Mastitis control – a key element in animal welfare
The fourth Milk Quality Academy, held from 22 to 25 of October in Putten, the Netherlands, and organised by Boehringer Ingelheim, focused on the role of the veterinary practitioner in udder health and mastitis control. Events such as this one provide a great opportunity for knowledge and experiences sharing as well as discussing the current trends in the dairy industry.
During the week, key speakers and innovators shared the importance of the future role of a veterinary practitioner and the participants had the opportunity to go deep into key topics:
Ian Ohnstad from the Dairy Group provided insights into the operation of the milking machine; the mastitis epidemiology as well as the practical implementation of diagnostic outcomes and herd data was covered by Sofie Piepers of MEXCELLENCE.
Hans Miltenburg and Ynte Schukken, GD Animal Health, talked about the opportunities and challenges of an automatic milking system (AMS) and udder health and a look into the future of the new developments in mastitis research.
Tine van Werven from the University of Utrecht shared Netherlands experience on the use of antibiotic protocols and prudent use (including selective dry cow treatment).
As part of the Milk Quality Academy 2018 week, two farm visits with AMS and a rotary system were conducted to complement all the technical sessions with a practical experience. With these activities, not only the participants learned the practical application of the concepts presented during the week, but also local veterinary practices and farmers who obtained additional inputs for improvements on the daily practice.
In addition, to keep the veterinary practitioners on top of today’s trends, a specific session on communication skills and how to become an influential veterinarian were presented in a workshop led by Dewi Hughes, from Dewi W Hughes Ltd. Here the participants had the opportunity to understand themselves better through a personal profile assessment that showed how the behavioural preferences might influence a personal style in the workplace.
With this initiative, the Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Business Unit reiterated its commitment on animal disease prevention and well-being, core beliefs of the company.
“Our global dairy industry absolutely wants to get on board with new trends in milk quality and is constantly challenged by mastitis and other diseases. We need ways to understand better how all factors interact at farm level and promote evidence-based decisions.”
Steve Williams, Head of Global Ruminants/Cattle Strategic Business Unit at Boehringer Ingelheim