a. Cows and Waterers: Keep them clean. A dirty environment will lead to build up of environmental bacterial. High levels of environmental bacteria will increase chances of opportunistic udder infections.

b. Udders: Improving sanitation to decrease mastitis is simply keeping the udder clean and free of pathogenic bacteria that cause mastitis. Long udder hair allows dirt, water and bacteria to accumulate on the udder. These can enter the liner during milking and lead to mastitis. They may also enter the bulk milk and contribute to raw milk bacteria counts.

c. Bedding: Bedding must be dry at all times. Straw and sand are the beddings of choice. Avoid green wood sawdust which has frequently been associated with Klebsiella mastitis problems. Clean sod or new bedding is essential for all springing heifers and dry cows as well as milk cows. The grass sod in the pasture or dry lot should be free of mud and objects such as sticks that damage the udder. A common rule of thumb for free stalls is to kneel in the stall beds. If the knees of your pants aren’t dry when you get up, the stalls aren’t clean enough.

d. Dry Cow Pens: Keep dry cow pens clean. A cow’s immune function is at its lowest around the time of calving. Make a habit of kneeling in dry, pre-fresh and calving pens. If you come away with dirty and/or wet knees, start cleaning more frequently and consider using more bedding.

e. Calving Pens: When a cow is calving, both her udder and reproductive tract are open to the environment. Add in the fact that her immune system isn’t functioning very well and you will understand why udder and uterine infections are common at calving. Ideally, every cow should calve in a clean, freshly rebedded pen. Disinfecting calving pens between cows is even better. The best way to disinfect a calving stall is to clean it and leave it unbedded and unoccupied for a day or so. Most disease causing bacteria aren’t able to tolerate exposure to light, air and drying conditions. On many dairies, leaving a calving pen unoccupied for even 24 hours isn’t practical. In these cases disinfectants or even hydrated lime can help. Keep in mind that organic matter (manure & bedding) will reduce the efficacy of your disinfectant, so you may need to increase disinfectant concentrations.

f. Milking Parlors: Dirty pulsators and vacuum controllers can malfunction and cause teat-end damage which will, in turn, lead to increased rates of new infections. Also, any time liner slips occur, milk and any bacteria present can be propelled through the teat end into the udder. By maintaining the highest possible levels of cleanliness, the bacterial load in the milking parlor will be minimized. This will reduce the chances of infection occurring during the milking process.

g. Milking Personnel: Don’t overlook milking personnel as a possible source of bacterial contamination that could lead to mastitis. Anyone who works on other livestock operations should change clothing and wash arms and hands thoroughly (better yet, shower) before milking your cows. Encouraging milkers to wear gloves while milking has also been shown to reduce exposure to bacteria. Remember to encourage the milking crew to change gloves as soon as they become soiled.

h. Teat Dip Use: A consistent post-dip program will pay dividend in mastitis control. With turnover on dairy crews, it is very easy for milking procedures to change without management's' knowledge. Many dairies now post standard operating procedures for the milking crews. It describes how to pre cows, attach units, remove units and apply post milking teat dip. It also details the need to wear gloves and when to clean and sanitize the hands. This approach helps everyone understand what is expected and helps remove inconsistencies associated with different people and crews.

i. Dry Cow Treatment Program: Dry cow antibiotic treatments are one of the most effective ways to eliminate existing infections.Treating during the dry period is 80-90% effective in eliminating infections, while treatment during lactation is only 30-40% effective. This is because antibiotics designed for dry cows can be formulated to provide higher levels of antibiotic activity over longer periods of time without worry about milk residue. When administering dry cow treatments, make sure that teat ends are thoroughly scrubbed with cotton-alcohol pads.Otherwise, dry cow treatments can end up introducing large numbers of bacteria into the udder and causing more harm than good. Teat sealant should also be considered as part of dry off treatment procedures. After the teats have been infused with dry cow antibiotics teat sealant should be applied to help seal off the teat end to prevent environmental bacteria from entering during the early dry period.

j. Hold Fresh Cow Milk From Bulk Tank Longer: Milk from fresh cows is generally higher in SCC.Withholding this milk from your bulk tank can reduce tank SCC, but may not be economically feasible or practical. In addition, milk from a fresh cow that has no problems will typically have a cell count of 300,000/ml or less within 5 days of calving providing she has no infection problems. It is not very practical and tends to be economically nonviable to hold out milk from fresh cows beyond the standard 72-96 hours post-calving depending on the dry cow product used.