The Milk Producer - September 2011 - (Page 20)

Don’t put your herd’s future in jeopardy Using non-saleable milk as a thrifty feed option for your young replacement heifers can have dire consequences by spreading Johne’s disease from infected cows in your herd By Ann Godkin F eeding non-saleable milk to calves may save money now but pose a huge risk to your herd’s future. Since this milk can contain a variety of disease-causing bacteria, viruses and protozoa—including the organism that causes Johne’s disease—it could sabotage other efforts to raise healthy calves. As part of the Ontario Johne’s program, participating dairy farmers complete a Risk Assessment and Management Plan (RAMP) with their vet. This helps you and your vet examine herd management practices and their effect on spreading disease—paying special attention to MAP. The RAMP highlights management gaps that allow MAP to spread. According to RAMP results so far, feeding non-saleable milk on many farms encourages the spread of Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis (MAP), the cause of Johne’s disease. One-third of dairy farmers won’t feed non-saleable milk to their calves. can become as great a threat as manure when a herd has multiple MAPinfected cows or cows with late-stage Johne’s disease. The RAMP closely investigates calf feeding. One question asks whether the farm feeds non-saleable, raw milk to calves and how often this is done. Non-saleable milk that you have to keep out of your bulk tank includes milk from fresh cows, cows with clinical mastitis and treated cows. ers to complete their RAMPs, about one-third said they felt strongly they would never feed non-saleable milk to calves. The rest were evenly divided among “rarely”, “sometimes” and “routinely.” The wide distribution of answers suggests producers have different concerns when they decide whether to feed non-saleable milk to their calves. On-farm discussions suggest many forget it poses a disease risk to future cows. Saving money is the main reason producers feed non-saleable milk to calves. Many have difficulty discarding what they consider good calf food. Whole milk is the perfect calf food—it was made that way. However, feeding calves cheaply with nonsaleable milk can lead to a high proportion of them developing Johne’s disease before their productive years as cows are completed. Prevent early infection The Johne’s program focuses on improving young calf management. This has the biggest impact on preventing future cases. Calves raised in a way that prevents early MAP infection have a good chance to grow up MAPfree. MAP bacteria spreads from cows to calves in manure, milk or colostrum. If MAP ends up in calves’ mouths, it can begin the slow, progressive intestinal infection that leads to Johne’s disease in cows. Infected manure appears to be the most common way MAP spreads to calves. However, milk and colostrum 20 | September 2011 | MilkPRODUCER Sick or recovering cows This milk frequently varies in composition, has abnormal consistency or colour and contains antibiotic residues. Sometimes it may appear normal but still contain a variety of disease-causing organisms. Apart from fresh cow milk, non-saleable milk most often comes from sick or recovering cows. Among the first 1,000 produc-

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Milk Producer - September 2011

The Milk Producer - September 2011
Contents
Editor’s Notes
DFO Chair’s Message
Dairy Update
Johne’s Update
DFC Promotion
Producer Profile
Cover Story
Research
Applied Science
Ruminations
Alternative Energy
Markets
New 'N' Noted
Back Forty

The Milk Producer - September 2011