The SCC figure peaked at 272,000 in 2009.

The positive story of reducing somatic cell counts was described at the Animal Health Ireland (AHI) CellCheck awards in Kilkenny this week.

Milk recording data is also showing a similar trend to the bulk tank data.

The 2015 milk recording average results were the lowest SCC results since 2010. Now the annual milk recording average for over 60% of herds is less than 200,000, equating to over 64% of the volume produced.

Since 2010, a co-ordinated national plan on tackling somatic cell count has tightened the loop on those farmers producing high SCC milk.

The high-SCC farmers have been trained, the trainers have been trained, and, the trainers’ trainers have gone to other countries to see and bring back best practice on managing SCC. A combination of workshops, penalties, rewards, one-to-one advice and a national media campaign has yielded dividends.

Annual average SCC.

Some had suspected that the SCC data would turn in the wrong direction when the quota brakes came off in March 2015.

They feared more high-cell-count cows would get a second chance as it was possible to sell more litres. For 2015, the first part-year post quota removal, this clearly was not the case. It will be interesting to see if the 2016 SCC figures will continue to decline.

For the moment, Cellcheck, farmers, milk quality advisers, researchers and processors can stand up and take a bow – the direction of travel is good and the SCC results are going in the right direction.

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