Applications are now being accepted for the National Mastitis Council Scholars Program. The program provides travel scholarships for graduate students to attend the upcoming NMC 53rd Annual Meeting, January 26-28, 2014 in Fort Worth, Texas.

A maximum of four scholarships will be awarded. At least two scholarship recipients will be graduate students at a university or college outside of the United States and Canada.

The goal of the NMC Scholars Program is to encourage graduate student participation in National Mastitis Council programs and activities, and support the development of future milk quality researchers and specialists.

The application deadline is July 31, 2013. [more details]

Make your plans now to join us in for the NMC Regional Meeting in Portland, Maine.  This coastal city will be a great summer venue for the two-day NMC conference which features a day of short courses followed by the main general-session program.

Click here for complete details, including the program, online registration, and hotel information.

Want to learn more about the Portland area? Click here!

Somatic cell count (SCC) in Dairy Herd Improvement (DHI) herds enrolled in SCC testing in the United States averaged 200,000 cells/ml in 2012, which was less than the 217,000 average during 2011. This compares to 228,000 in 2010 and 233,000 in 2009. National average test-day herd SCC has declined every year since 2005, and every year except one since 2001.

The current federal SCC regulatory limit in the US is 750,000. In many other major dairy countries, the SCC limit is 400,000.

The overall percentage of herd test days that exceeded 400,000, 500,000, 600,000, and 750,000 during 2012 were 12.0%, 6.1%, 3.3% and 1.5%, respectively, which was lower for all levels than during 2011. The 1.5% of 2012 DHI herd test days that were higher than the present legal limit for bulk tank SCC in the US may overestimate the percentage of herds that shipped milk exceeding the legal limit because milk of cows treated for mastitis is excluded from the bulk tank even though included in DHI test data. The percentage of herd test-days that exceeded the legal limit also would have been higher than the percentage of herds that were rejected from the market because market exclusion only occurs after repeated violations.

[Read more here]

Mark you calendars! This summer’s National Mastitis Council Regional Meeting is scheduled for July 23-24, 2013 in Portland, Maine.

The first day of the conference will include specialized, interactive short courses, and the second day will feature a general session with a variety of topics related to udder health, milking management, and quality milk production.

Watch this site for updates as program details  become available.