Milestone in mastitis management unveiled

18 June 2012

Milestone in mastitis management unveiled

A new dairy industry resource for managing mastitis and improving milk quality has been unveiled by DairyNZ at the New Zealand Milk Quality Conference in Hamilton today.

Known as SmartSAMM, the new online resource builds on the success of the SAMM Plan (seasonal approach to managing mastitis) with updated information for today’s dairy farm systems.

Senior DairyNZ scientist and technical manager for SmartSAMM Dr Jane Lacy-Hulbert, said the new resource gives dairy farmers and their advisors easy access to the complete industry-agreed knowledge about mastitis and milk quality.

“We’re very pleased to be able to launch this new resource at the New Zealand Milk Quality Conference 2012. The benefits for farmers and the dairy industry are huge - improved udder health and milk quality, time savings at milking, and ultimately improved production and profit.

“For farmers, SmartSAMM provides key tools and resources to help establish if a problem exists, and if so, what to do next and how to prevent it in future. There are guidelines and key recommendations for managing mastitis during calving, lactation, drying off and the dry period.

“For advisors, the corresponding Technotes provide more of the science detail that sits behind the recommendations – we’ve really tried to make this an ‘all-you-need-to-know’ resource,” said Dr Lacy-Hulbert.

The SmartSAMM project is a collaboration through NMAC (National Mastitis Advisory Committee) with stakeholders and service providers responsible for mastitis control and milk quality in New Zealand. It is funded by DairyNZ and the Ministry for Primary Industries. The source material has been adapted from Dairy Australia’s Countdown Downunder and updated for New Zealand dairy farming.

The new DairyNZ SmartSAMM website is now live at www.SmartSAMM.co.nz.

About DairyNZ
DairyNZ is the industry good organisation representing New Zealand’s dairy farmers. We are funded by a levy on milksolids and our purpose is to secure and enhance the profitability, sustainability and competitiveness of New Zealand dairy farming. We deliver value to farmers through leadership, influencing, investing, partnering with other organisations and through our own strategic capability. Our work includes research and development to create practical on-farm tools, leading on-farm adoption of best practice farming, promoting careers in dairying and advocating for farmers with central and regional government. For more information, visit www.dairynz.co.nz

ENDS

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