Dairy cow nutrition and mastitis

07-12-2022 | Health | Expert opinion

Djionis Savva Founder and CEO of D.I.S Nutrition

Failing to meet nutrient requirements of the cow may have both a direct impact on immune function to prevent mastitis as well as increasing the cow’s susceptibility to mastitis. Photo: Canva

Financial losses due to mastitis are mainly associated with significantly lower milk production and milk quality, additional labour, and an increase in veterinary service costs for farmers and for the dairy processors in a lower milk to cheese yield ratio. To date, mastitis, together with lameness, is considered the number one reason for dairy cow culling globally. Here we explore the role of nutrition in preventing mastitis. In almost all cases, mastitis infection is transmitted horizontally