Fourteenth deliverable available

The fourteenth deliverable is available now. It is entitled: 'Milk Quality on Farms with an Automatic Milking System'. It is the second deliverable of work package 4.

This deliverable (D9) reports a study on possible risk factors affecting milk quality on farms with an AM-system. In the Netherlands 28 farms were visited to gain more knowledge on this subject. Milk quality parameters studied were total plate count (TPC), bulk milk somatic cell count (BMSCC) and the level of free fatty acids (FFA). Possible risk factors concerned general farm characteristics, animal health, AM-system, cleaning, cooling, housing, management of the farmer and the hygiene on the farm. The results showed that TPC was significantly related to milk yield of the herd, cleaning of the area around the AM-system and the hygiene on the farm. Farms with high TPC had a lower milk yield and the cleaning around the AM-system was not done properly. BMSCC appeared to be significantly related to milk yield of the herd and the number of milkings before replacement of the liners. Farms with a low BMSCC in general had a higher milk yield. In addition farms with a high FFA level appeared to have on average more alert messages from the tank guard. Those farms also appeared to have less feeding places per cow and cows were dirtier compared to farms with a low FFA level.

Message date: June 3, 2003