Consumers, processors and regulato-ry agencies are increasingly interested inthe safety and wholesomeness of milk,which in turn has resulted in a greateremphasis on management practices thatinsure the production of high qualitymilk. Despite technical advances inmilk processing, the quality of milk isstill determined at the dairy farm.

Milkers have the important, yet

routine, job of harvesting the milk fromthe udder of the cows in a manner thatmaintains milk quality and protects theudder from infections. In addition, themilkers have the responsibility ofwashing and sanitizing the milkhandling, cooling and storage system onthe dairy. They handle a complex set ofequipment and chemicals that affectmilk quality. During milking they detectcows with clinical mastitis. Other non-

5Milk Quality Incentives1

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John H. Kirk, DVM, MPVMExtension Veterinarian

University of California, DavisSchool of Veterinary Medicine, Tulare

(559) 688-1731 Ext 224jkirk@vmtrc.ucdavis.edu

milking employees also influence milkquality. Some employees manage thebedding and housing areas where thecows live. Other employees provideantibiotic treatments for cows that areinfected with mastitis and manage thecows while they are in the hospital pen.Given that these employees have aconsiderable influence on milk quality,there are important questions as to howto motivate them to maintain highstandards of performance. The use ofincentives to motivate dairy employeesis often cited as the means to improveperformance. The effectiveness ofincentives depends on the programdesign and should be a part of a largerprogram of employee supervision andtraining.

MILK QUALITY MEASURES

Milk from the dairy is frequentlyanalyzed for several milk qualityparameters. Such data is generated bothon the dairy and by the milk processor.There are actually so many parametersthat are analyzed that employees caneasily be overwhelmed by theinformation. It is the job of the dairymanagers to select and underscore thedata that is most appropriate to thespecific goals sought after. The dairymanager must transform the data into

information that the employees canrelate to their daily job performance.Here, we will consider some of the mostcritical milk quality measures.

Standard Plate Count (SPC)

The SPC is the total quantity ofviable bacteria in a millimeter (ml) ofraw milk expressed as CFU/ml (colonyforming units per ml). The bacteria arecounted but not specifically identified.The SPC is performed on milk samplescollected from the bulk tank. This isusually done at least monthly by themilk processing plant. The SPC isprimarily an indicator of the sanitationused by milkers as they milk the cows,the capacity of the equipment to rapidlycool the milk to less than 40 F within 2hours after milking, and the cleaningand sanitizing of the milking equipment.

Thus, the SPC will be elevated whencows are milked with wet or soiledudders and teats, with unclean orinadequately sanitized milkingequipment, or the system fails to rapidlycool the milk to less than 40 F. The SPCmay also be elevated when cows withmastitis due to Streptococcus agalactiaeor environmental Streptococcus speciesare milked into the bulk tank. Damagedor over-used inflations or liners mayalso influence the SPC.

Milking employee influence on SPC:Employees are responsible for (1)attaching the milking units only to cowswith clean and dry udders and teats; (2)reporting problems with wash and drypen equipment, or lack of towels orsupplies to clean and dry the udders andteats to management; (3) followinginstructions for properly cleaning andsanitizing the milk system; (4) detectingcows with mastitis at each milking; and(5) ensuring that protocols for handlingand treatment of cows with mastitis arefollowed (milk from cows with mastitisor those treated with antibiotics shouldnot be sent to the bulk tank).

Influence by other employees onSPC: Workers responsible for properlybedding the free stalls and corralsshould provide adequate bedding tokeep the cows clean and dry. Failure toprovide a clean, dry, comfortable place

52 • DA I RY IN C E N T I V E PAY (4 T H ED I T I O N)

When milkers properly clean

and dry the teats before

attaching the milking

machine, they will harvest

high quality milk.

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for the cows to rest may result in overlydirty cows arriving at the milk parlorand may make it more difficult for themilkers to properly prepare the cowsprior to milking.

Management influence on SPC: Themanagement is responsible for mainte-nance and function of the wash and drypen equipment, provision of adequatesupplies of towels in the milking parlor,provision of cleaning and sanitizingchemicals, function of the water heatersor adequate amounts of hot water for thecleaning equipment, maintenance of themilking equipment function and thefunction of the milk cooling equipment.Management is also responsible for pro-viding clean, dry housing areas for thecows. Management is responsible totrain the milkers in the proper milkingtechniques.

