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Title: Eurpoean Union bulk tank SCC standards and proposed US standards: Compliance based on data from four Federal Milk Marketing Orders

Author
item LOMBARD, JASON - Animal And Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
item Norman, H
item LORPRAL, CHRISTINE - Animal And Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
item RODRIQUEZ, JUDITH - Animal And Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
item Wright, Janice

Submitted to: Mastitis Council Meeting Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/1/2011
Publication Date: 9/22/2011
Citation: Lombard, J.E., Norman, H.D., Lorpral, C.A., Rodriquez, J.M., Wright, J.R. 2011. Eurpoean Union bulk tank SCC standards and proposed US standards: Compliance based on data from four Federal Milk Marketing Orders. Mastitis Council Meeting Proceedings. International Symposium on Mastitis and Milk Quality, St. Louis, MO, pp 5-9.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The objective of this study was to evaluate the percentage of US producers and milk not currently meeting the proposed bulk tank somatic cell counts (BTSCC) limits. Five different limits of BTSCC were evaluated for compliance: 750K, 600K, 500K, and 400K using the current US methods and 400K using the geometric mean method used by the EU. For the 12 month period ending October 2010, 1.0% of producers and 0.2% of milk exceeded the current US limit of 750K; 4.7% of producers and 1.4% of milk would have exceeded the proposed 600K limit; 11.0% of producers and 3.8% of milk would have exceeded the proposed 500K limit; and 23.3% of producers and 10.1% of milk would have exceeded the 400K limit. The percent of herds and milk not meeting the EU geometric mean method of implementation were 16.1% and 6.7%, respectively. Seasonal variations in the BTSCC reveal July through October are the months where the percent of producers and milk above the proposed limit are higher than the yearly average. For herds shipping <900 metric tons of milk in the 12 month period, 44.5% would have exceeded the proposed 400K US limit while 8.0% of herds shipping more than 9,000 metric tons would have exceeded the proposed 400K US limit. If implemented and BTSCC counts remain unchanged, the proposed phased in reduction to a 400K BTSCC limit would result in a substantial increase in producers and milk that exceed the regulatory limit.