Dairy Cattle

According to the National Mastitis Council, the recommended milking procedure for dairy animals is 1) provide low-stress environment, 2) check foremilk and udder for mastitis, 3) wash or predip teats with an effective disinfectant, 4) completely dry teats with a single-use towel, 5) attach milking unit within 120 sec of teat stimulation, 6) adjust milking units as necessary, 7) shut off vacuum for removing the unit, and 8) dip teats with a postdip disinfectant. One of the most critical steps in this recommended routine is checking foremilk to not only ensure there are no signs of mastitis and to maintain milk quality, but also to effectively stimulate the teats in preparation for milk collection. Thus, stripping the first three to five streams of milk (foremilk), during the premilking routine serves three important purposes including: teat stimulation which can result in optimal milk release, enhanced milk quality by removing the highest bacterial and somatic cell count milk, and identification of mastitis to allow rapid, well-informed decisions regarding further evaluation, milk culturing, and/or antibiotic therapy. This publication will discuss the purposes of forestripping for dairy animals to serve as an educational resource when creating and evaluating best milking practices.

Hot and humid environmental conditions stress the lactating dairy cow and reduce intake of the nutrients necessary to support milk yield and body maintenance. In Georgia, weather conditions are sufficiently hot and humid to reduce performance of dairy cows for five months or more each year. This publication presents methods that can be used to minimize the stress on dairy cows during hot weather and enhance production during the hot summer months.

This publication provides production and management benchmarks for Holstein herds processed by Dairy Records Management Systems. Some examples of using and applying benchmark values are provided. However, this publication should be viewed primarily as a comprehensive resource of production and management benchmark values. These benchmarks will be useful to dairy producers, dairy managers, consultants, veterinarians and agribusiness representatives as a first step in the analysis of herd management practices.