SPC guidelines: SPC counts of<5000 CFU/ml are achievable andindicate high quality milk. Realistically,SPC of <10,000 CFU/ml. can beconsistently achieved on most dairiesand are acceptable. SPC counts >10,000CFU/ml. indicate a need forimprovement.

Laboratory Pasteurized Count (LPC)

The LPC is the measure of bacteriathat survive after pasteurization in thefinished milk products. These bacteriacome from the environment of the cow(Streptococcus sp. and the coliforms)and incubate on the milking equipment.These surviving bacteria produce offflavors and reduce the shelf-life of dairyproducts. The LPC is performed on bulktank milk samples at least once permonth by most milk processors. TheLPC generally reflects the sanitationlevel during milking and the adequacyof the milking system cleanup betweenmilking periods. Worn rubber liners orgaskets may harbor bacteria andcontribute to the LPC count. The LPCand the coliforms counts may beelevated with wash-up problems.

The LPC will be elevated when themilking system is not adequatelywashed and sanitized allowing thecontaminating bacteria to grow.Elevated LPC counts occur when thewash water is under 120 F, there isinsufficient agitation of the wash waterduring washing, with faulty air injectors,

MI L K QU A L I T Y IN C E N T I V E S • 53

Milkers should insure that the

milking equipment is properly

cleaned and sanitized

between milking periods and

should maintain the

cleanliness of the equipment

during milking to insure high

quality milk.

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by lack of enough or low quality soapsand chemicals, and incorrect use ofsoaps and chemicals. The sources ofthese bacteria are wet, dirty udders andteats and failure to properly prepare thecows before milking.

Milking employee influence on LPC:Milkers are responsible for milkingcows with clean, dry udders and teats.They should also alert the managementwhen worn rubber liners or gaskets arenoticed. The milkers are responsible forfollowing the wash and sanitationprotocols to insure an adequatelycleaned and sanitized milking system.

Influence by other employees onSPC: Workers responsible for properlybedding the free stalls and corralsshould provide adequate bedding tokeep the cows clean and dry. Failure toprovide a clean, dry, comfortable placefor the cows to rest may result in overly

dirty cows arriving at the milk parlorand may make it more difficult for themilkers to properly prepare the cowsprior to milking.

Management influence on SPC: Themanagement is responsible formaintenance and provision of cleaningand sanitizing chemicals, function of thewater heaters or adequate amounts ofhot water for the cleaning equipment,maintenance of the milking equipmentfunction and the function of the milkcooling equipment. Management isresponsible for training employees toproperly clean and sanitize the milkingsystem.

LPC guidelines: LPC counts <50CFU/ml are attainable. LPC countsshould be <200 CFU/ml. Counts >200CFU/ml are considered high and shouldbe investigated.

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While the milkers are

responsible for using the

milking equipment properly

to collect milk of high

quality, the managers of the

dairy are responsible for

overall maintenance of the

milking equipment and

training employees.

Coliform Count

The coliform count reflects the ex-tent of fecal bacteria in the milk. Thecoliform count is performed on raw milksamples from the bulk tank. Coliformcounts are usually performed at leastmonthly by the milk processor. The col-iform count may reflect milking cowswith wet, manure soiled udders and teatsor growth of coliforms within the milk-ing system. Cows with coliform mastitisrarely influence the coliform count.

The coliform counts may be elevatedwhen milkers fail to properly clean anddry the udder and teats prior to milking.Counts may be elevated when dirtymilking equipment is used to milk thecows or when the water source iscontaminated.

Milking employee influence on thecoliform count: Milkers are responsiblefor milking cows with clean, dry uddersand teats. The milkers are responsiblefor following the wash and sanitationprotocols to insure an adequatelycleaned and sanitized milking system.

Influence by other employees on thecoliform count: Workers responsible forproperly bedding the free stalls andcorrals should provide adequate beddingto keep the cows clean and dry. Failureto provide a clean, dry, comfortableplace for the cows to rest may result inoverly dirty cows arriving at the milkparlor and may make it more difficultfor the milkers to properly prepare thecows prior to milking.

