
Where a farm has reached or exceeded
one of these Countdown triggers, there is likely to be significant economic and
lifestyle opportunities for that farm from taking appropriate corrective action.
Whilst calculating these indices in a herd can become complex and difficult,
“ball-park” figures can be derived from comparing a list of clinical cases
against a list of calving dates.
It should give advisers a sense of the farm’s current position and hence the
opportunity to assist the farmer to gain the benefit from controlling mastitis
and reducing the number of clinical cases.
| 
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