Countdown Downunder
Background:
More than $40 million is lost to Australian dairy farmers each year through poor udder health. Mastitis is the major cause of this loss. Mastitis reduces milk yield and leads to poor quality milk. Together, these factors erode the milk income received by farmers. In addition, antibiotic therapy used to overcome udder disease adds to dairy farmers' costs and requires strict monitoring to prevent residue entering the milk. Clinical mastitis can be an animal welfare issue if not treated promptly and effectively as the associated swelling and inflammation of the udder is painful.
Countdown Downunder is a Dairy Australia program established to provide farmers with clear, consistent information and resources for monitoring and managing mastitis in their herds.
Project objective:
To protect and improve profitability through managing milk quality.
Project scope:
Countdown Downunder consists of a set of recommendations to assist dairy farmers with profitable control of mastitis. For each period of the cow's milking year, Countdown Downunder provides a set of guidelines about:
- what has to be done
- why it should be done
- how to check that is has been achieved
Each guideline also has a Technote which summarises the experimental and observational data that underpins it. The Technotes are presented as PDF downloads designed for dairy service providers (including veterinarians, factory field officers, milk recording field personnel and milking machine technicians). They provide the rationale for the component of the plan, background information and bibliographic references for key research papers and articles for further reading.
Outcomes/benefits:
Better udder health, milk quality and dairy farm profitability through resources such as mastitis management guidelines, technotes, web-based resources, and customised training.
More information:
For more information, contact Mick Blake, Dairy Australia Animal Performance Manager.