Posted by NYFVI is collaborating with Cornell University’s Quality Milk Production Services (QMPS) to offer support to veterinarians that are interested in helping New York dairy farmers adopt Selective Dry Cow Therapy (SDCT).
Selective Dry Cow Therapy is a well-researched and proven approach that allows dairy farmers to reduce their use of dry cow antibiotic treatments by 50-60% without hurting udder health or production and saving money on treatments. The predictive model uses herd health records to identify the cows that are likely to not have subclinical mastitis and thus do not need antibiotic treatment. For farms that are using VAS’s Dairy Comp 305 software and are on DHIA test, the module is already available for use. For farms that are not using that platform, the recommendations can be calculated offline with herd health records or determined using bacteriologic culture.
The NYFVI program builds on a USDA grant to Cornell and will help QMPS to provide on-farm support to veterinarians as they work with NY dairy farms to adopt SDCT. NYFVI also provides financial support to the farm veterinarian so there is no cost to the farm to implement this new routine.
The New York Farm Viability Institute (NYFVI) is proud to have provided support for the development of the SDCT predictive model and pleased to be able to continue our efforts to help New York dairy farms implement the SDCT practice.
“We’re looking forward to working with veterinarians to create this practice change, we know that farmers rely on their guidance to keep their herd healthy.” said David Grusenmeyer, NYFVI’s Executive Director. “By deepening a veterinarian’s expertise, we hope to increase adoption among herds that are in a position to implement the practice.”
“Based on prior experience and research in NYS and nationally with SDCT we are eager to have a platform and personnel to help more veterinarians assist their clients in successfully adopting antimicrobial stewardship practices that decrease the cost of drugs to the farm while maintaining cow health and productivity,” said Dr. Daryl Nydam Professor of Dairy Health and Production, College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University.
More information about the program can be found here.