May 2000
Volume 3, Issue 4

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Environmental Streptococcal Mastitis - J. S. Hogan and K. L. Smith
20th Buckeye Classic Sale - Peter Spike
Is Your Herd Positioned for Profit? - John Smith
Position Announcement
Calendar of Events

Introduction

 Environmental streptococci have emerged as pathogens that uniquely affect mammary health as a primary cause of both subclinical and clinical mastitis.  The bovine mammary gland appears to be most susceptible to environmental streptococcal intramammary infections during the dry period and early lactation.   The importance of the dry period in control of environmental streptococcal mastitis can not be over emphasized.  Rate of new IMI during the dry period is 5.5 fold greater than the rate during lactation in a total confinement herds practicing total dry cow therapy.  The rate of new infection is not constant across the dry period, but is elevated during the 2 weeks following drying off and the 2 weeks prior to calving.  Dry cow therapy reduces the rate of new environmental streptococcal infections during the early dry period.  The high rates of new infection following drying off may relate to the lack of flushing action due to milking, changes occurring in the composition of the mammary secretion that appear to enhance  streptococcal growth , and/or the lack of a keratin plug in the streak canal.  The increase in susceptibility to infection in the two weeks prior to parturition may reflect the absence of milking when the gland is accumulating fluid, loss of keratin plugs from streak canals, or immunosuppression associated with the pariparturient period.   Conventional dry cow therapy has no effect on rates of infection prior to calving  and prepartum teat dipping was reported to be of little or no value.  The environmental streptococci are a frequent cause of mastitis in heifers at calving and heifers generally suffer as many infections at calving as do older cows.

 During lactation, the incidence of clinical mastitis is greatest the first week after calving and decreased throughout the first 305 d in milk.  Interestingly, rate of environmental streptococcal clinical cases increases in cows with extended lactations (>305 d) to that comparable of cows in peak lactation.  Therefore, the  use of management practices that encourage the use of extended calving intervals, thus a larger percentage of cows with > 305 d in milk, may impact the prevalence of environmental streptococcal mastitis in a herd.
 

Dynamics of Infections and Clinical Mastitis

 Environmental streptococcal intramammary infections  tend to be short duration infections with only a relatively few becoming chronic.  Average duration of environmental streptococcal infections is 12 days.    Approximately 40% of these infections last less than eight days and only 15% lasted greater than ninety days.  The two primary means that streptococcal infections are   eliminated are the cow’s own immune system eliminates the pathogens (45% of infections) and antibiotic treatment of clinical cases (33% of infections).

 Approximately one-half of environmental streptococcal intramammary infections cause clinical mastitis during lactation.  Severity of clinical signs is generally limited to local inflammation of the gland.  Approximately  40% of clinical cases signs are limited to abnormal milk, 50% involved abnormal milk and swollen gland, and only 10% involve systemic signs such as fever and anorexia.

Reduce Teat End Exposure

 Exposure of uninfected teats to the environmental streptococci can occur during the milking process, between milkings, during the dry period and prior to parturition in first lactation heifers.  This is in contrast to the contagious pathogens wHere exposure occurs primarily during the milking process.  The environmental streptococci have been isolated from bedding materials, soil, rumen, feces, vulva, lips, nares, mammary gland and teats.  Feed stuffs such as silages may also be a source of these pathogens and infections of the reproductive tract may contribute to environmental contamination.

 Bedding materials serve as a primary source of environmental streptococcal exposure of teat ends as the teats and udders are in frequent direct contact with the bedding materials.  In general, all bacterial populations are lower in inorganic bedding materials such as sand compared to organic bedding materials.  The numbers of environmental streptococci in sand bedding will vary depending upon the amount of soil in the sand and the degree of fecal contamination once the sand is placed in the stalls and physical injuries during all seasons of the year.  Ventilation is critical to maintaining dry conditions and frequently is poor in older facilities.  Ventilation problems of older facilities often require great expense to correct or may not be correctable.

 Many free-stall barns are poorly designed and contribute to increased incidence of environmental mastitis.  In well designed free-stall barns, cows will either be eating or lying down resting.  Large numbers of cows standing around or lying in alleyways generally indicate improper design of the free-stalls or severe overcrowding.  Free-stalls built against outside walls or against any solid wall should be avoided as solid walls block the free flow of air, minimize lunge space for cows when attempting to rise and may inhibit stall usage.  A slope of 2% to 3% across the building reduces accumulations of urine and water and reduces teat injuries in free-stalls and tie-stalls.  A commonly recommended practice in the Ohio is to overstock free-stall barns by 10% even up to 20%.  We are unaware of any studies designed to determine the impact of such practices on the incidence of environmental streptococcal mastitis but would suggest that overstocking will increase the incidence.

