new insights into the people side of milk quality
TRANSCRIPT
SUSAN SCHEXNAYDER
PRESENTED FOR
DAIREXNET
This material is based upon work that is supported by the National
Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture,
under award number 2013-68004-20424.
New Insight Into the People Side of Milk Quality
Significant changes in the dairy industry in the last two decades.
Somatic cell counts (SCC), a key marker of mastitis, remain higher in the Southeast US than elsewhere.
• 27% of milk samples from SE states had SCC >400K; 2% were > 750K
• States ranged from 18% to 46% SCC >400K
-50
0
50
100
150
200
Totalmilk
Milk percow
Outputper farm
% c
ha
ng
e
SE US
Change from 1995 to 2010
27.9 24.4 21.837.3
49.7 50.3 51.7
50.1
20.5 22.9 24.612.0
1.8 2.4 1.9 0.6
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
SE 2014 SE 2013 SE 2012 US 2012
SCC in SE and US
<200K 200-399K 400-749K >750K
Production of Quality Milk in the U.S. and
Southeast U.S.
Decades old 10-part Mastitis Management Program as well as
slides and videos on Dollars and Sense of Mastitis Control
Extension specialists, programs, and numerous fact sheets
Extension information online
Yet…
Bulk tank SCC > than desired
on certain operations.
What We Know Doesn’t Always Match What We
Do
Demand for higher quality milk
in the U.S. and internationally
Decline in the SE U.S. dairy
industry and its sustainability
What factors — social,
cultural, economic,
institutional, business, etc. —
contribute to adoption and
successful execution of
management practices to
produce quality milk by
minimizing mastitis and bulk
tank SCC?
A Focus on People, While Addressing the
Production of Quality Milk
We let dairy producers answer the question
• Small group discussion and surveys of owners & managers-primary decision makers (PDMs)- of dairy farms
• Capture info about
• Attitudes, motivations, influences
• Perceptions about mastitis, controlling mastitis, and info/guidance available
• Farm operation info, including bulk tank SCC
• Assured data represented farms in states surveyed
• Regressed monthly average bulk tank SCC on• Farm and farmer characteristics
• Farmer attitudinal variables
Answering the “Why” Question – What Factors
Explain Differences?
Coefficient Standard error
BTSCC Behaviors
- BTSCC one year ago (30% of cell count) 0.30* 0.16
- Producer takes action when BTSCC <300,000 -57,012** 27,930
Farm Structure Characteristics
- Sole proprietorship or partnership -15,258***, -11,018* 5,346; 6,647
- Has operations not related to dairy 11,366* 6,119
- In parlor during the milking -14,382** 6,179
Operator Characteristics
- Decision maker and employees speak same language 11,646* 6,293
- Will be operating as dairy farm in 5 years -12,933*** 4,829
Farmers’ Attitudes and Perceptions
- Responsible for mastitis on my farm† -19,167*** 6,661
- General concern about mastitis control† 17,706* 10,301
- Worried about financial consequences of mastitis 10,548* 5,871
State Indicators
- North Carolina, Virginia (with SE US as reference case) -52,251*; -23,323** 13,071; 10,577
Information Sources
- Veterinarian -26,110** 12,615
- Extension -9,047* 5,231
Significance: *** = p<0.01; ** = p<0.05; * = p<0.1. †= 1 standard deviation increase
These Factors Explain 65% of Variance in BTSCC
• Previous year’s BTSCC is a solid predictor of current BTSCC
• High performing and low performing farms tend to stay that way
• Early intervenors see results
• BTSCC difference is 66,236 cell/ml between those who take BTSCC corrective action below 300,000 and those who wait till BTSCC surpasses 300,000
Picture source: Ubrocare.com
BTSCC Behaviors & Current Year BTSCC
Do these factors indicate greater focus
on dairy operation yields lower SCC?
- Sole proprietorship or partnership (-
15,000; -11,000)
+ Non-dairy operations (+11,000)
- Owner/manager in parlor during
milking (-14,000)
Counter argument: Off-farm income not associated in this study with
higher BTSCC, although older study* found
otherwise
* Kumbhaker et al. 1991
Farm Structure Characteristics Associated
with BTSCC
+ Owner/manager and employees
speak the same language (+12,000)
• Consistent with a study in Northeast that found English
speaking dairy employees to be associated with higher
BTSCC†
Ratio of effectiveness to practicality of management
measures, comparing primary decision makers and
employees who share a first language to those whose
languages differ
Mastitis and SCC management
measure
Different
languages
Same
language
Training employees in mastitis
management
.961 .957
Delegating mastitis treatment
responsibility to employees
1.02 .992
Evaluating employees on BTSCC .979 .991
A score < 1 indicates the management measures is assessed to be
more practical/cost efficient than effective.
Does this finding relate
to farm owner/manager
assessments of
effectiveness of
employee-based
management
techniques?
†Schewe et al., 2015http://dx.doi.org/10.3168/jds.2014-8840
Operator Characteristics Associated with
BTSCC
- Farms whose PDM
anticipates operating as
dairy farm 5 years out
have BTSCC -13,00030
40
50
60
70
Not Continuing Possibly/ProbablyContinuing
Lbs milk per cow per day
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
Not Continuing Possibly/ProbablyContinuing
Level of SCC that causes you to take action
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
Not Continuing Possibly/ProbablyContinuing
# cows (lactating + dry)p < .0005
p = .006
p = .006
Operator Characteristics Associated with
BTSCC
The Difference Is…
- Responsible for mastitis on my farm‡“I know what procedures to use in the parlor to decrease
my BTSCC”
“I can afford to do what is necessary”
“Mastitis is a significant concern to the dairy industry in
the SE US”
-19,167***
+ General concern about mastitis control‡
“Mastitis causes are difficult to manage”
“Mastitis seems to persist despite my efforts to control it.”
17,706*
+ Worried about financial consequences of mastitis10,548*
‡Factor scores derived by principle component analysis;
rotated factor loading of an absolute value of >0.40 is
relevant to the factor
Farmers’ Attitudes and Perceptions
Associated with BTSCC
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
0102030405060708090
100
Me
an s
core
(1
-5
sca
le)
Use
d s
ou
rce
? (p
erc
en
tage
)
% used Reliability (mean) Easy to act upon (mean)
1 = not at all 5 = very[reliable/ easy to act
upon]
- Veterinarian -26,110**
- Extension -9,047*
Information Sources Associated with BTSCC, and
PDMs’ Rate of Use & Assessment of Each Source
With the SE US as a reference case
- North Carolina -52,251*
- Virginia -23,323**
• Are states a proxy for climate and weather?
Counter argument: Kentucky shares same latitude
• Other state-based factors?
Industry, university and stakeholder programs to sustain the industry
Availability, density of dairy veterinarians
States Associated with BTSCC
Leverage this information to help farmers
more effectively and efficiently manage
mastitis
Helps extension agents, veterinarians, other
“intermediaries” better understand how
farmers think, feel, and work
Helps farmers “see” themselves relative to
their peers
How can this information help individual dairy
producers and the dairy industry?