Consumers are more concerned than ever about the source of food. Many, too, question the use of antibiotics with farm animals and how those medicines may affect what we eat and drink.

MSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine is collaborating with a half dozen partners to reduce antibiotic use by dairy producers through an innovative educational program designed to decrease mastitis in cows. Led by CVM Professor of Large Animal Clinical Science Ron Erskine, the field-oriented project supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture involves a multi-disciplinary team from the MSU Julian Samora Research Institute, partners from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Pennsylvania State University, and Syracuse University, as well as veterinarians, producers, and other dairy professionals.

“If you can prevent the incidence of mastitis, you don’t have to worry about treating it,” said Erskine.  “That’s what we’re really focused on, as well as helping farmers and their employees become more aware of responsible use of antimicrobials.”
 
Mastitis is an infection of a cow’s udder that typically is caused by bacteria. The persistent, endemic problem on dairy farms leads to economic losses, reduces milk quality, and affects the longevity and wellbeing of the cow. Michigan State’s team of partners, called the Quality Milk Alliance, looks to cut the incidence of mastitis by a third, and to reduce antibiotic use by half, within five years.

Launched in 2013, the $3 million, USDA-funded project involves several stages, the first being to assess current mastitis treatment practices in dairy farms in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Florida. After conducting focus groups and surveys on farms with herd sizes ranging from 75 to 3,000, the team determined that management and training of employees was key to helping producers improve their overall mastitis protocols.

“While the incidence of mastitis has decreased in the last 20 years, you need to take things to the next level to maintain that improvement,” Erskine said. “We have to account for the changing labor structure that occurs as we transition from small, family-owned farms to larger farms with diverse workforces.”

With the initial pilot study complete, the project has entered a second stage that involves yearlong employee education and training on about 130 farms in three states. Depending on the locale, materials are developed with Latino communities and workers in mind. Trainers are sensitized to potential language barriers and cultural issues, and ensure that employees from non-farming backgrounds understand why certain practices and protocols are essential when working with dairy herds.

The third component of the program will be to train individuals from outside the farm to serve as ongoing educators once the project ends. Herd veterinarians are a natural fit for these educational roles, Erskine said, and already have an established relationship with dairy producers and employees. Another outcome of the project involves the development of an online educational tool and “cyber institute” to train and certify specialists to do on-the-farm audits and education.

“Our role is to empower,” Erskine said.
 
“Our program integrates extension, education, and research, and is predominantly in the field. At the end of the day, this has to be a boots-on-the-ground program that can be used by the dairy industry and applied on the farm now. I can see us taking this model and applying it to other things employees do on a farm. It could be bigger than just reducing mastitis and antibiotic use.”