Mastitis Focus is a two page report designed to help you make better decisions about mastitis management in your herd. The report identifies problem areas and potential risks to udder health, and gives you and your veterinary advisers a way of tracking progress in the herd after changes are made.

Track udder health

In the past, it was difficult to recognise mastitis problems in herds until an outbreak occurred. But now the Mastitis Focus report gives you the ability to effectively track the udder health of your herd.

The report allows you to:

• Assess and prioritise key mastitis management areas
• Detect emerging problems earlier.

It provides information about:

• The success of previous drying-off strategies 
• Clinical case management

Keeping tabs on the spread of infection through the herd.

Make sense of routinely collected data

Mastitis Focus uses:

• Cow SCC from herd testing.
• Dry cow treatment records.
• Clinical mastitis treatment records.

Herd testing farms are at an advantage as cow SCC information is readily available. These records are used to assess how quickly mastitis is spreading in your herd.

Electronic recording of dry cow and clinical treatment details, through your herd improvement organisation, enhances the power of Mastitis Focus.

Strengthen the partnership with your veterinarian

Mastitis Focus allows you to better use your vet's expertise for the prevention of mastitis rather than just treating mastitis once it is present.

How to get a Mastitis Focus Report

The Mastitis Focus report is available to your vet through Infovet. Ask your vet if they can use Infovet in their business.

Mastitis Focus resources:

A number of DairyNZ SmartSamm resources are available to help interpret and use the Mastitis Focus report.

• Introducing SmartSAMM Mastitis Focus Report
• A Quick Guide to reading your SmartSAMM Mastitis Focus Report
• Mastitis Focus fact sheet - Your calving system
• Mastitis Focus fact sheet - Clinical mastitis
• Mastitis Focus fact sheet - Spread of infection
• Mastitis Focus fact sheet - Previous dry off strategies
• Mastitis Focus fact sheet - Culling to control mastitis

Acknowledgements:

• SmartSAMM acknowledges CRV Ambreed and Cognosco for helping validate Mastitis Focus for New Zealand conditions.
• Mastitis Focus was originally developed for the Countdown programme by Dairy Australia and the Dairy Herd Improvement Fund. Mastitis Focus was custom-designed by Mike Larcombe, a consultant with HICO, Maffra, Victoria.