Management influence on thecoliform count: The management isresponsible for maintenance andprovision of cleaning and sanitizingchemicals, function of the water heatersor adequate amounts of hot water for thecleaning equipment, maintenance of themilking equipment function and thefunction of the milk cooling equipment.Management is responsible for trainingemployees to properly clean and sanitizethe milking system.

Coliform count guidelines: Coliformcounts are attainable at <50 CFU/ml.Counts of 10 CFU/ml are associatedwith high quality raw milk. Coliformcounts > 100 CFU/ml suggest a need toinvestigate the source of the counts.

Preliminary incubation count (PIC)

The PIC count is a measure of bac-teria that will grow at refrigerator tem-peratures. The PIC gives an indicationof the on-farm sanitation and holdingtemperatures of the milk in the bulktank. It is similar to the SPC in that it isperformed on raw milk from the bulktank; however, in the PI testing the milkis held at 55 F for 18 hours before cul-turing in the same method as the SPC.

The PIC may be elevated when themilking handling and cooling system isnot properly cleaned and sanitized orwhen cows are milked with poor udderpreparation. Failure to rapidly cool themilk (<40 F within 2 hours), marginalcooling or prolonged storage times mayresult in high PI counts. Expanding themilking cow numbers and extending themilking times without increasing thecooling capacity may result in elevatedPIC.

Milking employee influence on PIC:Employees are responsible for attachingthe milking units only to cows withclean and dry udders and teats.Employees are responsible for reportingproblems with wash and dry penequipment or lack of towels to clean anddry the udders and teat to the dairymanagement. Employees are responsiblefor following instructions for properlycleaning and sanitizing the milk system.Lack of supplies or faulty equipmentshould be reported to the management.Employees should report problems withcooling the milk to the management.

Influence by other employees on thePIC: Workers responsible for properlybedding the free stalls and corralsshould provide adequate bedding tokeep the cows clean and dry. Failure toprovide a clean, dry, comfortable placefor the cows to rest may result in overlydirty cows arriving at the milk parlorand may make it more difficult for themilkers to properly prepare the cowsprior to milking.

Management influence on PIC: Themanagement is responsible for provisionof adequate supplies of towels in themilking parlor, provision of cleaningand sanitizing chemicals, function of thewater heaters or adequate amounts of

MI L K QU A L I T Y IN C E N T I V E S • 55

hot water for the cleaning equipment, aswell as the maintenance and function ofthe milk cooling equipment.Management is also responsible forproviding clean, dry housing areas forthe cows. Management is responsible totrain the milkers in the proper milkingtechniques and operation of the cleaningand sanitation of the milking equipment.

PIC guidelines: The PIC values aregenerally higher than the SPC. A PIC 3to 4 times the SPC suggests a potentialproblem with cleaning and sanitation ofthe milking system or poor udderpreparation prior to milking. Highquality milk will have a PIC of <10,000CFU/ml. Counts of <50,000 CFU/ml areacceptable. PIC >50,000 CFU/ml or >4times the SPC should be cause forconcern.

Sediment

Sediment is a measure of thecleanliness of the cows being milked.Sediment is the fine debris that iscapable of moving through the milkfilter into the bulk tank milk. Highsediments may also be associated withhigh bacteria counts.

Sediment may enter the milk whenextremely fine sand is used in thebedding materials of the cow housing. Itmay also enter the milk when themilkers are not using water to clean theudders and teats prior to milking.

Employee influence on sediment:Sediment may enter the milk when themilkers are told not the wash the uddersand teats prior to milking the cows.Sediment may also be found whenmilkers are not properly preparing theudders and teats during wet weather.

Management influence on sediment:Sediment may increase in the milk whenthe management instructs the milkersnot to wash the udders and teats prior tomilking. Sediment may also occur whenmanagement decides to use fine sand inthe bedding areas for the cows.

Sediment guidelines: Sedimentshould not be detected in the milk.

