The Research Column

by Heinz Meissner

Click on any of the publications below to read more about the specific topic:

A longitudinal study on the impact of Johne's disease status on milk production in individual cows.

Discipline: disease; Keywords: pathogen, faecal culture, blood serum tests, economic losses, culling.

How does infection with Johne's disease affect milk production in dairy herds? Smith and co-workers studied the status of the disease in three herds in the US and tried to predict the impact on milk production when the condition is latent or when the cows are actually shedding cells. The study was published in the Journal of Dairy Science, Volume 92 of 2009, pages 2653 to 2661, with the title: A longitudinal study on the impact of Johne's disease status on milk production in individual cows.
A study on cow comfort and risk for lameness and mastitis in relation to different types of bedding materials

Discipline: cow comfort; Key words: bedding material, lying behavior,
A STUDY TO LIMIT OFF-FLAVOURS IN NON-FAT DRY MILK AND MILK PROTEIN CONCENTRATE

Discipline: sensory; Key words: nonfat dry milk, milk protein concentrate, unit operations,
ABSENCE OF GROWTH OF LISTERIA MONOCYTOGENES IN NATURALLY CONTAMINATED CHEDDAR CHEESE.

Discipline: cheese; Keywords: natural contamination, farmhouse cheese, Listeria monocytogenes, food safety.
ADAPTIVE IMMUNE RESPONSE, SURVIVAL, SOMATIC CELL SCORE BETWEEN POSTPARTUM HOLSTEIN AND NORWEGIAN RED X HOLSTEIN FIRST-CALF HEIFERS.

Discipline: mastitis; Key words: crossbreeding, immune response, phenotypic correlations, somatic cell score, survival.
Addition of meloxicam to the treatment of bovine clinical mastitis results in a net economic benefit to the dairy farmer.

Discipline: mastitis; Key words: bovine clinical mastitis, fertility, economics, animal health management.
Adoption of technology, management practices, and production systems in US milk production.

Discipline: technology adoption; Keywords: structural changes, labour, efficient operations, holding pen, udder washer, breeding technologies, coputerized milking systems.
An evaluation of the effect of altering nutrition and nutritional strategies in early lactation on reproductive performance and oestrus behaviour of high-yielding Holstein-Friesian dairy cows.

Discipline: reproduction; Key words: nutrition, fertility, reproductive performance, high-yielding dairy cow.
ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE OF MASTITIS-CAUSING PATHOGENS AND BACTERIOCINS AS ALTERNATIVE CONTROL METHOD

Discipline: mastitis; Key words: antibiotic resistance, biofilm, Staphylococcus aureus, bacteriocin, Caenorhabditis elegans, in vivo screening platform.
Associations of soft flooring materials in free stalls with milk yield, clinical mastitis, teat lesions, and removal of dairy cows.

Discipline: housing; Keywords: thermal protection, durable lying surfaces, behaviour, free-stall lying surface softness, culling.

Is there an advantage to having soft flooring material instead of concrete? A recent Danish study investigated whether this was indeed the case; reference: L.E. Ruud, K.E. Bøe and O. Østerås. Associations of soft flooring materials in free stalls with milk yield, clinical mastitis, teat lesions, and removal of dairy cows. Journal of Dairy Science (2010) Volume 93, pages 1578-1586