Environmental SCC – What is most effective at preventing it

The factors mentioned below are what have proven to be most effective on Environmental SCC in a study by the International Dairy Federation in 2009. They looked into 436 other studies and trials and the information gathered was from a very large number of herds.

Below are the most effective measures which will reduce Environmental SCC on Average, ranked in order of importance.

Position Average %

Post milking teat disinfection 1 34

Milking subclinical cases last 2 21

Dry cow minerals 3 21

Drying off 4 19

Flushing clusters 5 16

Milking clinical cases last 6 14

Prestripping 7 14

Optimize feed 8 13

Prevent overcrowding 9 14

Clean stalls 10 13

Clean yards 11 8

Treatment protocol 12 8

Replace teat liners 13 8

Keep cows standing after milking 14 7

Wash dirty udders 15 6

Milkers’ gloves 16 3

Using a separate cloth 17 3

This doesn’t mean that the measures which are at the bottom of the list are not important. Everything on the list is important.

One thing not mentioned here, but which is important also, is good ventilation