Most dairy producers I’ve talked to tell me they farm because they love the outdoors, they love working with animals, they love operating equipment and they love working in the fields. Rarely do I hear it’s because they love producing a high-quality beverage for infants or the elderly.

Does that mean the quality of milk produced is not a priority of the farm? Certainly not.

While many people may enter dairy farming for the reasons stated above, it doesn’t take long to learn that everything centres around the creamy white product that leaves the farm. All efforts, from tilling the soil to caring for the cows, are done with milk in mind.

That is why this issue focuses on milk quality and parlour management. We’re looking at how to keep udders healthy and how to harvest efficiently to ensure the milk that enters the tank meets the expectations of today’s consumers.

Tom Bass takes milk quality to the front end of the cow. He shares some nutritional strategies and feed additives that can be utilized to better maintain or enhance immune function and, thereby, reduce a cow’s susceptibility to mastitis Click here to read the article.

As the National Mastitis Council celebrated its 50th anniversary, it took a moment to look at the evolution of contagious and environmental mastitis and the lessons learned along the way.

Click here to read the article and see how discoveries were made that shaped the milk quality strategies of today.

When it comes to managing mastitis, there are a lot of decisions to be made. Click here to read how David Kelton from the University of Guelph will help dairy producers define a case of mastitis, decide which cows to treat and which ones not to treat, determine the “bug” that is the cause of the infection and decide the treatment that will work best.

Milk quality doesn’t end with the udder. The facilities used in harvesting milk can also play a role in how the product will turn out.

Ron Robinson and the clean-in-place detectives are back with another CIP challenge, click here to read the article.

This time they are looking at maintenance issues in a place you might not suspect. Even if this particular instance is from an ocean away, the same problems might be lurking just outside your door.

Speaking of maintenance, has your parlour floor maintained the beautiful surface it had when the first cow walked in? Perhaps it’s time to look at ways to repair your flooring. Mike Kramer has some ideas for you click here to read them.

When it comes to quality, the customer is always right. Well, Francisco Rodriguez has another customer in mind as he shares how to make a good robotic milking facility great, click here to read about it.

Perhaps you were thinking of customers of the human variety. If so, you may want to read how David Lightsey is debunking myths that cause athletes to bypass milk as a post-training beverage click here to read.

Just imagine what the market would look like if every hockey player in Canada finished a workout with the quality protein drink we like to call milk.

Quality can be achieved. Hopefully, these articles will not only help you refine the milk quality issues challenging you, but also encourage a little better marketing to your customers – be they bovine or human.