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Dairy Star • Tuesday, December 23, 2014 • Page 19

“... a key tool in helping us get the premiums ...”

— Cathy Tank

MILK-FLO HOLSTEINS Cathy Tank, New London, Wisconsin Milking 150 cows — 87 lbs/cow/day (3x) SCC 100 to 150,000 “We’ve been using Udder Comfort™ ever since I bought my first gallon of blue spray 2 years ago. At first, I thought it was expensive. But now, after using it faithfully with our fresh cows and seeing these results, I don’t even think twice,” says Cathy Tank. She owns and operates Milk-Flo Holsteins near New London, Wisconsin. She does one of the 3 daily milkings and works off the farm as well.

Cathy loves developing the cowherd and has strived to keep the dairy moving forward in the 5 years since her husband Bob passed away in 2009.

Daughters Elizabeth, 15, and Rebecca, 11, are his family’s 4th generation on the dairy farm, which is home to 150 milk cows plus replacements. The herd produces 87 lbs/cow/day with SCC averaging 100 and 150,000.

“Udder Comfort is easy to use and it’s cow-friendly. I like that,” she says.

“SCC used to be 300 to 350,000 and tough to get down. Udder Comfort is a key tool in helping us get the premiums and reduce our need for antibiotics during lactation.

“We use Udder Comfort most on the fresh cows, spraying udders 2x/day for at least the first 3 days after calving.

No doubt about it, this stuff works, and the blue color is a good marker to tell everyone to pay attention.”

Quality Udders Make Quality Milk

Keep the milk in the system 1.888.773.7153 1.613.652.9086 uddercomfort.com Call to locate a distributor near you.

For external application to the udder only after milking, as an essential component of udder management. Always wash and dry teats thoroughly before milking.

The lowdown on leukosis Have you ever had a cow develop enlarged lymph nodes, unexplained weight loss, decreased milk production or be condemned at slaughter? If one of these has happened to you, your herd might be infected with the bovine leukemia virus (BLV), often referred to as bovine leukosis. It is estimated that over 85 percent of dairy herds in the U.S. are infected with leukosis. With proper management you can get a grasp on this disease and even eradicate it from your herd.

By Brenda Miller U of M Extension

What is leukosis?

The bovine leukosis virus is found in the lymphocytes (white blood cells) and usually develops in the lymph nodes throughout the body. With the white blood cells being under attack, the immune system is weakened. Leukosis can be compared to the human disease leukemia, because it affects the white blood cells, and HIV, because once an animal has the virus it can’t ever get rid of it. Leukosis is transferred mainly through blood, milk (colostrum), contaminated equipment and high stocking densities. Leukosis cannot be transferred to humans.

Symptoms Most infected cattle will not have symptoms, 30 percent of infected cattle will have high white blood cell counts, and 5 percent of infected cattle will show clinical symptoms. Some of these symptoms include: enlarged lymph nodes, weight loss, decreased milk production, reproduction problems (infertility), protruding eyeballs, gastrointestinal obstructions, immobility and mortality. In addition, older cows have a higher incidence of infection than younger cows as they, over time, have been exposed to more needles, palpation sleeves, etc. When heifers enter the milking string they are involved in many more events such as routine vaccinations, reproductive strategies/synchronizations, calving, hoof trimming, etc. that put them at a higher risk of being exposed to the disease if proper precautions aren’t being used.

How do I test for leukosis?

There are two types of tests available for leukosis – blood serum and milk.

Both tests are considered 99 percent accurate. With the blood serum test you can start testing animals at 6 to 8 months of age. Local veterinarians can assist you with sending a sample or some milk testing labs can also run the blood serum sample for you (ask your milk tester/technician). The ELISA (Enzyme Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay) milk test is available on an individual cow basis or you can take a bulk tank sample which can detect one positive cow in a herd of 125.

Your milk testing laboratory will be able to run the ELISA test when they run your normal DHI samples.

Economics At some point in time, every infected herd will probably incur an economic loss due to leukosis. The most prevalent loss occurs in breeder stock sales (embryos, semen and cattle). Due to international rules and regulations, semen from a bull

Dairy Star • Tuesday, December 23, 2014 • Page 29

that is infected with leukosis cannot be marketed overseas as some international countries have eradicated leukosis. In addition, in a 2007 study done by the National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS), it was determined that herds infected with leukosis produced 3 percent less milk than non-leukosis herds.

However, this can vary depending on the prevalence of infection within a herd.

Herds with a higher infection rate are more likely to incur greater losses. Three percent may not seem like a lot, but multiply that by your tank average or milk check and see how much that means to you in either dollars or pounds of milk.

Moreover, with the current price of cull cows, a farm could incur some signicant losses if carcasses are condemned at slaughter. It is not really economical to cull all positive cows in your herd unless you only have one or two; management is going to be the key instead.

Management There are a few things a herd can do in order to get leukosis under control.

These include: identify leukosis positive and negative cows, use single use needles and palpation gloves for each cow, feed colostrum from leukosis negative cows only, or feed colostrum replacer. A good idea is to record whose colostrum is fed to each calf. Another option is to pasteurize colostrum and whole milk to denature the BLV virus. In addition, disinfect equipment between animals (scissors, tattoo pliers, tube dehorners, OB chains, tail dockers, etc.). Lastly, avoid overcrowding in pens and use selective culling when making management decisions.

The table below shows an example of recording fed colostrum. Carol is a leukosis negative cow and Jean is a leukosis positive cow.

Perm ID

Date Born

Dam

Sex

Vacc.

Colostrum

Comments

12345678

1/10/14 8pm

Carol

F

Yes 8:30pm

Carol 8pts 10pm

Unassisted SADIE

12345678

1/12/14 4:30am

Jean

F

Yes 5am

Carol 8pts 5:30am

Backwards Tough pull NORA

Bottom line Producers are looking at leukosis as another disease that can affect the net performance of their operation. Leukosis testing is one more management tool for those looking for an opportunity for enhanced protability.

For more information on leukosis and other dairy-related topics, visit the University of Minnesota Dairy Team website at www.extension.umn.edu/dairy.

Resources: Antel Bio (www.antelbio.com), MN DHIA (www.mndhia.org), AgSource (www.agsource.com).