Added water

The milk is tested by the milkprocessor for added water using a

freezing point test. When water is addedto the milk, the freezing point will bealtered. Added water is commonly foundwhen water is accidentally left in themilking system between milkings.

Employee influence on added water:Added water may be found when themilkers fail to properly drain themilking system between milkings.

Management influence on addedwater: The management should instructthe milkers to insure that the milkingsystem is completely emptied of wash orrinse water prior to every milkingperiod.

Added water guidelines: No addedwater should be detected.

Antibiotic drug residues

Antibiotics are commonly used totreat mastitis or other conditions in dairycows. Each antibiotic has labelinstructions that indicate the approvedreasons for using the antibiotic, the doseor amount of the antibiotic, how oftenthe antibiotic dose should be repeated,the route of administration, and the typeof cow permitted to be treated with theantibiotic. Each antibiotic preparationalso has a specific withdrawal time forboth milk and meat. The withdrawaltime is the time from the last treatmentwith the antibiotic until the milk ispermitted to be put in the bulk tank forshipment to the processor.

Antibiotic residues occur whenemployees fail to follow the specificlabel instructions when treating cows.They may also occur when treated cowsare accidentally milked into the bulktank before the withdrawal period iscompleted. Residue may also occurwhen employees fail to clearly identifytreated cows with chalk marks, legbands or neck chains. They may alsooccur when written records oftreatments are not kept or are notchecked prior to returning the treatedcow to the milking herd. Treated cowsshould be housed and milked separatelyfrom main milking herd.

Milking employee influence onantibiotic residues: Residue may occurwhen employees milk treated cows thathave been identified as treated.

56 • DA I RY IN C E N T I V E PAY (4 T H ED I T I O N)

Other employee influence on antibi-otic residues: Non-milking employeesmay be charged with properly treating,identifying and separating milking cowsfrom the main milking herd. Employeesmay inadvertently cause an antibioticresidue by using an antibiotic in a man-ner other than indicated on the drug la-bel. Residue may also occur when em-ployees treat cows and fail to properlyidentify the cows and separated from themilking herd. Employees may causeresidue by removing treatment identifi-cation and returning the treated cows tothe milking herd before the milk with-drawal time has been completed.

Management influence on antibioticresidues: Management is ultimatelyresponsible to train all employees inproper antibiotic use and drug residueprevention. Management along with thedairy veterinarian should developwritten protocols for use of antibioticsand records systems to properlydocument antibiotic use as a mean toprevent residues.

Antibiotic residue guidelines:Antibiotic residue in milk should not bepermitted.

Somatic cell counts (SCC)

Low levels of somatic cells arenormally found in milk (<100,000cells/ml). The somatic cell count can bemeasured on bulk tank milk or milkfrom individual cows. When mastitisoccurs in a cow, the somatic cell count(SCC) in the milk for that cow willincrease in approximate proportion tothe severity of the infection within theudder. Milk production is inverselyrelated to SCC. An elevated SCC in aparticular cow will also influence thesomatic cell count of the bulk tank milk(BTSCC). Elevated BTSCC will reducethe quality of the milk from the herdresulting in lowered herd milkproduction, loss of quality milkpremiums, reduced cheese yields anddecreased shelf-life of the finishedproducts.

The individual cow SCC increaseswhen there is an infection within theudder. These infections are causedprimarily by bacteria and mycoplasma.

The source of these pathogens may beinfected cows or the environment.Infected cows transfer infections duringthe milking process on the milkingmachine and hands of the milkers.Environmental infections enter the udderthrough the teats from sources in thecow housing areas in between milkingperiods. Both clinical and non-clinicalcases of mastitis contribute to theBTSCC. The BTSCC is reflective on aqualitative basis to the extent ofindividual cow SCC or mastitisinfections.

Milking employee influence on SCC:The milkers play an important role in

MI L K QU A L I T Y IN C E N T I V E S • 57

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Fore-stripping of each

quarter prior to attaching the

milking units allows for early

detection and treatment of

mastitis resulting in lower

somatic cell counts.

the control of mastitis: particularlycontagious mastitis that spreads fromcow to cow during milking. Milkersshould only put milking units on cowswith clean, dry udders and teats.Milking units should be promptlyremoved from the cows when milkceases. Every cow should be treatedwith a post-milking teat dip that coversat least 90% of the teat. Milkers shouldpre-strip all cows in order to detectclinical mastitis at the earliest time afterthe onset of mastitis. Milkers shouldfollow the dairy protocol for informingthe dairy management when cows withclinical mastitis are detected.

