FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION
OF THE UNITED NATIONS

    

Sub-regional Office
for Central and Eastern Europe (SEUR)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Extension Services for Quality Milk Production
Proceedings of an International Workshop in conjunction with the East-West-Forum
of the Federal Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Forestry
and the "Window of German Animal Breeding" at the International Green Week
24-25 January, 1999

Approaches in Producer Extension to Improve Milk Quality


L. Döring - Milk Recording Organization of Sachsen-Anhalt


Introduction to the state recording association (LKV) in Lower Saxony

The LKV in Lower-Saxony has a membership of 860 dairy farms, 9 dairy processing companies or co-operatives, and 3 associations or collaborating institutions, respectively.
More than 152 000 cows are included in the milk recording scheme, which represents 97,6 % of total cow numbers. The average member farm keeps 187 cows.
Average milk performance per lactation stands at 6 808 kg milk with 4,29 % fat (292 kg fat), 3,48 % protein (237 kg protein) and a total of 529 kg of fat and protein.
Quality standards for milk necessitate extension to improve milk quality, although quality standards for milk delivered to dairy factories has increased consistently. Premium milk requires quality standards for plate count of < 50 000 per ml and a somatic cell count
< 400 000 per ml. Milk delivered to factories requires a minimum standard for plate count of < 100 000 per ml, somatic cell count of < 400 000 per ml, a freezing point of < - 0,520 o C, and has to be free from inhibitors.
Additional control checks are imposed through veterinary services, e.g. for Staph. aureus.
These high standards on milk quality put a high demand on the milk producer:
  • Healthy cows and adequate rearing practises
  • Excellent milking and milk hygiene
  • Clean and comfortable husbandry and feeding conditions,
  • Technically sound milking and cooling technique
  • Regular supervision of health condition of animals and especially of udder health.
Dairy production is a specialized business and requires a high standard of professional education of farmers and a problem oriented efficient extension service for milk production.

Official regulations to secure high standards of milk quality exist within the EU and are implemented through a set of rules and regulations:
 
 

EU directive 92/46
¯
Dairy directive
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Dairy quality directive
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State quality directive
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State regulations

  • Regulation for § 17
  • Regulation for EGD
  • Regulation for Sample procedures
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Milk Delivery directive for dairy processing plants

Important measures to establish a milk quality system

The following list identifies important measures for a comprehensive milk quality improvement system:

  • Investigation of health status of raw milk (guaranty statement)
  • Clear delineation of responsibilities for quality investigation, for activities and processes to improve milk quality
  • Investigation of milk content (fat, protein)
  • Control of milk hygiene (physical purity)
  • Inspection for contamination with inhibitor
  • Investigation of somatic cell (somatic cell count)
  • Investigation of germ content (plate count)

Extension service for milk producers
The system established in Sachsen-Anhalt is a complex and holistic quality improvement service, which secures the necessary interactions between levels of information and problem areas and is aimed at obtaining the highest degree of efficiency and synergy:
The tasks of the extension service are:
  • Extension on supervision of sampling procedures
  • Technical supervision
  • Supervision of equipment for milk volume testing (LactoCorder)
  • Herd management
  • Cow behaviour
  • Milk hygiene
  • Milking technique
  • Training on milk quality
  • Feeding
  • Animal health and hygiene
  • Education on milking techniques

Extension services provided in 1999
The services provided by the LKV are listed below:
1. Extension on complex management issues related to improvement of performance and milk quality as well as breeding decisions, milk technique, husbandry, feeding, milk and milking hygiene, udder health, reproduction, and labour flow analysis for the whole milking process.
2. Technical auditing of milking equipment according to DIN/ISO; initial inspection of new milking equipment,
3. Advice on new installations of milking and cooling equipment and on automatic milking systems (AMS-Milking robot)
4. Advice on LactoCorder for milkability testing, on labour requirements during milking, and on the functional soundness of milking techniques
5. Individual extension service on milk quality, including plate count, freezing point, presence of inhibitors, which cover the following areas
  • Advice on milking process
  • on milking techniques
  • on breeding management

    •  
6. Functional analyses on stationary Milkoscan equipment

7. Advice on feeding and feed analyses

8. Training courses and presentation on issues such as milk quality, herd management, feeding, milking techniques
The comprehensive service activities provided do impose a considerable challenge on technical and social competence of extension officers. The LKV extension staff has to have technical competence in the following areas:

