The theme comprises: key messages, grabs for your newsletters, resource material including a free extract from the Technotes and notes on how to use the theme.

Key Messages

• Set aside a specific time this month to plan your mastitis control for the year
• Decide on your major goal for the year and focus on the steps required to achieve it
• Review your records to assess where you are now
• Use your advisers to help you interpret the current situation and discuss the options
• Use the Farm Guidelines as a source of best practice recommendations
• Achieve effective change by involving your milking staff in the planning process

This month's grabs

• Are you getting value using DCT
• Did you treat too many cows?
• How often is your machine checked?
• Cell count goal posts

The above stories are intended for use in newsletters for dairy farmers.

Each story includes a photo or graphic. You can cut and paste the text, photos and logos direct from the file.

Each of the grabs are on separate pages - click on the links above then cut and paste the text and images. 

You can also download them in a one MS Word file. You will need MS Word 97 or later. The file includes photos and is about 500 kb in size. Click this link to open the file:  January 2001 grabs in MS Word

Resources & references to assist advisers

Australian Dairyfarmer

The Countdown content is on this web:

•  Plan now to reduce mastitis on your farm in 2001.

The column emphasises importance of review and planning in setting up mastitis control for the year, provide practical steps for people to use eg milking machine service contracts, promote the Farm Guidelines as best practice, give a lead to the next theme (drying-off)

How use this month's theme

It is up to advisers to add value to the planning process according to their expertise (eg interpreting cell count data, identifying when parameters exceed the warning levels in Farm Guideline 13, helping set triggers for further action, developing service contracts for machines etc)

The Countdown resources on topics in this theme are:

1. Farm Guidelines 22, 24.1, 25 and Technote 13 (page 2), 22, 24.1, 25 (monitor and maintain milking machine function).  We regard the Technotes as an essential resource for all dairy advisers and hope you will consider buying a copy. Details and an order form are here. 

2. Farm presentation kits - Part 3: 31 – 33.
   The Presentation Kits are part of the PowerPoint presentations on the CD in your Technotes, and are available for loan or purchase as overhead transparencies and flip charts from the regional Countdown co-ordinators.
   You can preview them online from the training resources page.

3. Australian Dairyfarmer column for January 2001.

Get to know the milking machine technicians in your area that have completed the Countdown Downunder Adviser Short Course. We will publish a list on the website in the next month. 

Link these messages with teat scoring and milking time observations discussed in the September/October Countdown themes.

How to use these grabs

It's easy to cut and paste text and pictures from websites.

Every browser (eg Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator) works slightly differently. But in most browsers you can cut and paste text just as you would in a word processor. You can often save a whole page to your hard disk using "file save as".

On most pages you can double click on a photo to open a higher quality copy. And you can often save images to disk by right clicking on them and choosing "save picture as."

Experiment - you won't do any harm to the website!

A Word file is also available for download. The file contains all of the current month's grabs.

Before using the grabs please

• read our legal notice/disclaimer
• ensure that you do not imply Countdown Downunder endorsement of commercial products or services
• acknowledge Countdown Downunder in your publications 

Acknowledgements 

Please acknowledge Countdown Downunder either in the text or with one or both of the following logos.