Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c47g7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T14:48:46.475Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Bulk tank milk quality data is unlikely to give useful information about dairy cow welfare at herd level

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 May 2020

Jessica Ginestreti ,
Rosa Maria Strano ,
Valentina Lorenzi ,
Francesca Fusi ,
Alessandra Angelucci ,
Giandomenico Ferrara ,
Giorgio Galletti ,
Stefania Bergagna ,
Giuseppe Bolzoni  and
Giorgio Zanardi
...Show all authors
Jessica Ginestreti*
Affiliation:
Italian National Reference Centre for Animal Welfare, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia Romagna ‘Bruno Ubertini’, Via A. Bianchi 9, 25124Brescia, Italy
Rosa Maria Strano
Affiliation:
Italian National Reference Centre for Animal Welfare, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia Romagna ‘Bruno Ubertini’, Via A. Bianchi 9, 25124Brescia, Italy
Valentina Lorenzi
Affiliation:
Italian National Reference Centre for Animal Welfare, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia Romagna ‘Bruno Ubertini’, Via A. Bianchi 9, 25124Brescia, Italy
Francesca Fusi
Affiliation:
Italian National Reference Centre for Animal Welfare, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia Romagna ‘Bruno Ubertini’, Via A. Bianchi 9, 25124Brescia, Italy
Alessandra Angelucci
Affiliation:
Italian National Reference Centre for Animal Welfare, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia Romagna ‘Bruno Ubertini’, Via A. Bianchi 9, 25124Brescia, Italy
Giandomenico Ferrara
Affiliation:
Italian National Reference Centre for Animal Welfare, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia Romagna ‘Bruno Ubertini’, Via A. Bianchi 9, 25124Brescia, Italy
Giorgio Galletti
Affiliation:
Sorveglianza Epidemiologica Emilia Romagna (SEER), Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia Romagna ‘Bruno Ubertini’, via P. Fiorini 5, 40127Bologna, Italy
Stefania Bergagna
Affiliation:
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d'Aosta, Via Bologna 148, 10154Torino, Italy
Giuseppe Bolzoni
Affiliation:
Italian National Reference Centre for Bovine Milk Quality, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia Romagna ‘Bruno Ubertini’, Via A. Bianchi 9, 25124Brescia, Italy
Giorgio Zanardi
Affiliation:
Italian National Reference Centre for Bovine Milk Quality, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia Romagna ‘Bruno Ubertini’, Via A. Bianchi 9, 25124Brescia, Italy
Elena Buffoli
Affiliation:
Italian National Reference Centre for Bovine Milk Quality, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia Romagna ‘Bruno Ubertini’, Via A. Bianchi 9, 25124Brescia, Italy
Antonio Marcolini
Affiliation:
Italian National Reference Centre for Bovine Milk Quality, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia Romagna ‘Bruno Ubertini’, Via A. Bianchi 9, 25124Brescia, Italy
Luigi Bertocchi
Affiliation:
Italian National Reference Centre for Animal Welfare, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia Romagna ‘Bruno Ubertini’, Via A. Bianchi 9, 25124Brescia, Italy
*
Author for correspondence: Jessica Ginestreti, Email: jessica.ginestreti@izsler.it
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This research communication explores the value of routinely collected bulk tank milk quality data for estimating dairy cattle welfare at herd level. Selected bulk tank milk quality parameters (somatic cell count, total bacterial count, urea, protein and fat contents) recorded during the years 2014–2016 in 287 Italian dairy farms were compared with the animal welfare data of each farm. The welfare assessment data were extracted from the database of the Italian Reference Centre for Animal Welfare (CReNBA), which includes the outputs of the application of the CReNBA welfare assessment protocol for dairy cows, used at national level for on-farm controls. The statistical analysis was carried out using the correlation coefficient for Kendall's Tau ranks, in order to investigate the presence of a categoric relationship between the selected bulk tank milk quality parameters and the overall animal welfare score or the scores of the single areas A (farm management and staff training), B (housing) and C (animal-based measures). Somatic cell count, total bacterial count, urea and proteins demonstrated only a few statistically significant and very weak correlations with farm animal welfare data, while no significant correlations were obtained for milk fat content. Given the weak correlations found, the selected bulk tank milk parameters seems to be able to provide only limited information about the welfare level of the herd, thus it could be difficult to use them for drawing up a pre-screening model for identifying herds at risk of poor welfare.

