by Amanda Smith, Associate Editor
More often than not, the perceived future of a dairy dictates the producer's management style and attitude. Survey data collected through the Southeast Quality Milk Initiative's first objective further corroborated the link between a farm's future and its overall management, noted the University of Tennessee's Susan Schexnayder.
The survey, conducted in seven Southeastern states, aimed to identify economic, social and psychological factors that limit the adoption of practices known to control mastitis.
Of the dairymen surveyed, 12.2 percent said that it was unlikely they would still be milking in the next five years. Another 11.6 percent said it was unlikely that the farm would still include dairy within the next five years.
After correlating these results with the farm's SCC, Schexnayder concluded that what a dairyman thought they would be doing in the future impacted the practices they implemented today.
Those who had said they would not be milking in five years tended to have fewer cows. They also had lower milk-per-cow averages and a higher somatic cell count. It also took a much higher SCC level to prompt these producers to take corrective action.
Dairymen who planned to continue milking tended to have more cows, with herd sizes averaging 250-plus cows. These herds produced more milk per cow, had lower bulk tank SCC and the farmers began to take corrective action at a much lower SCC.
The best indicator of a farm's current somatic cell count, Schexnayder noted, was the minimum level that prompted them to take management action.
