Indicateurs du suivi de la qualité du lait

Résumé

The aim of this article is to take a closer look at the calculation of various key indicators for subclinical mastitis that can help elucidate the farm-specific causes of problems with a high bulk milk somatic cell count and find the most appropriate solutions. The key monitoring indicators can help us identify the cause of an increased bulk milk somatic cell count. For example, a too high a percentage of new infections during lactation indicates sub-optimal milking machine performance, a suboptimal milking routine or increased infection pressure in the housing of lactating cows. A too high a percentage of cows with high somatic cell counts after calving may be due to too a high new infection rate during dry period because of an increased infection pressure in the dry cow housing or an a too low cure rate of existing infections during dry period. The latter may be due to insufficient monitoring of cows with high somatic cell counts during lactation or to antimicrobial resistance. By combining all the farm-specific information from all the key figures, we can be faced in practice with a very large number of (combinations of ) causes of the same problem: a too high bulk milk somatic cell count. However, a true "vet-ective" knows how to find the most effective (combination of) solutions for each dairy farm, based on the key figures.