Global milk quality experts discuss practical strategies to enhance milk quality and udder health
New Prague, Minn. (February 2, 2024) – The 63rd National Mastitis Council (NMC) Annual Meeting, held Jan. 29-Feb. 1, in Dallas, revolved around the theme “Boots on the Ground – Making Milk Quality Happen” and attracted more than 300 members from 29 U.S. states, six Canadian provinces and 21 countries. The attendees represented milk quality, mastitis and udder health researchers, dairy producers and dairy industry partners. Meeting topics ranged from judicious antibiotic use to mastitis diagnosis to mastitis treatment costs to bedding’s impact on milk quality to dry-off procedure monitoring and training to animal husbandry.
“Milk quality starts on the farm,” stated Keith Engel, NMC Annual Meeting program chair and GEA business development manager – hygiene. “This year’s program featured presenters who work to make high-quality milk happen from applied on-farm research, industry experts who work directly with dairy producers and dairy producers who make high-quality milk happen every day. They shared understandable information and milk quality enhancement strategies that can be applied on many dairy farms around the world. Understanding and implementing ‘boots on the ground’ udder health procedures will enhance animal welfare, dairy farm profitability and consumer demand for dairy-based foods.”
During this event, NMC honored John Middleton, Columbia, Mo., who has spent most of his career with the University of Missouri. He received the NMC Award of Excellence for Contribution to Mastitis Prevention and Control, which is sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim. The 2014 NMC president, Middleton currently serves as the University of Missouri associate vice president and chief of staff in the office of the university president and as a professor in the department of veterinary medicine and surgery in the College of Veterinary Medicine.
In the National Dairy Quality Awards program, NMC honored six dairy operations as Platinum winners. These top-quality milk producers included Fessenden Dairy, King Ferry, N.Y.; Larson Acres Inc., Evansville, Wis.; Michigan State University Training and Research Center, Lansing, Mich.; Naatz Dairy Farm, Mantorville, Minn.; RKB Dairy, Faribault, Minn.; and Stuart Farms Inc., Lowell, Mich. Judges selected outstanding dairies to receive this honor based on quality milk production indicators, such as somatic cell count and bacteria count, along with milking routine, systems of monitoring udder health, treatment protocols and strategies for overall herd health and welfare. These herds ranged in size from 142 to 2,791 cows. Annual milk production (per cow) averaged from 26,313 pounds to 31,445 pounds. For average somatic cell count (June 1, 2022-May 31, 2023), these dairies varied from 63,000 to 96,000 cells/ml.
NMC awarded scholarships to seven outstanding graduate students to attend the NMC Annual Meeting. This year’s NMC Scholars were Michelle Buckley, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa; Andrew Sommer, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.; Tana Jo Almand, University of California, Davis, Calif.; Mary Jane Drake, University of Pennsylvania, Kennett Square, Pa.; Alessandro Bellato, University of Torino, Grugliasco, Piedmont, Italy; Desiree Corvera Kløve Lassen, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark; and Brandon Alfredo Gonzalez-Cordova, University of Concepcion, Chillan, Region de Nuble, Chile. The NMC Scholars program fosters the development of mastitis research and milk quality professionals from around the world.
During the NMC Annual Business meeting, members elected Justin Graham, BrooksCo Dairy, Quitman, Ga.; and Pamela Adkins, University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo.; to the NMC board of directors. Executive committee members are Keith Engel, GEA, Hampshire, Ill., president; Justine Britten, Udder Health Systems, Meridian, Idaho, first vice president; Roger Thomson, Michigan State University and MQ-IQ Consulting LLC, Battle Creek, Mich, second vice president; Alfonso Lago, DairyExperts, Inc., Tulare, Calif., secretary-treasurer; and Christina Petersson-Wolfe, Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg, Va., past president. Other board members include Simon Dufour, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Rick Watters, Quality Milk Production Services, Warsaw, N.Y.; Christy Dinsmoore, Novi, Mich.; Juan “Rodrigo” Pedraza, Zoetis, Willow Park, Texas; Amy Vasquez, Danone North America, Ithaca, N.Y.; Stephen Jones, DeLaval, Trinity, Fla.; Ian Ohnstad, The Dairy Group, Dorchester, Somerset, England; and Brandon Treichler, Treichler Consulting Services, Canyon, Texas. Linda Tikofsky, Boehringer Ingelheim, Trumansburg, N.Y.; and Lowell “Jim” Davenport, Tollgate Holsteins, Ancramdale, N.Y.; retired from the board.
NMC thanks its annual meeting sponsors who contributed to the program’s success. Platinum sponsors were Acepsis, Axiota, Boehringer Ingelheim, GEA and Merck Animal Health. Gold sponsors included DeLaval, Inc., Ecolab, Inc., Kersia, Land O’Lakes, Mastaplex and Zoetis. Silver sponsors were ABS Global, Inc. and BouMatic. Bronze sponsors included Corner Window Communications, Michigan Milk Producers Association and Upstate Niagara Cooperative. Dairy Partner sponsors included Christian Hill Dairy, Luck-E Holsteins and Tollgate Holsteins.
The 64th NMC Annual Meeting is set for Jan. 27- 30, 2025, in Charlotte. For additional information, go to: www.nmconline.org.
National Mastitis Council is a professional organization devoted to reducing mastitis and enhancing milk quality. NMC promotes research and provides information to the dairy industry on udder health, milking management, milk quality and milk safety. Founded in 1961, NMC has about 1,000 members in more than 40 countries throughout the world.
