Longlands Farm

Project aims:

• Mastitis continues to be an important health problem on dairy farms and has a negative impact on cow health and production. There is a need to implement new tools and take a whole farm approach to reduce the impact of mastitis on welfare and production.
• The aim of this project is to introduce the farm business to the AHDB Dairy National Mastitis Control Plan as well as the new AHDB Mastitis Pattern Tool. The Mastitis Pattern Tool provides a fully automated method of assessing the predominant mastitis infection patterns present on farm, using somatic cell count (SCC) and clinical mastitis records. It produces a mastitis pattern report that allows farmers and vets to assess and prioritise key management areas and potentially detect emerging problems within the dry period and/or lactation period. The mastitis control plan will highlight the biggest risk areas for mastitis within the milking herd and provide a control strategy to reduce new clinical mastitis cases and subsequent antibiotic use across the milking herd.
• This project will help address the issues concerning mastitis on farm as well as reduce SCC across the herd. Additionally, the project will help to reduce the farm’s antibiotic usage through a more targeted approach.