  • Comprehensive knowledge of all aspects of milk production
  • Technical expertise of the structure and function of milking equipment
  • Knowledge about cooling and storage techniques
  • Ability to handle specific measuring techniques (Milkoscan, LactoCorder)
  • Practical experiences in milking, feeding, husbandry, hygiene management, breeding management, and health aspects
  • Information about rules and regulations covering the milk production sector
  • Oriented to update knowledge
Each extension officer for milk quality is equipped with a set of analytical tools and communication techniques. These include
  • specific diagnostic equipment to analyse the function of milking units,
  • comprehensive tool sets for the installation of milking units,
  • a vacuum pump to control pressure systems in teat cubs,
  • LactoCorder equipment to measure milk flow,
  • a photometer for analysing plate counts,
  • a Notebook (PC) to run the herd manager software, to analyse the results of LactoCorder, and to analyse milk quality as well as some additional small tools such a cool box, water quality tester, mastitis test kit, conduction meter, etc.

Service organisation and financing
A number of institutions are involved in extension for milk quality improvement. These are the State Recording Association and their recording units, milk processing companies, the State Veterinary Service and private companies active in providing extension services. Not in every case all institutions collaborate, but at least a number of them are combined in order to obtain synergy and to obtain the appropriate problem coverage.
Various financial sources are available to cover the cost of extension services, i.e. public funds, levy on milk delivered, levy on dairy processes, membership fees, and payment for service provided.
Implementation of services
The type of extension service and advice provided is always dependent on the quality problems encountered and the performance level of a respective dairy farm. Therefore farm specific extension services are provided on milk quality, on milk production technique, milk hygiene, on the milking process and on feeding issues. General extension services are provided on issues of herd management with a focus on performance improvement and quality improvement. These two service lines are implemented regardless of herd size.
Before extension services are being formulated, all results form milk quality analyses and milk recording (especially yield level, somatic cell count and fertility indicators) are being studied to provide a basis for the extension service given.
Each extension service is implemented according to an implementation procedure which specifies what criteria have to be investigated, what analyses to be implemented and how the advice is to be transferred. This standardized procedure is especially important when extension services are paid by the farmer and will guarantee the same extension service for every farm.
Dairy farmers contact the LKV and request a clearly specified service and also agree on a time for service implementation. The extension officer will prepare a protocol for each service, which does indicate the type of service, and the type of advice provided. In some cases a repeated service will be suggested and agreed with the dairy farmer.
The following items are included in a check list implemented in a service for milk quality improvement (plate count):
  1. Analyses of plate count over last three months
  2. Investigation of milking equipment (all components of all equipment)
  3. Investigation of cooling equipment
  4. Investigation of cleaning and disinfection of milking equipment
  5. Investigation of cleaning and disinfection of cooling equipment
  6. Investigation of the cooling process of raw milk
  7. Investigation of milk hygiene during steps of the milking process
  8. Investigation of husbandry conditions
  9. Determination of germ load in milking equipment and facilities
Achievements in extension service for milk quality
Chart 1: Trends of milk performance of recorded cows (A and B recording)
 
 






Table 1: Development of milk quality in Germany
 

Year Somatic cells
(in 1000/ml)		 Somatic cells
in NBL		 Germ count
(in 1000/ml)		 Germ count
in NBL
1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

 228

227

205

201

200

194

 482

404

315

300

276

258

 74

39

27

24

22

21

 1)

56

33

26

23

20

(Source ADR)
1) temporary per 30.09.1998
 
Table 2: Type of milking equipment used in dairy farms associated with LKV in Sachsen-Anhalt (%)
 
 
Type of equipment
1992
1994
1998
Bucket system

Pipe system

Milking parlour and carrousel

Automatic milk system (Robot)
8,1

57,4

34,5

n.a.
7,7

44,2

48,1

n.a.
4,8

24,7

70,3

0,2

 
Table 3: Services provided
 
Inspection of milking equipment
430
Services to reduce som. cell count and for performance improvement
48
LactoCorder advice (milking process, milkability, milking technique)
50
Individual services on
123
Plate count
18
Inhibitors
28
Freezing point
3
Som. cell count
74
Consultation on feeding systems
130

Table 4: Services on sampling technique for milk quality
 
in dairy factory

at delivery on farm

training of milk truck drivers

control of sampling equipment of milk collecting trucks
37

162

23

138

Table 5: Problem areas of milking equipment (%)
 
Problem areas
1992
1994
1998
Vacuum pulsator

Rubber parts

Regulator valves

Milk tube collector piece

Pump and transport capacity

Cleaning
70,2

46,3

50,0

31,4

62,0

48,8
56,5

51,1

33,2

13,3

34,9

21,9
43,4

56,3

28,0

3,3

33,4

11,3


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