Non-milker employee influence onSCC: Bedding in the housing areasshould be kept clean and dry to preventexcessive growth of bacteria that maycause mastitis from environmentalsources. Employees that treat cows with

mastitis should use appropriateintramammary infusion methods toprevent the introduction of pathogensinto the mammary gland and the spreadof pathogens to other cows. Employeesthat treat cows with mastitis should notreturn the treated cows to the milkingherd until they have clinically normalappearing milk. Employees that milk thecows in the hospital pen should be verycareful not to spread mastitis from onecow to another via the milking units ortheir hands.

Management influence on SCC:Management should insure that milkersare properly trained in the application ofmastitis prevention and control measuresduring the milking process. Thereshould be a written or pictorial protocolprovided to the milkers stating theprocedure for handling cows detectedwith clinical mastitis. Workers who treat

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All teats should be

completely covered with teat

dip after the milking

machines are removed at

the end of milking to control

contagious mastitis and

produce high quality milk.

cows with mastitis should be trained inproper intramammary infusiontechniques. Management should provideadequate bedding materials and aschedule for bedding management thatprovides for a clean, dry place for allcows to rest. Management should use aprogram of total dry-cow antibiotictreatment for all cows at the end of theirlactation. Management should reviewinformation on the prevalence ofmastitis within the herd on a regularbasis and send chronically infected cowsto market.

Guidelines for SCC: On anindividual cows basis, cows with SCC<250,000 cells/ml have a low risk ofbeing infected with mastitis at any stageof lactation. Cows with SCC >250,000cells/ml have an increased risk of beinginfected. Almost all cows with a SCC>500,000 cells/ml will be culture-positive for a mastitis pathogen.Repeated SCC > 250,000 cells/ml on aconsecutive or intermittent basis 2 or 3of 4 test periods) indicates a chronicinfection. BTSCC <200,000 cells/mlindicate high quality milk. BTSCC>300,000 cells/ml suggest a need toreview the dairy mastitis prevention andcontrol program. In some milkcooperatives, BTSCC >400,000 cells/mlwill result in a lower price for the milk.For sale off the dairy in California, theBTSCC must be <600,000 cells/ml.

Clinical mastitis

Clinical mastitis is the form ofmastitis that is visibly apparent to themilkers. Clinical mastitis will result inabnormal milk (flakes, clots, watery)and possibly signs of sickness in thecow as well. Milk from cows withclinical mastitis should not be milkedinto the bulk tank milk for sale. Milkfrom cows with clinical mastitis willalso have elevated SCC and be of poorquality. Cows detected with clinicalmastitis should be segregated from themilking herd and handled according tothe herd protocol. Early detection andtreatment of clinical mastitis can beexpected to reduce the incidence ofchronic, non-responding cases ofmastitis.

Most all forms of mastitis pathogensare capable of causing clinical mastitis.The Staphylococcal sp., Streptococcalsp. and mycoplasma generally causemild clinical mastitis that may becomechronic while the coliform bacteria oftencause severe, life-threatening mastitis.

Milking employee influence onclinical mastitis: Milkers should pre-strip all cows prior to milking in orderto detect clinical mastitis at the earliesttime after the onset of mastitis. Milkersshould follow the dairy protocol forinforming the dairy management whencows with clinical mastitis are detected.The milkers play an important role inthe control of mastitis particularcontagious mastitis that spreads fromcow to cow during milking. Milkersshould only put milking units on cowswith clean, dry udders and teats.Milking units should be promptlyremoved from the cows when milkceases. Every cow should be treatedwith a post-milking teat dip that coversat least 90% of the teat.

