May 2024, Volume 47, No. 3
NMC’s May 7 Webinar Addresses Feeding Trace Minerals to Support Udder Health
National Mastitis Council’s (NMC) May 7 webinar, led by Marcello Guadagnini, Axiota Animal Health international technical manager, features “Enhancing Udder Health via Trace Minerals.” This free, one-hour educational offering starts at 11 a.m. Central time (USA/Canada).
Udder health is a multifactorial problem in which dry period and peripartum health play a key role. Trace minerals are critical for mammary gland immunity. Trace mineral status optimization during the dry period can improve udder health. By attending this webinar, you’ll gain a better understanding of the role trace minerals play in immunity and udder health. Learn about the oxidative stress mechanism around calving and gain skills to optimize trace mineral status during the dry period.
By attending this webinar, participants will:
- Understand the role of trace minerals in immunity and udder health
- Understand the oxidative stress mechanism around calving
- Understand how trace mineral status can be optimized during the dry period
After graduating with a degree in veterinary medicine from the University of Parma in 2009, Guadagnini practiced as a dairy cattle veterinarian at Armigio Vet Group. In 2012, he completed a specialization degree in animal health, breeding and livestock production at the University of Parma. From February 2013 until March 2023, he worked for Elanco Animal Health. Since 2015, Guadagnini has been a ruminant technical manager for Italy and also for Spain and Portugal in 2018-2020. In March 2023, he joined Axiota Animal Health, where he provides technical support to Axiota’s portfolio for dairy and beef cattle.
To register for this webinar, go to: https://bit.ly/NMCWebMay7. If you are an NMC member and cannot attend the live program, you may access the webinar recording after May 21, at: nmconline.org.
NMC received approval for one Registry of Approved Continuing Education (RACE) credit. RACE credits help U.S. and Canadian veterinarians fulfill continuing education requirements. For further information about NMC’s RACE offerings, contact JoDee Sattler at: jdsattler@nmconline.org.
NMC Regional Meeting Takes Place in Ghent, Belgium, August 12-14
Ten years after M-teamUGent, Ghent University, Belgium, organized a very successful NMC Regional Meeting in Ghent, which attracted 673 attendees from 50-plus countries, the same crew is organizing another regional meeting. This event is also supported by MEX – a spinoff company of M-team.
“The program looks exciting,” says Sofie Piepers, CEO of MEX and co-organizer. It includes state-of-the-art sessions with great speakers as part of the General
Program, Tech Transfer and Poster Sessions, two Satellite Symposia, two Industry Lunch Fora and several very interesting Short Courses.
“The social program includes a small classical concert the first day (Aug. 12), just before the welcome reception,” says Sarne De Vliegher, co-organizer. “This a ‘must’ for this year’s regional meeting, as the conference takes place in a contemporary historic music hall.”
The conference dinner (Aug. 13) starts in the city gardens, which includes a vineyard of Saint Peter’s Abbey. “We will reach the gardens via small boats by leaving the city center and docking at the entrance of the gardens,” De Vliegher notes.
Both organizers echo: “We are doing our utmost best to organize a memorable conference – combining applied science and fun, with great networking opportunities and memorable foods and drinks. The support of sponsors is overwhelming and together we are welcoming anyone around the globe working in udder health and/or milk quality to Ghent.”
More about Ghent
Ghent is a beautiful, car-free, medieval city, with numerous “not-to-be-missed opportunities” to visit, including The Castle of the Counts, museums, Saint Bavo’s Cathedral with the Mystic Lamb from the Van Eyck Brothers, the Belfry, Saint Peter’s Abbey, the city center, which is in between the rivers Lys and Scheldt (Portus Ganda), with ample opportunities to shop, eat and drink (>1,600 types of beer), street art, The Booktower, multiple theatres, an opera house, The Krook (library) and the newly renovated Winter circus. So, Don’t come to Ghent (Ha!).
Ghent has a wide range of hotels that are all reachable by foot or public transportation (bus, tram) from the conference venue.
The General Program
#AHeadFullofDreams is the first session, with a keynote presentation by Ynte Schukken on the first day.
The second day includes:
- #UpdateOnDiagnostics
- #TrainingandCommunication
- #SmartFarmingandAutomation
- #DataAnalyticsandMonitoring
Also, the Tech Transfer and Poster Sessions will include 10 accepted oral presentations.
