As spring quickly approaches across the country, dairy producers are faced with muddy, wet housing conditions and the difficult task of trying to prevent environmental mastitis from taking over in their herd.  

Recent reports on environmental mastitis show this type of bacterial invasion to be on the rise in herds throughout the country, and a serious threat to udder health and overall profitability.  Environmental organisms thrive in the cow’s surroundings and reproduce rapidly.  They are abundant in manure, soil, bedding, feedstuffs, water, and plant materials - and they are impossible to eliminate.  Mastitis caused by these organisms can have long-term, devastating effects on the cow’s udder health, milk production potential, and ultimately the profitability of an operation.

In recent years, environmental pathogens have become a significant problem in many well-managed dairy operations.  These operations have successfully controlled contagious mastitis and consistently produced low SCC milk, however, they still continue to have a high number of clinical cases of mastitis throughout the herd. 

Environmental, mastitis-causing bacteria produce toxins and other irritants that cause swelling and eventual loss of milk-producing cells.  If infection persists and milk ducts remain clogged, milk-producing cells revert to a resting state or can be destroyed.  If destruction occurs, the cells are replaced permanently by scar tissue, leading to reduced milk yield in current, and subsequent lactations.  In fact, a single quarter infected for one lactation may reduce milk production by 10-12%!

Therefore, when wet, spring weather arises, many dairy producers find that a barrier dip will provide the protection they need in between milkings when the housing conditions are less than ideal due to poor weather.  With a barrier teat dip from WestfaliaSurge, dairymen do not have to lose their hard-earned profit dollars to environmental mastitis, but instead achieve their milk quality goals, even in wet, spring weather.

Click below for more information on teat dips from WestfaliaSurge!