A benefit to cost analysis of the effect of premilking teat hygiene on somatic cell count and intramammary infections in a commercial dairy herd

A field trial was conducted to determine the effect of premilking teat disinfection (predipping) on several measures of mastitis in a commercial dairy farm where the predominant organisms isolated from intramammary infections were coagulase negative Staphylococcus spp. Cows were randomly assigned to a treated (predipped with 0.5% iodine germicide plus "good udder preparation") or a control group ("good udder preparation" alone). Sterile composite milk samples were collected at the initiation of the trial and on an approximately bimonthly basis throughout the duration of the trial. There was no difference in the prevalence of isolation of coagulase-negative Staphylococcus spp. from composite milk samples obtained during the 6 herd cultures. The incidence rate for clinical mastitis in the control group was 1.38 cases per 1000 cow days. The incidence rate for clinical mastitis in the treatment group was 1.06 cases per 1000 cow days. The ratio of these 2 was 1.3, suggesting a higher rate in the control group, but the ratio was not statistically significant (P = 0.34). Logistic regression analysis indicated that the effect of treatment group was not significant, although the coefficient suggested that predipping reduced the risk of clinical mastitis. The benefit to cost ratio of 0.37 indicated that the benefit of reduced incidence of clinical cases of mastitis would not have justified the added expense required to predip the herd.