Milk recording:

The first milk recording of the year should be completed now, if not already done. The real benefit of early milk recording is detecting the high-SCC cows. This is a really important management tool in tackling high SCC on farms. When the results from the recording come back, the high-SCC cows will be highlighted in the report. The next step is to get out the CMT paddle and test each quarter to find out which one has the infection. Some farmers take the quarter samples in milk sample bottles, marking which quarter they are from clearly and then they do the paddle test later, when they have more time and can see more clearly which quarter is affected. Treat the infected quarters with milking cow tubes. If a number of cows are being treated, it might be safer to pull them out of the main herd and milk them together at the end, to reduce the risk of their milk entering the bulk tank.