Non-milker employee influence onclinical mastitis: Bedding in the housingareas should be kept clean and dry toprevent excessive growth of bacteriathat may cause mastitis fromenvironmental sources. Employees thattreat cows with mastitis should useappropriate intramammary infusionmethods to prevent the introduction ofpathogens into the mammary gland andthe spread of pathogens to other cows.Employees that treat cows with mastitisshould not return the treated cows to themilking herd until they have clinicallynormal appearing milk. Employees thatmilk the cows in the hospital pen shouldbe very careful not to spread mastitisfrom one cow to another via the milkingunits or their hands.

Management influence on mastitis:Management should insure that milkersare properly trained in the application ofmastitis prevention and control measuresduring the milking process. Thereshould be a written protocol provided tothe milkers stating the procedure forhandling cows detected with clinicalmastitis. Workers who treat cows withmastitis should be trained in properintramammary infusion techniques.

MI L K QU A L I T Y IN C E N T I V E S • 59

Management should provide adequatebedding materials and a schedule forbedding management that provides for aclean, dry place for all cows to rest.Management should review informationon the prevalence of mastitis within theherd on a regular basis and sendchronically infected cows to market.

Guidelines for clinical mastitis: Areasonable goal is to limit clinical casesof mastitis to 2 cases or less per 100cows per month. This goal for clinicalmastitis might be expressed as <24% ofthe cows affected per year.

It should be clear at this point, thatthe production of high quality milk is acomplex task with inputs from themilkers, other dairy workers and thedairy management. Each group willneed to complete their tasks with a highdegree of proficiency in order for themilk to be of high quality.

MILK QUALITY INCENTIVEDESIGN

Chapter one deals with the design ofan incentive pay program at the dairy.

Specific issues that need furtherunderscoring for milk quality incentivesare included here. Feedback should beoffered soon after the task is completedto reinforce the desired performancebehavior. If weekly or monthlyperformance data are available--forexample, bacteria counts in milk--it isdesirable to issue incentives on thatbasis as well. When rewards come onlyonce a year for benchmarks achieved inthe distant past, the employees may failto associate the reward with the qualityof the performance. Furthermore, aquarterly or annual reward may be toodistant to positively motivate today'sperformance.

Many of the milk quality criteria arecomplex, and involve conditions thatcannot be perceived by the humansenses. Hence, management must beable to educate and train the employeeso that they can clearly see how theirperformance affects the desiredoutcomes. Similarly, the employeesmust perceive that the goal is withinreach, and within reasonable employeeperformance expectations. A farm that

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On dairies where milkers

meet their milk quality goals,

the dairy management can

reward them for their efforts

by using a well designed

incentive program.

attempts to move from poor milk qualityto superior milk quality in a very shorttime by placing responsibility solely onthe employees is sure to fail. Theemployees will perceive the goal asunattainable, no matter how attractivethe incentives.

It is imperative that managementselect the appropriate performancecriteria to be monitored and linked toemployee incentives. Incorrect monitorswill quickly reveal themselves, asemployees become frustrated by effortsthat do not achieve the desired results.For example, most farm managersmonitor total milk shipped on a dailybasis. On occasion, daily milkproduction is monitored as a means ofassessing the extent of mastitis in adairy herd. The linkage between udderhealth and milk yield has beenscientifically proven. It is incorrect,however, to extend that association andassume that all milk yield variation isdue to mastitis. Clearly, managementfactors like nutrition and feeding have afar greater influence on milk production.

The largest pitfall of most milkquality incentive programs is the lack ofchecks and balances. A dairy producerhad a significant problem with severeacute clinical Coliform mastitis.Management believed that if these casescould be caught early enough, treatmentwould be more effective and less harmwould come to the cow. The manageralso believed that the milkers did notlike to identify sick cows, as it requiredspecial handling of the cow that onlyslowed them down and prolonged thework day. In an attempt to deal with theproblem, the manager instituted afinancial incentive of five dollars foreach case of clinical mastitis that wasdetected early. As a result, the detectionrate nearly tripled and most of the caseswere incorrectly diagnosed. Theopposite is also true--if you pay fordecreased cases of clinical mastitis youmay initially find a decrease in thenumber of cases reported by employees,only to find elevated SCC's and moresevere cases of clinical mastitis later.

