Udder health in organic dairy cattle in Northern Spain

  1. Villar, Ana 1
  2. López-Alonso, Marta 2
  1. 1 Centro de Investigación y Formación Agrarias (CIFA). Héroes 2 de mayo 27, 39600 Muriedas, Cantabria
  2. 2 Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Facultade de Veterinaria, Dpt. Patoloxía Animal. 27002 Lugo
Revista:
Spanish journal of agricultural research

ISSN: 1695-971X,  2171-9292

Ano de publicación: 2015

Volume: 13

Número: 3

Tipo: Artigo

DOI: 10.5424/SJAR/2015133-6610 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openDialnet editor

Outras publicacións en: Spanish journal of agricultural research

Resumo

This paper presents first data on the udder health status of organic dairy farms in Northern Spain and analyses some management and productive characteristics related to milk production comparing with the conventional sector. Five certified organic farms from the Cantabrian Region were monitored monthly from February 2006 to January 2008 and individual samples of all lactating cows were taken from parturition to the end of lactation. Although organic farms in our study showed a great individual variability, overall these were small (<50 lactating cows) traditional farms, with a high degree of pasture (66-82% dry matter intake) and a milk production (average milk yield: 5950 L) 23% lower compared with the reference conventional sector (<50 cow farms). The organic farms had higher (p<0.05) average number of calves per cow (3.93) and a lower number of first-lactation cows (16.9%) than the comparable conventional farms (2.47 calves per cow and 33.1% first-lactation cows). Organic farms showed higher (p<0.05) somatic cell counts (SCC) than the reference conventional farms (mean log10±SD for all cows: 5.25±0.49 and 5.06±0.59, respectively). Detailed analysis of the SCC depending on the number of lactation and % of monthly SCC tests with linear scores indicative of udder infection suggest that while the heifers’ sanitary condition at the beginning of their productive cycle was similar in both types of farms, this seems to become worse along the productive cycle in the organics. This could be related to a low use of antibiotics for prophylaxis and treatment of udder infections and merits further investigation.

Referencias bibliográficas

  • Bloksma JR, Adriaansen-Tennekes R, Huber MAS, van de Vijver LPL, Baars T, de Wit, J, 2008. Comparison of organic and conventional raw milk quality in The Netherlands. Biol Agric Hortic 26: 69-84. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01448765.2008.9755070
  • Busato A, Trachsel P, Schallibaum M, Blum JW, 2000. Udder health and risk factors for subclinical mastitis in organic dairy farms in Switzerland. Prev Vet Med 44: 205-220. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0167-5877(00)00104-5
  • Fall N, Emanuelson U, Martinsson K, Jonsson S, 2008. Udder health at a Swedish research farm with both organic and conventional dairy cow management. Prev Vet Med 83: 186-195. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2007.07.003
  • Hamilton C, Emanuelson U, Forslund K, Hansson I, Ekman T, 2006. Mastitis and related management factors in certified organic dairy herds in Sweden. Acta Vet Scand 48: 11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1751-0147-48-11
  • Hardeng F, Edge VL, 2001. Mastitis, ketosis, and milk fever in 31 organic and 93 conventional Norwegian dairy herds. J Dairy Sci 84: 2673-2679. http://dx.doi.org/10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(01)74721-2
  • Haskell MJ, Langford FM, Jack MC, Sherwood L, Lawrence AB, Rutherford KMD, 2009. The effect of organic status and management practices on somatic cell counts on UK dairy farms. J Dairy Sci 92: 3775-3780. http://dx.doi.org/10.3168/jds.2009-2105
  • Holmes MA, Cockcroft CE, Booth CE, Heath MF, 2005. Controlled clinical trial of the effect of a homoeopathic nosode on the somatic cell counts in the milk of clinically normal dairy cows. Vet Rec 156: 565-567. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/vr.156.18.565
  • Hovi M, Roderick S, 2000. Mastitis and mastitis control strategies in organic milk cattle. Cattle Practice 8: 259-264.
  • Kent JT, 2015. Repertory of the Homoeopathic Materia Medica. Available at: http://www.bentomure.com.br/revistasimilia/repertory_kent.pdf
  • Kiarazm M, Tajik P, Ghasemzadeh Nava H, 2011. Assessment of the effect of homoeopathic nosodes in subclinical bovine mastitis. Ann Biol Res 2: 552-562.
  • López Villalobos N, Scott J, Smith Z, Holmes CW, Shadbolt NM, Harvey TG, 2003. Frequency of mastitis and variation in somatic cell counts throughout the lactation in cows managed organically or conventionally. Proc New Zeal Soc An 63: 138-139.
  • Mosimann E, Suter D, 2003. Autonomie en protéines et environnement: le compromis helvétique. Fourrages 175: 333-345.
  • Pérez-Cabal MA, Yaici S, Alenda R, 2008. Clinical mastitis in Spanish dairy cows: incidence and costs. Span J Agric Res 6: 615-622. http://dx.doi.org/10.5424/sjar/2008064-354
  • Reneau JK, 1986. Effective use of dairy herd improvement somatic cell counts in mastitis control. J Dairy Sci 69: 1708-1720. http://dx.doi.org/10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(86)80590-2
  • Roesch M, Doherr MG, Scharen W, Schallibaum M, Blum JW, 2007. Subclinical mastitis in dairy cows in Swiss organic and conventional production systems. J Dairy Res 74: 86-92. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S002202990600210X
  • Rozzi P, Miglior F, Hand KJ, 2007. A total merit selection index for Ontario organic dairy farmers. J Dairy Sci 90: 1584-1593. http://dx.doi.org/10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(07)71644-2
  • Schepers AJ, Lam TJGM, Schukken YH, Wilmink JBM, Hanekamp WJA, 1997. Estimation of variance components for somatic cell counts to determine thresholds for uninfected quarters. J Dairy Sci 80: 1833-1840. http://dx.doi.org/10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(97)76118-6
  • Sundberg T, Berglund B, Rydhmer L, Strandberg E, 2009. Fertility, somatic cell count and milk production in Swedish organic and conventional dairy herds. Livest Sci 129: 176-182. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2009.06.022
  • Vaarst M, Bennedsgaard TW, Klaas I, Nissen TB, Thamsborg SM, Østergaard S, 2006. Development and daily management of an explicit strategy of non-use of antimicrobial drugs in twelve Danish organic dairy herds. J Dairy Sci 89: 1842-1853. http://dx.doi.org/10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(06)72253-6
  • Villar Bonet A, Barrachina Fuentecilla M, Salcedo Díaz G, 2011. Análisis comparativo de la calidad y perfil de ácidos grasos de la leche de vacuno procedente de explotaciones con manejo convencional y ecológico. Cría y Salud 30: 40-49.
  • Werner C, Sobiraj A, Sundrum A, 2010. Efficacy of homeopathic and antibiotic treatment strategies in cases of mild and moderate bovine clinical mastitis. J Dairy Res 77: 460-467. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0022029910000543
  • Zwald AG, Ruegg PL, Kaneene JB, Warnick LD, Wells SJ, Fossler C, Halbert LW, 2004. Management practices and reported antimicrobial usage on conventional and organic dairy farms. J Dairy Sci 87: 191-201. http://dx.doi.org/10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(04)73158-6
Fonte de datos: Dialnet