On Farm Milk Culturing...

With the dairy industry facing increasing pressure to reduce antibiotic use, one alternative could be on-farm milk culturing. Louise Hartley reports.

After dry cow therapy, the treatment of clinical mastitis during lactation is the second biggest use of antibiotics on dairy farms. In a bid to fine tune their mastitis treatment and reduce intra-mammary (IMM) antibiotics use, an increasing number of North American farmers are using on-farm milk culturing, according to the University of Minnesota’s Dr Erin Royster. Speaking at the iFeed Forum, organised by Dugdale Nutrition, Lancashire, Dr Royster said on-farm milk culturing involved farmers collecting milk samples from cows with clinical mastitis and culturing them on media plates.

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