Milk quality is an ongoing battle for many dairy farms. Just when you think you’re on top of your somatic cell counts, the next bulk tank report arrives saying it went up again. And since many cooperatives provide premiums based on milk quality, this is a problem that is costing you money.

While many factors play into milk quality, some that are in your control and others that aren’t, this article will discuss a few ways to stay on track with fixing milk quality. From proper milking protocols to milk testing, there are a lot of resources out there to begin this process. Let’s dive in!

An area to focus on for milk quality is milking preparation areas and protocols. Are teats being properly washed before milk machines are placed on them? Are washcloths being used only once or on multiple udders? Are udder issues or cuts being noted and treated? How about the vacuum levels on the milk machines themselves?

Looking at the small things will have a big impact on milk quality. As the saying goes – take baby steps. Getting the basics right helps with aiming for larger things. And when you start this journey, aside from the small things, think about employees too. They are the ones who interact with cows the most in the milking parlor. And they are the ones who execute the protocols you have for your parlor.

If you decide to make a change in your milk process, the employees are going to be the ones who are actually following it. That might be another area to routinely inspect as well. Although you may train an employee, checking in every few months or weeks will make sure that processes are being followed. Or if you rely on a parlor manager to teach new employees, you can spot-check their work by popping in at different times. Let’s face it, employees are humans and sometimes shortcuts become habits, which hurts milk quality.

Speaking of humans, perhaps it's time to bring in outside opinions for help. Veterinarians and nutritionists can work with your farm to build solutions for your herd. A veterinarian can inspect udders for possible problems. Nutritionists can build a ration to help level out component levels. It’s never a bad idea to talk with other farmers too to get their insights or ideas for how they’ve improved their milk quality. Industry events and conferences often have specialists or speakers who have presentations on how a milk quality issue was studied or a case study on how a farm improved its milk quality. This is the information you can bring to your farm and test in your herd.

Another spot to get help with milk quality is a milk laboratory. You can’t always tell by looking at milk how your quality is. A bulk tank sample is representative of the whole herd, not individual cows. If one or two cows are causing quality issues, then it is important to find them and treat them.

A milk sample can give you a clear insight into what’s happening with every single cow in your milking herd. You’ll be able to flag cows with high somatic cell counts and sort them out of current pens. You can see which cows produce the most milk or have higher levels of a specific component, all of which feed into your milk quality.

An aspect that also impacts milk quality is cow health. That’s something else that you can screen through a milk sample. Depending on the lab you select, there are many things you can test a milk sample for including pregnancy, milk urea nitrogen and Johne’s disease. All of these will aid not only milk quality but overall individual cow and herd health.

One of the biggest health issues a herd can face is mastitis. If not caught early, mastitis can spread through an entire herd like wildfire and tank milk quality. There are many types of mastitis out there, and each brings its own version of pain to cows and milk. One of the mastitis variants that farms need to watch for is Mycoplasma bovis. This is an incurable mastitis that can quickly spread through a herd. 

Luckily, there are tests available that can detect this disease through its DNA. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a test that can amplify small segments of DNA in a milk sample. A milk laboratory can use PCR to find mastitis-causing bacteria in milk. However, there are solutions out there for farms to test milk right on the farm for mastitis.

Acu-POLARIS is an on-farm, easy-test-use testing system that farms can use right in their herd office. It has a thermocycler for testing milk samples, and then software to scan samples and record results into the herd office computer. That information can then be shared with owners, herd managers and veterinarians. Each person will then be able to help start pulling cows from the milking herd to prevent the further spread of mastitis. This system doesn’t just test for Mycoplasma bovis, but four other types of mastitis too. Once you have an accurate picture of cows with mastitis, that will aid in improving milk quality.

The road to quality milk is full of speed bumps and twists. The important thing is to just start small by looking at basic milking practices. From there, meet and train with your employees to ensure proper protocols are being followed during the milking process. Talk to people outside of your farm like veterinarians, nutritionists or fellow farmers to get their insights into possible fixes. And finally, test your milk. Use a milk laboratory or purchase a system that you can use in your own offices. Milk quality is important for your bottom line, so make sure it’s a continuous item on your to-do list.