A team at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine has developed a program that aims to help dairy farmers decrease antibiotic use and improve animal welfare.
Professor Sandra Godden says Selective Dry Cow Therapy is an alternative to the commonly used blanket approach which treats all cows at dry-off with long-acting antibiotics regardless of whether they have mastitis or not.
“Selective Dry Cow Therapy is making an individual cow or quarter decision, and only infusing with antibiotics if there is a high probability of infection in that cow or quarter.”
The study involving several herds in multiple states found that antibiotic use was reduced by an average of 55 percent at dry-off.
