The adoption of an on-farm culture program by small- and medium-sized dairies in Pennsylvania to make proactive decisions

The adoption of an on-farm culture program by small- and medium-sized dairies in Pennsylvania to make proactive decisions

Summary

An adoption of an on-farm culture program would enable dairy producers to become educated on different types of mastitis-causing bacteria. After this study of setting up on-farm culture labs, producers will be able to culture cows and obtain bacteriology results the next day, allowing an educated treatment decision to be made.

Six Month Follow Up Evaluation

Three extension educators met in early April 2013 via conference call to discuss project supplies, delivering supplies, on-farm culture workshops, surveys, and field days.  All supplies and individual workshops were held prior to May 1, 2013 and all eight farms began culturing on May 1, 2013 as planned. Pre-grant surveys and 6 month surveys were collected from all eight farms at the appropriate times throughout the project and are now being examined. Initial results show most farms improving on management practices on their farms and showing measurable improvement.  Field days have not been held yet due to unforeseen problems with harvest. The Fall harvest in Pennsylvania was very late this year and it made most producers with very little time for field days. Field days will now be held in February or early March of 2014.

Objectives/Performance Targets

Six month objectives included having all eight farms setup and comfortable in on-farm culture, pre-surveys completed, 6 month surveys completed, and field days held. Of the four objectives, three were met on time.  In early April of 2013 extension educators Andrea, Amber, and Greg had an adobe connect conference call to discuss tasks needed to start the grant project. Andrea was delegated purchasing the startup supplies for all eight farms. Each farm was given supplies based upon the amount of milking cows in the herd. Farms with more milking cows were given more supplies then smaller farms on the project. The conference call was also used to decide on which incubators to purchase. Four of the eight incubators were ordered and sent to the Mercer County Extension Office. The other four incubators were purchased and sent to the Huntingdon County Extension Office. Greg and Amber agreed to teach and deliver supplies to the four farms on the project in South/Central Pennsylvania, while Andrea agreed to deliver supplies to the remaining four farms in Western Pennsylvania. In the middle of April the Penn State Dairy Extension Team had a meeting in State College, at this time Andrea gave the supplies needed for the startup of the grant to Amber and Greg for the four farms in South/Central Pennsylvania. On-farm culture trainings were held at each farm and supplies were given out. During the trainings pre-management surveys were given to examine where each farm was at in management practices: antibiotic usage, milk quality, antibiotic costs, etc. Farms started culturing on May 1, 2013 and recording results of culture. Some farms required more visits to aid in the culturing process and ensure they were culturing correctly. At 6 months, surveys were conducted again to see the progress of the farms.  Field days were to be held in early November 2013, but did not occur on time. Field days were not held because of the late harvest, many producers felt they were too busy to host a 2 hour field day. We also had one producer that wanted more time to culture and hoped to increase his management practices before he shared with other producers how culturing was going for him. We agreed to push the field days back to February or early march. We are aware this performance target was not met but believe it will benefit the project by pushing these field days back.                  

Accomplishments/Milestones

          Producers will begin sampling and culturing cows on May 1, 2013 and samples will cease April 30, 2014.  This task was completed on time and all producers will cease sampling with grant funds on April 30, 2014. Farms participating in the project will be asked to attend an on-farm culture program put on by the Penn State Extension Dairy Team or consult individually with Andrea Tholen, Amber Yutzy, or Greg Strait, all dairy herd health educators. Individual consultations regarding on-farm culture training and consulting with herd veterinarians will take place during the month of April 2013.  Additionally, initial surveys will be conducted in April 2013 to examine current antibiotic use, SCC, and barriers to adapting on-farm culture.  Record sheets will be passed out and dairy personnel will be trained on data collection and importance of record keeping.  Additionally, supplies and materials will be passed out to each farm.  All trainings and surveys were conducted on time. On May 1, 2013 each farm will begin sampling cows that exhibit clinical symptoms.  Each milk sample will be run using on-farm culture techniques and treatment will be based off of culturing. Milk sample results will be recorded the day after the sample is run for culture on a data sheet provided by Penn State Extension.  Extension educators, Amber, Andrea, and Greg will check in with participating farms on a monthly basis to confirm samples are taken, cultured, and accurate records taken. Supplies will be delivered to farms throughout the 1 year study period.  This task is completed to date and educators are still contacting farms to ensure accurate culturing and record keeping, as well as keeping farms supplied.

After 6 months of on-farm culture, a field day will be held at 4 of the 8 farms. This task is not completed thus far as discussed earlier in the report.  On May 1, 2014 a follow up survey will be conducted created by Andrea Tholen with each member that attended an on-farm culture field day.  The survey would evaluate how many people attended the field day and encouraged dairy producer participation in the on-farm culture program.  Any field day participant that encouraged a producer to implement on-farm culture would be contacted to see if adoption of the practice was a success.  The field days will be planned for February or early March and the post surveys will follow the field days.  The project will end on April 30, 2014 and results will be examined.  A poster will be presented at the National Association of County Agriculture Agents annual meeting in July 2015.  This presentation will occur during the July 2014 meeting now and not in 2015.  Results will also be shared in Fall 2014 through social media outlets, twitter, Facebook, and through Penn State Extensions Dairy newsletter.  Results will also be shared in Fall 2014 and Spring 2015 through different statewide programs that are put on through the Penn State Extension Dairy Team. 

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

Initial results from 6 month surveys indicate some progress in farm management practices. Several farms were able to decrease their SCC and antibiotic usage from the start of the on-farm culture project to present.

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