 Pastured cows are generally thought to be at reduced risk for environmental streptococcal mastitis when compared to cows in confinement housing.  However, conditions do exist in pastures that can lead to high levels of exposure to the environmental streptococci.  Areas under shade trees can produce conditions of high exposure and pastures that are over grazed or grazed during periods of heavy rain may also lead to conditions of exposure similar to housed cattle.  The environmental streptococci are the most significant environmental pathogen in New Zealand dairy herds where cows spend virtually 100% of there time on pasture.  Additional research on the association between pasture conditions and teat contamination with environmental pathogens would be beneficial.

 Improper milking time hygiene and machine function can contribute to environmental streptococcal mastitis.  The key is to milk clean, dry teats and udders with a properly functioning milking machine.  An improperly functioning milking machine or improper use by the milker can contribute to increased amounts of environmental streptococcal mastitis in a dairy herd but correcting such faults will not solve environmental streptococcal mastitis in all dairy herds.

 Predipping has been shown to reduce new environmental streptococcal infections during lactation by as much as 50% in some herds, although this reduction is not observed in all herds.  Failure of predipping to control environmental streptococcal mastitis in all herds likely reflects the complex epidemiology of environmental streptococci.  Post milking teat disinfection with germicidal dips is generally considered not to control environmental streptococcal mastitis. Barrier dips are recommended by some individuals as a means of controlling environmental mastitis but their efficacy against the environmental streptococci has not been demonstrated.
 
 

20th Buckeye Classic Sale
Peter W. Spike, Department of Animal Sciences, The Ohio State University
Dairy Extension Specialist

 The 2000 Buckeye Classic was a landmark event as it was the 20th in the series of sales sponsored and managed by OSU students in the Buckeye Dairy Club.  To mark the occasion, the sale chairs organized a cheese reception prior to the sale and invited noted dignitaries from the past nineteen years.  Included on the invitation list were past sale chairs, club advisors and department chairs who had contributed to the sale over its history.  As each came through the serving line, a small commemorative OSU mug filled with goodies was given as a token of contributions past.

 This year’s version of the sale, on March 31, realized an average of $2008 on the total of 73 offerings in the Holstein and Jersey portions of the sale.  The 41 lots of Holsteins averaged $1929, an increase of $91 over last year’s average.  This year’s offering of 32 Jersey lots averaged $2110 under the guidance of the four sale chairs: Lindsay Bowen, Angi Call, Jenny Indoe, and Bryan Gortner, in cooperation with Jersey Marketing Service.  Twelve lots were struck off at the $2000 or greater level in the Holstein string; fifteen lots of Jerseys exceeded that mark.

 Much excitement and interest preceded the sales.  The top-selling Holstein, a VG-87 Jolt daughter, consigned by alumnus Mike Temple of Bellville, brought many potential buyers to check her out prior to the sale; she was struck off at $5900. The top-selling Jersey, a summer yearling sister to the world fat-record holding “Golden” cow was a consignment from WF/L&M Jerseys in Clearbrook VA; she brought a bid of $6600. Two other lots sold for $4200 (an EX-90 daughter of Barber with a 2 yr record of nearly 24,000M, nearly 1200F and over 800P, consigned by Kirk, Tracy and Janet Stiles of Boonsboro MD) and $4000 (a bred Berretta daughter carrying an Mannix embryo from Tom Cooperrider’s “Godiva”.)  Consignments were received from 7 states, besides Ohio, and were sold as far as Texas and Nebraska.

 Throughout the Spring Dairy Expo, the cattle were presented by the students in an excellent fashion and, especially at sale time, they were in topnotch condition bringing many words of praise and congratulations on their appearance and quality.

Following is the list of the top three lots of each breed bringing bids over $2000:

Holstein:

Lot #10 Clyanndale Jolt Danita (8/96) $5900
P: Roger & Zach Van Forden, Hamilton OH
C: Michael Temple, Lexington OH

Lot #5 Coredale Encore Beth (3/99) $3600
P: Nichole & Randy Boggs, Andover OH
C: Dale & Deanna Bendig, Gettysburg PA

Lot #Penicks Milan Meena (12/99)  $3500
P: Christopher Phillips, Fredericktown OH

Jersey:

Lot #6 WF/L&M Tidy Glamour-ET (7/99)  $6600
P: Sunny East & Covenant Genetics, Chester SC
C: WF/L&M Jerseys, Clearbrook VA

