An On-farm Education

Program for Dairy Farm

Employees

G. Andres Contreras DVM MS PhD

Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences

Michigan State University

Mastitis

• Most costly infectious disease

of dairy cattle

• Associated with antimicrobial

use and drug residues in meat

and milk

• Reduces productivity per cow,

milk shelf-life, and yield of milk

products such as cheese

Mastitis Prevention

Programs

Essential for:

• Food safety and

quality of dairy

products

• Animal health and

wellbeing

• Economic success

of producers

Jeff

Wat

ts, P

fize

r

He

rd S

ize • Small

• Medium

• Large

Ho

usin

g • Geographical location

• Free stall

• Tie Stall

• Grazing

• Conventional

• Organic

Lab

or

• Family

• Religious believes

• Hired workforce

• Latinos

US Dairy Industry Diversity

Mastitis Prevention Programs

One size does not fit all

Too broad for diversity of US dairy industry

Don’t identify management priorities for individual

farms

Don’t evaluate outcomes

Lack effective communication between producers and

hired labor

An Integrated Extension and

Education Program to Reduce

Mastitis and Antimicrobial Use

• Develop and evaluate a farm

evaluation and monitoring

program (Quality Milk Alliance;

QMA) as a tool to reduce

mastitis and antibiotic use on

dairy farms

Quality Milk Alliance

5 Key components of the QMA

Farm Management Culture

Intervention based on:

• A survey sent to

• 752 dairy herds in Michigan

• 820 herds in Pennsylvania

• 128 herds in Florida

• 628 responses (41%)

• Focus groups with dairy owners, managers,

and employees

5 Key components of the QMA

Reported Mastitis Management Practices

n = 628 herds - relationship with mastitis

Standardized

coefficient - β

P

≥ 600 cows (large dairies) 0.161 0.035

Presence of non-family

employees

1.048 0.000

Employees play an important

role in mastitis problems

- 0.124 0.008

Train employees in mastitis

protocols

-0.074 0.051

Tec

hn

ica

l K

no

wle

dg

e

Training

Diverse

“On-the-job” training by co-workers.

Formal “milker training schools” for employees to

learn proper milking procedures and protocols.

Workers usually “learned” what to do through work

experiences.

Latino workers expressed interest in and a

need for more education and job training.

Sources of

Information

Co-workers with more experience

Pharmaceutical sales representatives

Veterinarians

Latino workers knew that cows with mastitis

symptoms needed a “treatment” or “the liquid”

but were unsure what the drug was or why they

were using it

Focus Groups

Who Usually Trains New Milkers?

(employee responses)

Anglo%

Latino%

Mangers/Owners 42 13

Other Milkers 51 81

Learn “on the Job” 7 6

TOTAL 100 100

Dairy Employee Education

Milk quality teams: owners, managers,

employees and veterinarians

Mastitis prevention and milk quality protocols

What, when, how, and why?

Improve technical knowledge of mastitis

Promote on farm training by veterinarians

The Cultural Lag of Dairy Extension

Gran jefe pluma blanca= Big chief with the white feather

Milk Quality Team… Who is missing?

Who is the Science Teacher for the “on-farm” class

room?

La Esquina de la Calidad de Leche

Quality Milk Corner

Teachers Education Material

“Veterinary Classroom”

Dairy Employee Education

• Engage All Farm Personnel into Quality Milk Program• Management Practices

• Drug Therapy

• Communication and Education

• Help dairy producers become “better coaches” for employees

• Help veterinarians/professionals become on-farm science teachers

http://qualitymilkalliance.com/

Acknowledgements

Competitive Grant no. 2013-68004-20439

Becky Schewe

Jean Kayitsinga,

Ruben Martinez

Phil Durst

Stan Moore

Ernest Hovingh

Ray Mobley

Lorraine Sordillo

Ronald Erskine

William Escalante

Marizel Davila

Figueroa

Employees

Managers

Owners