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Attention to Detail Brings Low SCC, Milk Check Bonus for Nathesby JOSEPH KURTZ They market high-quality milk that earns a premium price, putting extra dollars into their milk check. That makes close attention to detail in their dairy operation well worth the effort, say members of the Nathe family of Stearns County. The Nathes milk 200 cows on their 260-acre farm about a mile east of Meire Grove, with a herd average of 24,500 pounds. The operation includes John and Ginny, their son Jeron, and his wife, Brenda. John and Ginny's daughter Jana - a student at St. Cloud Technical College - also helps with milking. Irene Nathe, a neighbor and distant relative, is an employee who helps milk. High school students Chris Frieler and Nathan Lieser help keep stalls and barns clean. |
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The Nathes are among the top dairy producers in Minnesota when it comes to producing milk with a low somatic cell count (SCC), a standard measure of mastitis and milk quality. Their herd SCC for December 2002 was 92,000 as recorded by their milk plant, the Land O'Lakes plant in Melrose. In November it was 97,000, and for last year it was 146,000. "That puts them up there with the elite," says Jeff Reneau, dairy scientist with the University of Minnesota Extension Service. There are about 6,500 herds in Minnesota and 3,500 on Dairy Herd Improvement Association (DHIA) testing. Of the DHIA herds, only 37 had a SCC under 100,000 for December and only 150 were under 150,000. |
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The Nathes earn a milk quality premium of 70 to 80 cents per hundredweight. This added $3,572 to their milk check in December 2002, and their monthly premium typically tops $3,000. The low SCC also means higher milk production. "When the count is higher, cows don't milk as well," John says. John, 62, represents the fourth generation of the family on the Nathe farm, and Jeron, 27, represents the fifth. It's a Century Farm, homesteaded by John's great-grandfather in 1868. John and Ginny were married in 1969 and took over the farming operation in 1970. They are the parents of Lori, Greg, Jeron, Karl and Jana. When John and Ginny started farming in 1970 they milked 40 cows in a tie-stall barn. They built a 100-stall freestall barn in 1994, increased the milking herd to 100 cows, and converted the tie-stall barn to a flat-barn parlor and holding area. Jeron joined the operation full time after completing a two-year farm management program at Ridgewater College in Willmar in 1995. He and Brenda, who grew up on a dairy farm near Sauk Centre, were married in 2001. In 1999 the Nathes expanded to 200 cows, adding another 100-stall freestall barn. At that time they also put in a double-eight pit milking parlor with automatic take-offs. The Nathes have worked to keep their SCC low for many years. "Typically in the tie-stall barn we were under 100,000," says John. "We lost a little bit in the flat-barn parlor. Our equipment wasn't functioning properly and we went up to 200 to 250,000. But we finally got it turned around." In addition to earning bigger milk checks because of a low SCC, providing a high-quality product to consumers is important to the Nathes. And, as Ginny says, "it's more fun milking cows that are healthy." They stress keeping the cows clean as one of the basics for achieving a low SCC. They use rubber-filled mattresses in the freestalls, and also bed the stalls with wood shavings and sunflower hulls. They clean the back half of the stalls and the alleys in the freestall barns twice a day. After cleaning they spread hydrated lime on each stall. Their goal is to keep the cows comfortable and stress-free. Milking procedure is another key. About a year ago they made some changes in their milking routine, implementing a procedure developed and recommended by the University of Minnesota. "The procedure involves dipping, rubbing the teats and especially the teat ends, stripping, and dipping again," Jeron says. "The idea is to get good stimulation and milk letdown. The teats are then dried using a cloth towel. The whole procedure is done in a timed sequence." They watch cows closely at milking time for signs of mastitis, such as hard or swollen udder quarters. They also keep a close eye on individual cow SCC information from DHIA. If a problem shows up, they use the on-farm California Mastitis Test (CMT) to check individual quarters. All cows with mastitis or high cell counts are cultured. If the culture shows contagious mastitis, the cow is moved to the last milking group. They also give each cow a CMT when she freshens and just before she is dried off. They have two pails of disinfectant water in the parlor during milking. One is for washing hands. The other is to disinfect any milking unit that has come off a problem cow before the unit goes onto another cow. The Nathes feel keeping equipment in good order is one of the keys to controlling mastitis. Darryl Droogsma, their Land O'Lakes milk production specialist, checks pulsators every four to six weeks to make sure they are opening and closing properly. Their equipment dealer, Stearns Veterinary Outlet Store of Melrose, checks their vacuum levels every two weeks and rebuilds pulsators once a year. The dealer also does other regular maintenance and addresses any equipment concerns the family has. "We try to keep everything clean and running the way it's supposed to run," says Jeron. "We've been doing it so long it's automatic. He notes that some dairies focus on cows milked per hour. "Here, we make sure everything gets done," he says. "We don't worry about cows per hour quite as much." Droogsma, the Land O'Lakes milk production specialist, says cleanliness and attention to detail are the keys to the Nathes' success in controlling mastitis. "They have a super-clean working environment," he says. "That includes the cows, the parlor, everything. When you go there, it's not messy one day and clean the next. It's clean and dry every day." The Nathes make sure everyone in their operation who milks uses the same milking procedure consistently, says Droogsma. "And they fine-tune things," he adds. "If they have a problem with a pulsator, they fix it. Some people say 'We'll get to it,' but they don't. The Nathes do preventive maintenance, rather than waiting for problems to show up." Jim Salfer, regional educator at St. Cloud with the University of Minnesota Extension Service, says the Nathes do an excellent job with hygiene. "Hygiene goes a long ways in controlling somatic cell count," he says. "They're so consistent in the way they do things and they're very meticulous. They do everything consistently well every single day." |
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