During the third day, presenters will cover:
- #AntimicrobialStewardship
- #WhatWillTheFutureBring
If you want to know more about the conference, visit https://nmc2024gent.com.
Graduate Students: Apply for the NMC Scholars Program
2024 NMC Scholars Front row: Brandon Gonzalez-Cordova, University of Concepcion, Michelle Buckley, Iowa State University, and Alessandro Bellato, University of Torino Back row: Tana Jo Almand, University of California, Davis, Andrew Sommer, University of Wisconsin, Mary Jane Drake, University of Pennsylvania, and Desiree Lassen, Technical University of Denmark
For the 18th consecutive year, the National Mastitis Council (NMC) is offering its Scholars program. At least four travel scholarships will be granted to full-time graduate students interested in controlling mastitis, promoting udder health and improving milk quality. Successful applicants earn an expense-paid trip to attend the NMC 64th Annual Meeting, Jan. 27-30, 2025, in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA, at Le Meridien-Sheraton Charlotte.
To apply for the NMC Scholars program, applicants must complete the application form, submit an interest statement that details the applicant’s interest in controlling mastitis and improving milk quality, career goals and research project(s), and provide a letter of recommendation. Applicants may also share additional information, such as awards, honors and scholarships received.
At least two NMC Scholars will be graduate students at a university or college outside of the United States and Canada. Eligible candidates must be an NMC member and enrolled full time at a college or university in a dairy, animal or veterinary science, microbiology or related program at the time of application deadline, with an area of interest that includes mastitis control and quality milk production.
On June 1, NMC will open the NMC Scholar program’s application process. The application deadline is July 31. Applicants will be notified by Aug. 31, regarding the selection committee’s decisions. To learn more about the program, go to: https://www.nmconline.org/nmc-scholars-program.
NMC Members Address Internal Teat Sealants Through Podcast
Pat Gorden
Pat Gorden and Michelle Buckley, Iowa State University, discuss the use of internal teat sealants in dairy cows via a podcast. Listen to this episode at: https://www.buzzsprout.com/814177/14919161. You may listen to this podcast on your favorite podcast platform. Gorden is a past NMC board member and Buckley was a 2024 NMC Scholar.
Michelle Buckley
During the podcast, Buckley and Gorden review some of the challenges with producer use of internal teat sealants and the importance of equivalence studies for practicing veterinarians. The first study discussed was an equivalence study comparing two different internal teat sealants. The take-home message from this study is that both products demonstrated equivalent results when comparing the outcome variables studied.
The second paper evaluated the persistence of the internal teat sealant in the mammary gland during the dry period. This paper was from one herd and looked at migration of the teat sealant from the teat into the cistern of the mammary gland using radiographs as well as strip yields after freshening. The authors also investigated if location of the internal teat sealant impacted risk for new intramammary infection during the first 120 days in milk.
Links to publications
Buckley, M.P., J. Bayne, T. Tomazi, B.E. Miller, S.M. Godden, G.S. Silva, and P.J. Gorden. 2023. A randomized equivalence study evaluating the efficacy of two commercially available teat sealants in dairy cows. The Bovine Practitioner, 57(2), 36–50. https://doi.org/10.21423/bovine-vol27no2p36-50
Buckley, M.P., J. Bayne, T. Tomazi, B.E. Miller, G.S. Silva, and P.J. Gorden. 2023. Evaluation of internal teat sealant persistence in the mammary gland during the dry period. The Bovine Practitioner, 57(2), 51–59. https://doi.org/10.21423/bovine-vol27no2p51-59
Employee Training Paradigm Shift: Create Groups Based on Motivational Profiles
If you manage a dairy farm in a developed country, odds are you struggle to recruit and retain labor. During the 2024 National Mastitis Council Annual Meeting, Ian Ohnstad, a dairy consultant with The Dairy Group, Taunton, Somerset, United Kingdom, described the shrinking labor pool.
Ian Ohnstad
In 2021, the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers surveyed UK dairy farmers and found that 63 percent of farmers struggled to recruit and retain labor over the past five years. This figure increased from 51 percent in 2016 and 40 percent in 2014. Of the survey respondents, 80 percent claimed that staff recruitment and retention significantly threatened their business while 32 percent of respondents said they were considering leaving the industry due to labor challenges. Similarly, 77 percent of respondents reported that they made adjustments to working practices on their farm, including improving staff accommodations, offering more time off and more flexible work schedules, providing pensions and implementing staff training programs. Forty-two percent of respondents employ “foreign workers.”
