Validation of the Minnesota Easy Culture System II

Results from On-farm Bi-plate Culture versus Standard Laboratory Culture

Abstract

Despite continued progress in mastitis control research, mastitis remains the most costly infectious disease, and the most frequent cause of antibacterial use, on commercial dairy farms. As such, research should continue on the development and validation of new management tools that will help reduce the health and economic impact of this disease, while at the same time promoting the judicious and strategic use of antimicrobials on dairy farms. Accordingly, there is increasing adoption of on-farm culture systems for selective treatment of clinical mastitis cases. Similarly, there may be an opportunity for using on-farm culture systems for the diagnosis and selective treatment of subclinical intramammary infections in fresh cows.

A multi-site, multi-herd, three-year controlled field study has been designed to validate the efficacy and quantify the cost-benefit of incorporating on-farm culture systems into both clinical and subclinical mastitis monitoring and treatment programs. This manuscript outlines the methodology followed and presents the preliminary results of one of the objectives of the project, which is validation of an on-farm culture system (Minnesota Easy Culture System II).