TWO SA dairies have placed in the top 100 nationwide for milk quality.
The Australian Milk Quality Awards have been set up to recognise the 5 per cent of dairyfarmers that consistently show low bulk milk cell counts.
A higher milk cell count is generally associated with mastitis present in a dairy herd.
The top 5pc are awarded with a metal plaque and the top 100 receive a newly designed golden plaque.
Golding & Sons, Parawa, and RP Herrmann & Co, Mount Torrens, will receive gold plaques.
For Graeme Golding there is no one secret to quality milk.
"You put a whole heap of things together and it works," he said.
With a large collection of Australian Milk Quality Awards hanging in the milk room in his dairy, Mr Golding said his best practices included breeding cows correctly, cleanliness and animal health.
He milks up to 120 cows in his registered Holstein Fresian herd.
"It's a very good feeling (to win the award), the same as anyone winning an Adelaide champion cow ribbon," Mr Golding said.
At Mount Torrens, Rodney Herrmann and dairy manager Ben Wilhelm believe a combination of factors helped ensure the quality of their milk.
Three years ago, they started trialing the use of Teatseal on their 115- head Holstein Fresian herd, introducing it full-time two years ago.
Mr Herrmann said it had made a difference, along with the use of antibiotics on teats.
"It can get expensive but you can save a few cows and get quality milk coming in," he said.
Mr Wilhelm said it was not universally used, but proved effective for many.
"Those who are (using Teatseal) wouldn't not use it," he said.
Along with Teatseal, good clean laneways and a good milking machine were other priorities to keep infection out of the herd.
This is the third successive year the dairy has made the top 5pc.
The dairy also makes use of regular testing through National Herd Development, which provides figures on each cow every five weeks.
Mr Wilhelm said there were some cases of mastitis running in specific families, so breeding right was very important.
The dairy could calculate the cell counts of each cow and keep control over other issues. The breeding of each cow and any recurring problems could also be monitored.
Based on this information, cows could be treated and decisions made to cull for the benefit of the herd.
Mr Herrmann said the award was a nice bonus on top of delivering a quality product to the factory.
"Overall, if you know you are doing things right, you get results and a bit of longevity in the cattle," he said.
* Full report in Stock Journal, September 11, 2014 issue.
