Tuesday, 21 July 2015 15:21

Faster, cheaper checks on mastitis

Written by 
Leon Spurrell (right) and Natasha Maguire with their mastitis diagnostic tool. Leon Spurrell (right) and Natasha Maguire with their mastitis diagnostic tool.

Figures from DairyNZ suggest the average New Zealand dairy farm spends around $54,000 annually on the battle against mastitis.

This includes treatment, the value of milk withheld and lost production, so it can be called a ‘silent tax’ on the dairy production sector.

So it was good to see the Farm Medix Company walk off with the National Fieldays Launch NZ Innovation Award and the Innovation Den Award for its Check-Up mastitis diagnostic tool.

Herd testing might give ‘snapshots’ of somatic cell counts on a given day, but these don‘t reveal sub-clinical symptoms, and that a cow might be harbouring more serious and likely contagious pathogens that might pass to others in the herd.

The Check-Up kit requires the initial purchase of an incubator, and includes reference books and a poster to identify the most common pathogens. 

In practice a sample is taken after teat cleaning and the stripping of fore milk. This might be from a suspected quarter, or as a composite sample from the four quarters to get an overall picture of udder health.

The sample is then streaked onto the Check-Up test plate and incubated for 24 hours then compared with the reference charts. The location and colour of any growths will determine the pathogen involved. 

If there are no growths it is prudent to re-incubate for a further 24-96 hours to ensure the sample is clear. In a lot of cases the cow will self-heal but the test will enable the user to detect underlying pathogens that lead to chronic problems.

The test kit can detect S.aureus, CNS, Corynebacterium, Strep Uberis, Strep dysgalactiae, Strep agalactiae, Enterococcus, E.coli, Kliebsiella, Serratia, Enterobacter, yeast, prototheca and pseudomonas. By identifying the key pathogen, the correct antibiotic can be prescribed for effective treatment and a reduction in resistance often caused by general treatment.

The key benefit of the kit is that results are to hand in 24 hours, as opposed to a vet test that might take 3-14 days depending on where the samples are cultured and analysed. 

Other than the incubator, no special equipment is required, and the test eliminates the need for a microscope, so might prove useful to vets who don’t have on-site laboratories but seek to get to the bottom of farmers’ high cell counts quickly.

Price: $620+GST for the start-up kit including the incubator and reference materials; individual tests then cost $22 each, bundled as 10 consumables.

www.farmmedix.com

 

More like this

Musical chairs

OPINION: DairyNZ's director elections has seen scientist Jacqueline Rowarth re-elected for another three-year term.

DairyNZ levy to increase?

Retiring chair Jim van der Poel has used his final AGM to announce the intention to increase the DairyNZ farmer levy for the first time in the industry-good body's 17-year history.

Tributes to retiring 'Jim the farmer'

Doing what is right, not what is easy, has been the hallmark of Jim van der Poel's leadership of, and advocacy for, the dairy industry, attendees at the DairyNZ annual general meeting heard last week.

Featured

New ag degrees at Massey

Changing skill demands and new job opportunities in the primary sector have prompted Massey University to create a new degree course and add a significant major into another in 2025.

The show is on!

It was bringing in a new Canterbury A&P Association (CAPA) show board, more in tune with the CAPA general committee, that has ensured that Christchurch will have a show this year, says CAPA general committee president Bryce Murray.

National

'Quite a journey'

Former Synlait chief executive Grant Watson says the past two years have been quite the journey.

DairyNZ levy to increase?

Retiring chair Jim van der Poel has used his final AGM to announce the intention to increase the DairyNZ farmer…

Former Fonterra CEO dies

Former Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings passed away in the Netherlands over the weekend.

Machinery & Products

Milk Sustainability Centre launched

The recently announced Milk Sustainability Centre – a collaboration between global giant John Deere and milking and feed specialists De…

Data connection made easier

New Holland and Case IH are introducing new advancements in their precision technology stack to make farming easier and more…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Feed from farmers

OPINION: The country's dairy farmers will now also have a hand in providing free lunch for schools.

Brighter future

OPINION: The abrupt departure of Synlait chief executive Grant Watson could be a sign that Chinese company Bright Dairy, the…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter