By SHELLY STRAUTZ-SPRINGBORN
Michigan Correspondent

EAST LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan State University Dairy Farm is one of the “Elite 8.”

The farm recently was selected as one of eight platinum winners in the 2008 National Dairy Quality Awards (NDQA) program. It’s an honor bestowed on only a few farms for excellence in milk quality.
Nominated by Michigan Milk Producers Association Field Representative Duane Farmers, the farm was one of more than 200 nominees for the 2008 award. MSU Dairy Farm Manager Bob Kreft accepted the award during the 48th annual National Mastitis Council (NMC) annual meeting in January in Charlotte, N.C.

“Winning the top-rated platinum award essentially means that your farm produces the highest quality milk that can be produced,” said Tom Herremans, a mastitis management supervisor for the Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA), the Michigan-based cooperative that processes the milk produced at the MSU Dairy Farm. He has worked with the farm for 27 years.

In 2008, the farm achieved a remarkable 51,000 somatic cell count (SCC) for the year and a rolling herd average of about 28,000 pounds of milk per cow.

“Success is most attainable when employees take a genuine interest in an operation and approach things as an owner would. The people who work there take pride in doing the best job possible,” Herremans said.

Kreft agreed.

“The MSU Dairy Farm is fortunate because its employees are really interested in the cows and dedicated to doing their individual jobs well,” he said. “It’s a team effort – each member of the team has a role to play in producing milk of high quality.”

Four full-time employees and six students milk the herd of 150, which also includes caring for about 150 replacement animals. The farm has a written milking procedure. Milkers wear gloves, and cows are pre-dipped. Milkers strip out foremilk, dry teats with an individual cloth towel and post-dip after the cow is milked. Cows are housed in tie stalls, which are bedded with kiln-dried sawdust on mattresses filled with shredded rubber. Stalls are groomed four times per day to ensure that they remain clean and dry.

The MSU Dairy Farm has come to symbolize high quality milk, a point reaffirmed when MMPA presented Kreft with the 2009 MMPA Milk Quality Award at the cooperative’s annual meeting this month. The MSU Dairy Farm was one of two award winners – for the first time in MMPA history, two farms tied for the award. The co-award was shared with Kevin Cavanaugh, a dairy farmer from Leslie, Mich.
“Being honored with a platinum award is a noteworthy achievement,” said Karen Plaut, chairperson of the MSU Department of Animal Science. “I am very proud of the employees and students who work at the MSU Dairy Farm.

“MSU was the only university dairy program recognized by the National Dairy Quality Awards Program,” she said. “This award distinguishes the MSU Dairy Farm as a model dairy production facility and provides an opportunity to showcase the role the farm plays in research, teaching and outreach at MSU.”

To qualify for the award, a farm must first be nominated by a dairy industry professional, such as a dairy plant field representative, veterinarian, DHI supervisor or Extension staff member. Finalists were judged by a panel of milk quality experts, who looked at a variety of quality indicators, including somatic cell count (white blood cells), bacteria count and the number of cases of mastitis in the herd. The judges also evaluate the farm’s milking routine, practices for monitoring udder health, protocols for detecting and treating mastitis, recordkeeping, strategies for maintaining overall health and welfare, and adherence to therapeutic drug use rules.
Visit www.nmconline.org/ndqa/ndqawin2008.htm for a complete list of 2008 NDQA award winners.