Abstract #M148

# M148
Development of the Dairy Focus SCC Calculator to analyze mastitis costs.
R. T. Pate*1, K. T. Ryan1, F. C. Cardoso1, 1Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL.

In 2014, the National Animal Health Monitoring System reported that roughly 24.1% of all cows in the top 17 dairy producing states suffered from clinical or subclinical mastitis. Many milk processors award producers with bonus incentives for reaching higher milk quality. Most dairymen are aware of their bulk tank somatic cell count (SCC), however, what they lack is a way of determining how much monetary loss is incurred by not receiving a milk quality bonus. The Dairy Focus SCC Calculator (DFSCCC), which is an Excel-based program, allows producers to analyze their test day milk numbers and take appropriate action regarding SCC. The main goal of the DFSCCC is to assist dairy producers in making management decisions on an individual herd level, which will improve overall health and decrease economic losses due to mastitis. The DFSCCC allows producers to identify cows in the herd that are contributing the highest percentage to the bulk tank SCC. Also, the calculator identifies cows that have chronic or new cases of mastitis by sorting cows by highest current and previous test day SCC. The program also includes an ‘Economic Gains’ table which allows the user to view the differences between bulk tank values with and without high SCC cows. These values are influenced by the bulk tank milk amount, bulk tank SCC, current milk price, and milk quality bonuses per CWT if a SCC parameter is achieved once certain cows are removed. One case showed that if a producer removed one high SCC contributing cow from the bulk tank, that their pounds of milk shipped per month would be decreased by 1,905 kg, while the monetary value of the milk shipped increased by $10,370 per month. It is important to note that the high SCC milk that is no longer used in the bulk tank could be used for alternate purposes, such as calf feeding. The DFSCCC is very easy to operate and is free to download under the ‘Tools’ page at www.dairyfocus.illinois.edu. There are currently versions available for Dairy Comp 305 and PCDart, as well as a version for dairyman who prefer to enter data manually.

Key Words: SCC, mastitis, milk quality