Controlling mastitis: First step is get herd somatic cell count well under 200,000

One of the most important aids to controlling mastitis and keeping the somatic cell count (SCC) down is the information from herd milk recording and other information from the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF).

The figures in the ICBF report show a very wide range of SCCs between herds and cows.

There are some herds under 100,000 SCC with heifers under 70,000, and some herds over 350,000 SCC with most heifers carrying infection and showing high SCC readings.