An integrated extension and education program to reduce mastitis and antimicrobial use

Abstract

A critical, and often unrecognized, obstacle to implementation of mastitis control practices in many dairy herds is the behavior and attitude of farmers and employees. Additionally, increasing reliance on hired labor in the US dairy industry raises concerns with communication, training, and protocol compliance. The Quality Milk Alliance is a 5-year, USDA-NIFA funded project that seeks to reduce mastitis prevalence and antimicrobial drug use on dairy farms. This will be accomplished by the development of a team-building approach to address social and communication barriers to adoption of mastitis control practices. To that end, the first aim of the project used a combination of a mailed survey and focus group meetings to determine existing knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about mastitis control and antimicrobial use on dairy farms, as well as potential barriers to adopting and complying with herd protocols.