The ADDA project is based on a partnership between academia, farmers’ associations, veterinary organizations and the Austrian government. This was an observational study and farmers were invited to participate by their local veterinarian (respondent-driven sampling). It was hypothesized that a variety of farm management practices would influence mastitis incidence. A total of 251 Austrian dairy farmers enrolled in the study and 211 responded to the farm management survey. Of these, 165 (78%) farmers farmed conventionally. National milk recorders provided details of milking technique via a separate survey. Descriptive statistics determined that these conventional herds were small, with a mean size of 29 cows (range 8–94). The majority (55%) of farms used milking parlors, with 34% having vacuum milk-line systems in the barn, 9% operating a bucket milking unit and 7% using automated milking systems. Teats were dry-wiped on 38% of farms before milking and 60% of milkers wore gloves. Postmilking teat dipping was carried out on 65% of farms, with 11% spraying teats and 24% reporting not using dip. The California Mastitis Test (CMT) was regularly used to check all cows for high somatic cell counts on just 17% of farms, while its use was more common for symptomatic animals (79%). In animals observed to have symptoms of mastitis, a bacteriological culture was routinely ordered on 56% of farms. Discard milk was frequently (64%) fed to calves. Preliminary analysis determined a significant association in the study population between different types of milking machine and milkers wearing gloves (Chi² = 12.73, P < 0.001), however, this correlation was less significant for teat dipping (Chi² = 5.41, P = 0.02). No significant correlation was found between either milking machine or barn type, with respect to premilking teat cleaning method. As a multifactorial disease, mastitis requires a whole-farm solution. A preliminary analysis of management factors has determined a small number of significant correlations and it is hoped that the GLMM analysis of farm management factors and their influence on mastitis incidence rates will shed new light on methods to prevent udder disease.