Organic Dairy Farming
and Milk Quality
Rick Kersbergen and Diane Schivera (MOFGA)
University of Maine Cooperative Extension
992 Waterville Rd
Waldo, Me 04915
207-342-5971
[email protected]
Animal Science Professional Improvement Committee NACAA
Annual Meeting, Cincinnati, Ohio. July 25, 2006
Organic Dairy Farming
in New England
• Maine has 65 certified farms or
about 20% of the herds
(highest percentage in the
nation)
• Vermont has about
110 certified farms
• Processors include,
-Organic Valley (CROPP)
-Horizon Organic
- H.P. Hood
So what does the organic dairy
farm look like?
• Smaller farms (15- 150 cows)
• Milk production is similar to other small
farms in Maine (Dalton, Bragg, Kersbergen)
• Pasture based?
• Over $1000/cow for purchased
concentrate in 2004 (up to 48% of gross
milk revenue)
• $04/cwt on medicines
Organic Milk Quality
• “The UHT statement”..is it true?
• What is life like on a dairy farm
without antibiotics? Is there a crash?
• How do producers manage health
issues?
• Is organic “management by neglect”?
So what are some of the
challenges of producing high
quality organic milk?
-No use of antibiotics, including dry
cow treatments
-No hormones (Lutylase, oxytocin)
-100% organic feed (grain and
forages)
-Outside access (365) when possible
-Pasture requirement (NOSB)
-No milk replacer
-Various products such as Orbseal,
Wipeouts etc, are not currently
acceptable
So what does organic milk in
Maine look like?
Somatic Cell Counts
DHI records 2004
350
Cells/ml,
1000’s
300
250
275
309
254 241
260
283
200
150
Organic data
from monthly
farm samples
from the
Maine
Department of
Agriculture
100
50
0
Maine
Vt
NH
NY
PA
ME
ORG
Hoard’s Dairyman
September, 2005
Average SCC (cells/ml, 1000’s)
by Markets in Maine
Averages
from data
collected
1/04-10/05
MDAFRR
Minimum
of 25
farms in
purchaser
group
500
400
321
313
300
416
207
283
200
100
0
"A"
"B"
"C"
"D"
All
4 major conventional milk Organic
purchasers in Maine Farms
Standard Plate Count for Maine
Producers by Markets
40,000
35536
35,000
29029
30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000 14,419
9340
10,000
6533
5,000
0
"A" "B" "C" "D" All
(averages from
1/04-12/05)
4 major conventional milk
purchasers in Maine
Organic
Farms
SPC
Organic Bulk Tank Samples
(76 samples)
% of farms in each category
Staph aureus
Step Ag
Normal Moderate High
63.16
93.42
19.74
3.95
7.89
0
Coag Neg Staph 86.84
Non-Strep ag
77.63
Gram negatives 50.00
7.89
13.16
30.26
2.63
5.26
3.95
Mycoplasma
98.68 were negative
1.32 positive
(data from G. Anderson, Univ. of Maine MeCHAP)
V.High
9.21
2.63
2.63
3.95
15.79
So how do they achieve quality?
• Average milk sold per cow in 2004
was 14,100 lbs
• Substantial milk quality bonus
• Bonus programs include quality,
seasonality, volume, and “signing”
Organic Valley (CROPP)
• Somatic Cell Adjuster-Separate Payment Program.-Bonus or
Deduct potential. -For Every 25 points below 350 (000)
=0.06 $ cwt Premium-For Every 25 points above 350= 0.06 $
cwt deduct.
• Standard Plate Count-Separate Payment Program. -Bonus
& Deduct potential. -For Every 5 points below 25 (000)
=0.01 $ cwt Premium-For Every 5 points above 25= 0.01 $
cwt deduct.
• P.I. Adjuster-Separate Payment Program. -Bonus &
Deduct potential.
Count (1000): 0-15: + $.50 premium
16-30: + $.25 premium
31-50: +$.00
51-100: -$25 deduct
101-200: -$.50 deduct
So how do they achieve quality?
• Average milk sold per cow in 2004
was 14,100 lbs
• Substantial milk quality bonus
• Utilize poor quality milk for calves
• 90% of these farmers switched to
organic production for financial
reasons
What Practices do they follow?
• Survey of 46 organic farms in Maine
(on farm visit and phone interviews)
• 67% use a CMT Paddle regularly to
identify problem cows/quarters. Most
of these producers did not use the
CMT before going organic.
• Additional 11% use DHI records for
SCC problems
Once Identified as
problems…what do they do?
• Cull rate for mastitis is about 8%
• 57% use a quarter milker on problem
cows
Health Practices-What is legal
to use?
Raising Organic Livestock in Maine:
MOFGA Accepted Health Practices,
Products and Ingredients
Updated January 2006
http://www.mofga.org/tech_larl.html
Organic Materials Review Institute
http://www.omri.org/OMRI_datatable.htm
So What do Maine producers
do for prevention and
treatment?
• 85% use Iodine dips (pre and post)
• Some use nothing, bleach solutions or
Chlorhexidine teat dips
• Most use paper towels, but several still use
common sponge (lowest SCC herd in the state)
• 35% do use some sort of intramammary
infusions (sterile?)
• 25% use mastitis vaccines (J-5, Staph or both)
Treatments are varied…
Frequent stripping
Using calves on high cell count cows
Herbal and homeopathic treatments,
both orally and intramammary
Aloe injections, pellets and infusions
Aspirin (very common)
Garlic given orally (whole cloves)
Ship cow to conventional neighbor
Peppermint liniment
Vitamin/mineral injections (Mu-Se)
Hydrogen Peroxide infusions
Other organic qualities?
•
•
•
•
•
Organic milk…higher CLA content?
Does UHT impact consumer acceptance?
Local vs organic
The organic Walmart market…
Animal welfare..are organic cows happy
cows?
• Are organic farms more environmentally
friendly?
Other Organic Dairy Research
University of Maine and
University of Vermont are
studying the cost of
production and transition
of organic dairy farms
(CSREES funded)
University of Maine and
New Hampshire along with
ARS/NEPSWL have
started an organic forage
system trial with CSREES
funding
University of New
Hampshire as
launched an
initiative to build an
organic dairy
research facility
and hope to be the
first land grant
University with an
organic dairy herd.
Univ. of Maine,
ARS/NEPSWL and
UVM have received
funding for organic
grain research