Lot #32 Shenandoah Antietam Jazzi (8/96) $4200
P: H. E. Heindel & Sons, Brogue PA
C: Kirk, Tracy & Janet Stiles, Boonsboro MD

Lot #24 Buttercrest Berretta Fire carrying embryo, Mannix X Buttercrest Berretta Godiva (6/98)  $4000
P: Howard King & Family, Fremont OH
C: Cooperrider & Sons, Croton OH
 

Is Your Herd Positioned for Profit?
John M. Smith, Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Community Development Agent, The Ohio State University Extension
Auglaize County

Is Your Herd Positioned for Profit?
John M. Smith
OSU Extension, Auglaize County
 Agriculture & NRCD

With the current price of milk, dairymen must take a serious look at their operations.  A total effort must be made to reduce costs and improve profits. Herds that produce profit usually have many things in common:

1. Good Forages – Forage quality must be consistent and high quality.  It is very expensive to upgrade poor forages with other feeds.

2. Clean, Fresh Water – Water is the cheapest most important nutrient and the one most often ignored.  Big, high producing cows will drink up to 50 gallons per day in the summer.  A good place to have a water tank is in the parlor return alley.  Many cows will drink heavily returning from the parlor.  Cows will drink more warm water (70oF) than they will cold water (55oF).  If they won’t or can’t drink water, they can’t make milk.  At times it helps to add water to rations. Many herds do add up to 5 pounds of water per cow to the total mixed ration and find that the cows eat the feed better.  However, try to keep the ration consistent at about 50% moisture.

3. Low Somatic Cell Count and Good Milking Techniques – High SCC’s indicate hidden production losses and could be due to many causes: poor milking habits; milking equipment not working properly;  free stalls that need cleaned, repaired, bedded or not designed properly;  untreated mastitis, etc.

4. Good Genetics – The genetics of a herd can make a 25% difference in production.  AI all heifers and cows.

5. Good Heat Detection – Without it you cannot have a successful breeding program.

6. Maintain and Use Accurate Records – Records of production, financial, herd health, breeding and feeding.  Without the use of good records, a herd manager is lost.

7. Know How Much You Are Feeding and Where It Is Going – Errors of up to 25% are common on some farms.  This is not only expensive, but can be very wasteful.  A mixer with a scale can be one of your best management tools.  Many farms have a 10-15% feed wastage at the feed bunk due to improper design or repair of the feed bunk.

8. Have a Sound Dry Cow Program – This part of the lactation/gestation is extremely important to the next lactation.  If a cow does not calve properly, due to a poor dry cow program, she will not milk well or breed back easily.  This is one area that is too often ignored.

9. Cull Unprofitable Cows – If a cow is not making you money, you can’t afford to keep her.
 
 

Position Announcement

Dairy Extension/Industry Position Available

Conduct educational programs on expansion, specialization, environmental sustainability, risk management and economic viability of dairy farms; Serve on behalf of the Progressive Dairy Producers of Ohio (PDPO) to increase membership, raise funds for programs, and address issues affecting members of PDPO.  Full-time, nonfaculty position.

Send cover letter, resume, and names of 3 references by June 1, 2000 to:
             Dr. Maurice Eastridge
             Department of Animal Sciences
             2029 Fyffe Road
             Columbus, OH 43210
             614-688-3059
             FAX: 614-292-1515
             email: eastridge.1@osu.edu
 

Calendar of Events

Top Dairies 2000 - Management and Marketing Workshop
Organized by the Dairy Farm Analysis Committee of  the National Program on Dairy Education, the work shop will  be held at the Wyndham Palace Resort and Spa in Orlando on August 14 and 15.  The program is called a workshop and not a conference because attendees actively participate in small group discussion sessions.  Producers who have submitted financial data will have the opportunity to gather into small, regionally diverse groups of 8-10 participants to discuss dairy enterprise benchmarks and their own management and marketing strategies.  For additional information, visit our web site:
http://cpdmp.cornell.edu/topdairies, or contact Normand St-Pierre at (614) 292-6507.

2000 Ohio Dairy Management Conference
The second biannual Ohio Dairy Management Conference has been scheduled for December 4, 2000 at the Ramada Plaza Hotel in North Columbus.  This new site should be of easier access to most attendees while maintaining the concept of a central location to all dairy producers in Ohio.  This time, the Conference Advisory Committee which is made-up of producers, industry and OSU-Extension people decided to condense the program to a one day event.  This should help producers who cannot get away from the farm for two days.  Also, most of the program will consist of break-out sessions where the content will be tailored to a specific clientele. Details will follow in the next few months.  In the meantime, block the day of December 4 on your calendar!