Consequences of farmers’ interpretation of mastitis alerts

Klaske Buma, Ruurd Jorritsma en Henk Hogeveen

Leerstoelgroep Bedrijfseconomie, Wageningen UniversiteitDepartement Gezondheidszorg Landbouwhuisideren, Universiteit Utrecht

Automatic milking: Mean SCC ↑• SCC = MANAGEMENT

– Risk of IMI ↑ = Hygiene milking, housing– Detection of mastitis

• Common• Expensive• Frustration

Information from milking robot

• Sensor information– Conductivity– Colour– Milk production (24h)– Temperature (MQC 2)– SCC (optional)

• Algorithm → Udder health report– Potential cases of mastitis

Detection of mastitis by farmer

Check report•Conductivity•Colour•Milk production deviation

•Total number of alerts

•SCC (optional)

Interpret report•Check history alert and/or check alert in the barn

Check history alert•Milkquality•Milk visits•Conductivity chart

Interpret history alert•Check alert in the barn

Check alert in the barn•Check cow•Check udder•Spurt and check milk

•CMT

Interpret check•Mastitis? •Take action!

Take action•Take milk sample

•Treat mastitis

Objective

• Get insight in the decision model of a farmer to check on alerts from the report

Material and methods• 7 farms, North Western part of The

Netherlands

• 5 farms visits– Questionnaire– Interview– CMT of all alerts– Milksample and culturing clinical mastitis alerts

• Analysis of data

Quick glance10 times a day – 2 times a week

Check and interpret alertlist

Check report•Conductivity•Colour•Milk production deviation

•Total number of alerts

•SCC (optional)

Interpret report•Check history alert and/or check alert in the barn

Check history alert•Milkquality•Milk visits•Conductivity chart

Interpret history alert•Check alert in the barn

Check alert in the barn•Check cow•Check udder•Spurt and check milk

•CMT

Interpret check•Mastitis? •Take action!

Take action•Take milk sample

•Treat mastitis

Check and interpret history alert

Check report•Conductivity•Colour•Milk production deviation

•Total number of alerts

•SCC (optional)

Interpret report•Check history alert and/or check alert in the barn

Check history alert•Milkquality•Milk visits•Conductivity chart

Interpret history alert•Check alert in the barn

Check alert in the barn•Check cow•Check udder•Spurt and check milk

•CMT

Interpret check•Mastitis? Take action!

Take action•Take milk sample

•Treat mastitis

Only when alarmingDefinition of alarming varies between farmers

Check alert in the barn

• Only 3,5% of the alerts are checked by the farmer!

Alerts checked by farmer (n=15)

67%

13%

20%

Clinical

Subclinical

Negative CMT

Alerts checked by researcher

Overview of the checked mastitis alerts 

Clinical mastitis Subclinical mastitis Negative CMT Total

Number of individual quarter alerts 30 47 150 227

Number of repeated quarter alerts 9 81 104 194

Total 39 128 254 421

60% 10%

46%

Checked clinical mastitis

Unchecked clinical mastitis

Subclinical mastitis

26%

74%

100%

Reasons to check (n=15)

• Combination of:– Milk production decrease alarming– Flakes/clots on milk filter– High conductivity– Failure in milking– History of teat damage– Earlier flakes/clots in milk

Reasons not to check (n=421)

• No flakes/clots on milk filter28%

• Milk production decrease not alarming19%

• Repeatedly on list10%

• No time10%

• Conductivity level is not alarming 5%• Malfunctioning AMS 4%• Other

24%

Eye openers

• Selection on milk production deviation (6/7)• None of the farmers uses CMT for detection

subclinical mastitis• Broken sensor → lot of alerts → no repair• Sensitivity <100% - 2 cases clinical mastitis

without alert

Conclusions

Check report•Conductivity•Colour•Milk production deviation

•Total number of alerts

•SCC (optional)

Interpret report•Check history alert and/or check alert in the barn

Check history alert•Milkquality•Milk visits•Conductivity chart

Interpret history alert•Check alert in the barn

Check alert in the barn•Check cow•Check udder•Spurt and check milk

•CMT

Interpret check•Alarming? Take action

Take action•Take milk sample

•Treat mastitis

60 % of alerts false positive3% of alerts is checked by farmerschecked alerts are often clinical cases74 % of clinical cases is missedHow bad is this?

Thank you for your attention