Friday, June 1, 2007

On - Farm Somatic Cell Counts - Save Thousands of Rands !!!!

The four biggest contributors to financial losses from high somatic cell counts or mastitis are:
1) Rejected tanks due to antibiotics in the milk
2) Lost production yield from cows with sub-clinical mastitis;
3) Lost premiums or price penalties based on bulk tank SCC;
4) Discarded milk from cows being treated for clinical mastitis.
Sub-clinical mastitis can reduce milk yields so gradually that losses may not be easily noticed.
One rule of thumb suggests that for every doubling of the BTSCC starting at 100,000 cells/mL you lose 2%–3% of potential production.
Based on this formula, a dairy with a BTSCC count of 300,000 might be yielding less than 93% of what it could.
By taking a sample of the bulk tank on a daily basis for R 23.50 per bulk tank,
or every second day for less than R 12 per test, one will be able to react immediately
to any rise in the somatic cell count.

Brought to you by PortaCheck, internationally accredited and solely marketed by Four Lakes Import and Export in South Africa.
For a free domonstration or more information, contact Johannes Jansen 082 5600 949 or e-mail johannes@fourlakes.co.za
Visit our website www.fourlakes.co.za

JJ

Portacheck South Africa is byna aanlyn. Nog 'n paar dingetjies uitsorteer.JJ