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Winners of the
2008 National Dairy Quality Awards (NDQA) program were announced
during the NMC 48th Annual Meeting, January 25-28, 2009, in Charlotte,
North Carolina.
Now in its
15th year, the goal of the NDQA program is to honor dairy producers
who successfully have placed top priority on producing milk of the
highest quality. The NMC, along with Hoard's Dairyman, DTN Dairy,
Fort Dodge Animal Health, WestfaliaSurge, Inc., Ecolab Inc, IBA
Inc., Select Sires, Cover-All, and QMI, sponsored the awards.
Dairy farms
are nominated for the award by professionals in the dairy industry
who work with producers, such as dairy plant field representatives,
veterinarians, DHI supervisors, or extension personnel. Over 200
dairy farms were nominated in 2008.
Finalists from this year's program were judged by milk quality experts
who looked at quality indicators such as somatic cell count, bacteria
count and incidence of mastitis. The judges looked beyond just numbers
however -- applications were also evaluated for milking routine,
systems of monitoring udder health, protocols for detecting and
treating clinical and subclinical cases, record keeping, strategies
for overall herd health/welfare, and adherance to drug use regulations..
Platinum, Gold and Silver winners were designated from the group
of finalists.
Top-rated
Platinum winners, honored during the NMC Annual Meeting, are
pictured below [click here for photos and
brief bios].
For a complete
list of all Silver, Gold, and Platinum winners and nominators,
click here.
Read the "round
table discussion" article from the January 10, 2009
issue of Hoard's Dairyman, featuring the five NDQA Platinum
winners and their day-to-day strategies to produce high quality
milk [file size 550 KB] click
here.
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A global organization
for mastitis control
and milk quality |
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2008
NDQA Platinum Winners
click on images
for larger view
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Tom
and Shirley Carson, Hesperia, Michigan
Platinum in 2006 and Gold in 2007, the Carsons again earned Platinum
in this year's NDQA program. Several times they have ranked among
Michigan Milk Producers Association's (MMPA) highest quality milk
producers. Carsons milk their 85 cows in a flat-barn parlor and house
them in a sand-bedded freestall barn. They watch fresh cows closely
and run California Mastitis Tests (CMT) for two to three days, treating
right away, if necessary. The Michigan couple clips cows' udders up
to five times a year, and at freshening. Strep. and Staph.
species have been their challenge. |
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Jim
and Karen Davenport, Ancramdale, New York
The Davenports are repeat NDQA winners, earning Platinum in 2005 and
2007. With an average SCC slightly more than 54,000, 10 different
people milk their cows. The milkers are meticulous, making sure that
teats and teat ends are absolutely clean before attaching milking
units. Milk culturing has found evidence of Klebsiella and encouraged
them to improve cow lots. Davenports use a tie-stall barn with foam-type
mattresses and bed with kiln-dried sawdust and chips. Daily, they
add hydrated lime to the backs of stalls. Nominator David Patteson
of Agri-Mark uses "constant improvement" to describe the Davenports.
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Tim, Michele
and Chris McDonald, Greenwich, New York
Milking 38 cows, the McDonalds' herd had just one clinical case
of mastitis this past year. They double pre-dip in their tie-stall
barn. Twice a day, they put lime in shavings-bedded stalls, which
have mattresses. The McDonalds CMT fresh cows and check temperatures
twice a day for two weeks. They milk fresh cows and heifers last.
Nominator William Nichols of Stewart Processing attributes the McDonalds'
high quality milk to the farm's neatness and their continual quest
for higher quality milk.
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Michigan State University Dairy Herd, East Lansing, Michigan
The Michigan State University (MSU) Dairy Herd achieved a remarkable
51,000 SCC average, with four full-time and six student milkers. They
follow written milking procedures and wear gloves. Milkers use a good
post-dip and change inflations at half the rated lifespan to foster
healthy cow teat ends. Plus, the milking equipment dealer performs
regular maintenance on the equipment. The cows' stalls have mattresses,
covered with kiln-dried sawdust. Twice daily, they scrape alleys and
add hydrated lime to the stalls. Four times a day, they groom stalls.
Rubber tubs collect spilled water from water cups to prevent feed
and bedding from getting wet.
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Michael and George Prince, Tillamook, Oregon
The largest dairy herd among the Platinum winners, the Princes milk
585 Holsteins, Jerseys and crossbreds. Housed in a freestall barn
with mattresses covered with lots of shavings, the cows are milked
in a 40-stall rotary parlor. Three family members and three employees
do the milking. They clean stalls twice a day during milking. DHI
records help them find cows with subclinical mastitis. Nominator Bryan
Gibson of Tillamook County Creamery credits the Princes for their
hard work and attention to cow welfare, nutrition and barn management.
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Kenneth and Ralph Schefers, Paynesville, Minnesota
Two family members and two employees milk the Schefers' 74 cows, and
follow a milking routine of pre-dip, strip out foremilk, dry teats
using paper towel, attach milking units and post-dip. All milkers
wear gloves. The Schefers' tie-stalls, bedded with pine and aspen
shavings, are swept six times a day. They culture milk and bedding.
To enhance cow comfort, they keep stalls clean and use a tunnel ventilation
system during the summer. Schefers use DHI monthly SCC and cowside
SCC tests to detect subclinical mastitis.
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Dean and Patti Tohl, Tillamook, Oregon
Four-time Platinum winners, the Tohls' herd of 103 Holsteins and Jerseys had an average SCC of just 51,000. The Tohls do all the milking themselves in their double-4 herringbone parlor. They provide plenty of bunk space and a freestall for every cow in the barn, bedding with kiln-dried sawdust. The Tohls follow a motto of attention to detail, cleanliness, meticulous record keeping and doing what's best for the cows. To detect subclinical mastitis, they use DHI SCC milk testing and run CMTs. They record cow treatment information in a drug treatment book and include some information on DHI records.
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Ken, Anna, Duane and Laurie VanPolen, Marion, Michigan
With just a 12 percent turnover rate in their 192-cow Holstein herd, the VanPolens house cattle in sand-bedded freestalls and milk in a double-5 herringbone parlor. Four family members and two employees milk the cows, and follow written milking procedures and wear gloves. For the milking routine, they wipe teats and udders with a dry towel to remove debris, strip out foremilk, pre-dip, dry teats with one clean cloth towel per cow, attach units, hand strip and post-dip. Nominator Preston Cole of MMPA praises the VanPolens for their diligence, hard work, attention to detail, strong sense of purpose and desire to continually improve.
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