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Parlour Decisions: Penny Wise, Pound Foolish - Look to the future
25/02/2011 With dairy input costs having risen by an extra 1.5 to 2.0ppl through this winter period and the ever rising costs of feed now more than ever it is important to consider where money is best spent in dairy enterprises
However cost-control decisions made by dairy producers can compromise animal health, welfare and ultimately profitability.
Avoid negative impacts on udder health, below are five things you must not compromise on and the pitfalls if you do:
- 1. Quality bedding - A reduction in the amount of straw or other bedding material used in loose yard or cubicle cow accommodation. Where mastitis is predominantly environmental in origin, each single change in hygiene score on a scale of 1 to 5, can result in a 50,000 change in bulk tank somatic cell count.
- 2. Individual cow SCC Recording - If you don't milk record individuals then it makes solving herd SCC problems more difficult therefore making the decision where best and most cost effectively to invest in maintaining or improving udder health more difficult.
- 3. Hygiene - Reducing the amount of dairy chemicals used or reducing the temperature of the plant wash down cycle will result in a detrimental effect on milk quality therefore depriving you or reducing your SCC or Bactoscan premium.
- 4. Equipment - Reducing maintenance on regular milking equipment such as increasing the period between liner replacements will likely result in more mastitis and bacteria problems.
- 5. Milking regimes - Reduce milking times by skimping on aspects of milking routine. By dropping pre-milking teat preparation overmilking, at the start of milking, is likely to occur due to poor milk let down response. This could lead to teat end damage. Couple this with more bacteria on the teat end and you may well end up with udder health issues.
Until an average milk price greater than the cost of production is achieved dairy producers will be pressed to make important decisions to sustain their businesses.
We all make decisions daily. Some can impact on what happens today, others affect the future. Making the right decisions is vital to maintaining stock health, productivity and improving profitability. Think long term and never compromise, it will pay off in the future.
Speak to your vet to ensure that the decisions you make today will not have a detrimental impact on animal health tomorrow.
