There are two key points in a cow’s lactation cycle where every dairy farmer has the opportunity to make a significant difference to the milk quality and mastitis control for that cow - drying off and calving.

Whilst for most cows these events only occur once a year, for the dairy farmer it varies from only once or twice a year in seasonal and split calving herds, through to a regular weekly or monthly event in year-round calving herds.

No matter how often they occur within each herd, getting each of these two events right results in the greatest chance of both curing existing infections and also preventing new infections.

Traditionally, many of us think about mastitis control at drying off in terms of the treatment options available. For example, treatment at drying off gives us the best chance of curing existing mastitis infections – it is much more effective than treatment during lactation.

But the most effective mastitis control comes from also getting the other aspects of drying off as close to best practice as possible – the actual drying off process plays a key part in preventing new infections during the dry period and at calving.

The aim is to shut down milk secretion and allow the teat end to form a good teat plug that seals the teat canal as rapidly as possible – this usually takes up to about two weeks. Research has shown that most new infections occur in quarters where the teat canal has not sealed.

This means that the method used to dry cows off becomes very important and will influence how many udder infections establish during the dry period and at the subsequent calving.

It also means that every drying off is different!! 

Factors such as the level of a cow’s production at drying off, the feed available after drying off, the weather at drying off and during the dry period, will all be different from one drying off to the next.

Just applying the same procedure as the last time will not necessarily be right for every drying off – recognising the differences is the key to getting the best dry off possible.

Drying off is so important because if we miss that opportunity, it will generally be at least another twelve months before we get that opportunity again!

This becomes especially critical in seasonal calving herds, because missing this opportunity doesn’t affect just one cow, or a group of cows – it may actually affect the whole herd!

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