What are the key components of the milking process to control mastitis and ensure high-quality milk?

Consistent use of good milking practices is essential for controlling mastitis and producing high-quality milk. Several components of the milking process merit special attention.

Examination of foremilk
The examination of milk before attaching milking units is useful to ensure that abnormal milk is kept out of the human food chain and to identify cases of clinical mastitis.

Forestripping is adequately performed when two to three streams of milk are expressed. Forestripping is an effective means to stimulate milk letdown and helps ensure that the teat canal is open for free flow of milk.

Premilking teat disinfection
Methods of premilking teat preparation have been studied extensively. There is no question that the most effective method to disinfect teats is to pre-dip using an effective disinfectant.

Pre-dipping using iodine has been demonstrated to reduce standard plate counts and coliform counts in raw milk by five and sixfold, respectively.

Effective pre-dipping also contributes to improvements in food safety. Pre-dipping has been shown to reduce the risk of isolation of Listeria monocytogenes from milk filters obtained from New York dairy herds by almost fourfold. The disinfectant should be in contact with the skin for at least 30 seconds to kill bacteria.

It is recommended to forestrip before disinfecting the teats to ensure the skin is not contaminated before the milking unit is attached.

Milkers should be encouraged to wear disposable nitrile or latex gloves to reduce the potential spread of mastitis pathogens by contaminated hands.

Drying of teats
Effective drying of teats is probably the most important step to ensure hygienic teat preparation. Drying of teats has been demonstrated to reduce bacterial counts from 40,000 cfu per milliliter to 14,000 cfu per milliliter. (cfu = colony forming units).

A single dry cloth or paper towel should be used to dry teats of each cow to prevent the spread of mastitis pathogens.

Attaching the milking unit
One objective of the milking routine is to attach the milking unit to well-stimulated cows that have achieved milk letdown, thus maximizing milk harvest.

For proper stimulation and milk letdown, 45 to 90 seconds between preparation and attachment is recommended.

Post-milking teat disinfection
Applying a teat disinfectant immediately after milking kills bacteria that are present on teat skin after milking has been completed, and reduces the transmission of contagious mastitis pathogens. This procedure is one of the most effective methods of mastitis control when performed properly.

Teats must be completely covered with disinfectant where the liner was in contact with the skin. Parlor managers utilize various methods to evaluate how well teats are covered after dip application to ensure more than 75 percent coverage in the majority of teats examined.  EL