Keywords

Animal welfare assessmentdairy cowindicatorsmilk quality
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Dairy Research , Volume 87 , Issue 2 , May 2020 , pp. 208 - 211
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Hannah Dairy Research Foundation

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arnould, V, Reding, R, Bormann, J, Gengler, N and Soyeurt, H (2013) Review: milk composition as management tool of sustainability. Biotechnology, Agronomy and Society and Environment 17, 613–621.Google Scholar
Bertocchi, L, Fusi, F and Scalvenzi, A (2012) Preliminary observations on the relationship between animal welfare and somatic cell count of milk. Large Animal Review 18, 259–263.Google Scholar
Bertocchi, L, Fusi, F, Angelucci, A, Bolzoni, L, Pongolini, S, Strano, RM, Ginestreti, J, Riuzzi, G, Moroni, P and Lorenzi, V (2018) Characterization of hazards, welfare promoters and animal-based measures for the welfare assessment of dairy cows: elicitation of expert opinion. Preventive Veterinary Medicine 150, 8–18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
de Vries, M, Bokkers, EA, van Schaik, G, Engel, B, Dijkstra, T and De Boer, IJM (2014) Exploring the value of routinely collected herd data for estimating dairy cattle welfare. Journal of Dairy Science 97, 715–730.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dufour, S, Fréchette, A, Barkema, HW, Mussell, A and Scholl, DT (2011) Invited review: effect of udder health management practices on herd somatic cell count. Journal of Dairy Science 94, 563–579.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
EFSA (2012) Scientific opinion of the panel on animal health and welfare on the use of animal-based measures to assess welfare of dairy cows. EFSA Journal 10, 2554.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hristov, S, Zlatanović, Z, Stanković, B, Dokmanović, M, Ostojić-Andrić, D and Mekić, C (2014) The relationship between rearing system, animal needs index and dairy cows milk traits. Mljekarstvo 64, 186–194.10.15567/mljekarstvo.2014.0306CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Italian Ministerial Decree No 185/1991 Regulation concerning the terms of livestock production, the composition and hygienic requirements of raw milk for the use in the production of high quality pasteurized fresh milk. GU Serie Generale no. 142, 19 June 1991.Google Scholar
McLeod, AI (2011) Kendall: Kendall rank correlation and Mann-Kendall trend test. R package version 2.2. Available at https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=Kendall.Google Scholar
Múnera-Bedoya, OD, Cassoli, LD, Machado, PF and Cerón-Muñoz, MF (2017) Influence of attitudes and behaviour of milkers on the hygienic and sanitary quality of milk. PLoS ONE 12(9), e0184640.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Regulation (EC) No. 853/2004 (2004) of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 laying down specific hygiene rules for on the hygiene of foodstuffs. Official Journal of the European Union L. 139, 55–205.Google Scholar
Sant'Anna, AC and Paranhos da Costa, JR (2011) The relationship between dairy cow hygiene and somatic cell count in milk. Journal of Dairy Science 94, 3835–3844.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Velthuis, AGJ and van Asseldonk, MAPM (2011) Process audits versus product quality monitoring of bulk milk. Journal of Dairy Science 94, 235–249.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zucali, M, Bava, L, Tamburini, A, Brasca, M, Vanoni, L and Sandrucci, A (2011) Effects of season, milking routine and cow cleanliness on bacterial and somatic cell counts of bulk tank milk. Journal of Dairy Research 78, 436–441.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Supplementary material: PDF

Ginestreti et al. supplementary material

Ginestreti et al. supplementary material

Download Ginestreti et al. supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 357.6 KB