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS

A review of the major milk qualitycriteria indicates that employees do nothave complete control over the qualityof milk produced, nor the rate of newmastitis infections. Since it is notpossible to establish a perfect correlationbetween milker's performance, milkquality, and mastitis control, dairymanagement must be able and willing toadjust the criteria when the situationwarrants. For example, some dairycows are kept in the herd, even thoughthey are subject to recurrent episodes ofmastitis. Data from this type of cow isnot used in the determination of theincentive award.

Milk quality data can behave inways that are somewhat unusual; i.e.,subject to extreme variations resultingfrom specific farm conditions and prac-tices. Techniques such as averaging,high and low throw out, seasonal aver-ages, trend analysis, and zero toleranceare useful tools and will assist in the eq-uitable measurement of performance.

1. Averaging. For data that does notdiffer by orders of magnitude; i.e., 10.s,100.s, 1000.s, etc., simple averaging isappropriate. The bulk tank somatic cellcount, for example, could be averagedover many weeks and the incentive goaldetermined by the monthly averagevalue. In this manner one or two higheror lower counts in a short time periodwould not influence attainment of thegoal.

2. High and low throw out. Milkquality data is subject to erratic andgreat variations. Throwing out thehighest and lowest value for the monthor quarter may be appropriate when afew erratic values are evident. All of thebacteria count data, SPC, LPC, CC, andthe PI can behave this way. In contrast,prolonged elevation in the bacteriacounts is a very clear evidence of aproblem.

3. Seasonal Averages. In somelocations, weather and managementfactors may change conditions whichemployees cannot mitigate. In such acase, the average seasonal performance

MI L K QU A L I T Y IN C E N T I V E S • 61

can be calculated to establish the normor goal from which incentives aredetermined. Employee performanceexpectations are adjusted for seasonalweather or management practices.

4. Trend analysis. Trend analysis, asophisticated analytical tool, is usefulfor determining if any one or set of datapoints is within the normal andexpected variation. Using trendanalysis to set a course forimprovement in performance is similarto the step-wise goal process, butinstead of a series of steps, the goal isto follow a declining or inclining ramp.In step-wise analysis it is easy to tellwhen performance is on step. If wehave a straight line goal for bulk tankSCC, for example, how can we tell ifany given SCC is on the proper trend?For those that use computers and spreadsheets the answer is easy. The trend isselected from the management goal;i.e., in the next 48 months, bulk tankSCC should drop from 700,000 to150,000 cells per ml. of milk. A fewmonths of data will determine and helppredict the normal variation. Thecomputer can then indicate which SCC

values are better or worse than thoseexpected along the trend to lowersomatic cell counts and incentivesawarded accordingly.

5. Zero Tolerance. Some milkquality parameters may be tooimportant to consider trend movementor step-wise movement. Zero toleranceis another form of fixed goal, exceptthat the goal is no occurrences.Examples of the use of zero tolerancemight include antimicrobial residuesand added water. Both problems cansubject the producer to economic lossesand fines. The legal standard is zerooccurrences. Effective antimicrobialresidue avoidance requires that theemployee have the knowledge, tools,and authority to act to keep the milkresidue free. This requires knowledgeof what drugs are used and whichspecific farm tests are needed.

CONCLUDINGCONSIDERATIONS

Employee incentives are powerfultools if used correctly and fairly toimprove milk quality. Management andemployee must become veryknowledgeable about the milk qualityfactor they choose to improve. Theycan obtain positive results by focusingon one problem at a time and bymaintaining crystal clearcommunications.

CHAPTER 5 REFERENCES ANDRECOMMENDED READING

1. This chapter is an update of Milk QualityIncentives (Dairy Incentive Pay 3rd

Edition) by Richard H. Bennett.Substantial portions of that chapterwhere preserved here.

Peters, Tom & Waterman, R. H. In Searchof Excellence, Harper & Row, 1991.

Guidelines for Effective Installation,Cleaning, and Sanitation of MilkingSystems (NDPC2), September 1993,Northeast Dairy Practices Council,(315) 449-7547.

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Employee incentives can be

powerful tools if used

correctly and fairly by

management to motivate

employees to increase

production of high quality milk

on dairies.