Don’t let Strep ag erode your profits

Experience on Australian farms and recent economic research by Countdown Downunder has shown that herds where Strep ag mastitis occurs can quickly lose over $200 per head per year.     

 As farmers work to re-build their herds, many cows are returning home or being purchased in. This leads to an unprecedented risk of Strep ag. If you are in this situation it is important that you minimise the chance of Strep ag, and watch carefully to ensure that you find it quickly if it is brought onto your farm.

Strep ag is a bacteria that in cattle is only found in udders or milk, or on the skin of recently milked teats. On affected farms it may also be found on milkers’ hands and the surfaces of equipment exposed to infected milk. It spreads when infected milk contaminates the teat skin of other cows at milking time. Spread from cow to cow can be very rapid, especially if teat disinfection is not spot-on or machines are not operating perfectly.

In a year when all expenditure is under scrutiny, there may be temptation to cut back on purchase of consumables such as teat spray or liners, or use of milk cultures or milk recording. These cut-backs would significantly increase the chance that Strep ag became a problem if it was brought onto your farm.   

Here are some things to do that will minimise your risk:

• Screen all introduced cows for Strep ag by culturing milk samples (from all quarters) before the cows are milked with the herd. The best insurance is to find infected cows before there is any significant opportunity for spread to occur.

• Ensure that effective teat spraying and good liner condition remain high priorities in your milking system. Removing bacteria on teat surfaces and keeping teat ends healthy is the key to minimising new infections in clean cows.

• Culture all clinical cases this year. There is often a discount price for a number of samples submitted at once, so freezing them until you have a batch is a reasonable approach. This is a worthwhile investment for at least 12 months after the last introduced cow is brought onto the farm.

• Watch carefully for any unexpected rise in cell counts (Bulk Milk Cell Counts or Individual Cow Cell Counts) or increase in the number of clinical cases. Act quickly to investigate. 

• Speak with your veterinarian, machine tech or milk quality adviser for additional advice that is specific for your farm and herd.

 Don’t let Strep ag erode the profits you need in the coming years. It has every likelihood of doing so if it enters and spreads in your herd.