Effective training helps recruit, retain employees
Based on personal experience and numerous published papers, Ohnstad firmly believes that implementing structured training and development programs helps attract and retain good staff. Ultimately, this provides a more secure labor force for the future. “Unfortunately, very few farms adopt a structured training program relying on new members of staff being trained by existing staff, often perpetuating poor practices,” he noted.
Ohnstad explained that, historically, employee managers acted on the premise that their employees think rationally. Thus, many staff training and engagement programs strove to provide sufficient knowledge and information to employees. If implemented properly, employees would change their behavior.
Research done by Vibeke Fladkjaer Nielsen, a Danish dairy consultant, debunked this strategy. Instead, her research shows that motivation comes from two sources. First, employees can be motivated externally if their actions are rewarded or if their actions avoid something unpleasant. Some refer to this as the “carrot and stick approach,” whereby the carrot is the reward for doing something correctly and the stick is the unpleasant consequence for doing something wrong.
Second, employees can be motivated internally. They take action because a topic is interesting or enjoyable. “Intrinsic motivation also involves seeking out and engaging in activities that are challenging, interesting and internally rewarding – although not always with the prospect of an external reward,” Ohnstad explained.
Get ‘buy-in’ for change
“Achieving a behavioral change is always challenging and expecting immediate engagement and massive behavioral change with a milking team is somewhat naïve,” Ohnstad continued. He warned the NMC members that change is usually resisted because it is easier to stay with a known practice. “The current practice feels safe and is habitual. However, and more importantly, the adopted practice we are looking to change is usually easier to carry out than the old practice.”
According to Danish research, to change behavior and routines, you should first understand what motivates an individual. Ohnstad shared five motivational profiles – perfectionist, result-oriented workhorse, focused workhorse, equilibrium employee and worker. “An individual’s motivation influences how they learn,” he noted. “A ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach is unlikely to be successful.” Thus, conduct training in small groups – after you understand what motivates individuals. Create small groups so “like-minded” (similar motivational profiles) individuals are in the same group.
Ohnstad reminded NMC members that standard operating procedures (SOP) are invaluable in fostering consistency among employees. “However, issuing an SOP without following three implementation steps is likely to lead to lower levels of acceptance.
SOP implementation steps
- What? This describes the action that needs to be taken.
- How? This describes how the activity should be completed.
- Why? This explains the activity’s importance and what can happen if it is not implemented.
For a clearer understanding of the SOP implementation steps, Ohnstad shared this teat preparation example.
- What? Clean the teat to achieve a clean, dry, well-stimulated teat.
- How? Take an individual clean cloth (one cloth per cow) and wipe each teat carefully to remove all evidence of soil and bedding material. After wiping each teat barrel carefully, wipe the teat end with a twisting motion. Dispose of the cloth in a soiled cloth bucket.
- Why? Clean dry teats reduce the risk of a new mastitis infection and help the cow let down her milk more effectively.
Following the initial training session, trainees should perform the SOP. Then, the trainer should follow the trainees, monitor their effectiveness of the task/technique, provide feedback and offer further coaching. On a regular basis, monitor employees as they perform SOPs, identify procedural drift and quickly intervene with targeted training for those who have strayed from the SOP.
Putting small group training into practice
Ohnstad described an 1,800-cow UK dairy that changed its training approach to the recommended Danish model. This dairy farm put its 16 employees into one of three groups – based on their motivation style, experience and attitude. Last year, the dairy delivered two training sessions – one on milking preparation and one on dry-off techniques. The training was offered three times and subtly adjusted to meet each group’s different training style preferences.
To determine how the employee training format change was received, the dairy farm owner met with each milking technician last fall. Below are some of the comments employees shared.
- I now understand why I am being asked to do something in a particular way.
- It is easier to ask questions in a small group.
- I didn’t like science in school and just wanted to know how to do my job.
- I like being told I’m doing a good job.
- I don’t need training as I have been milking cows for 20 years.
Ohnstad concluded that dairy farm employee recruitment and retention will most likely continue to be a challenge. Thus, he recommends identifying each employee’s motivational profile, so you can offer a more targeted training program.
“Training is an investment in your business,” Ohnstad stated. He admitted that a targeted training program with smaller groups of like-minded individuals may appear onerous. However, this type of training should create and develop employees with higher levels of motivation. Ultimately, you should experience less staff change and a significant return on this investment.