The National Mastitis Council, Inc. (NMC), will hold its 2010 Regional Meeting Sept. 8-9, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Grand Rapids, Mich. This meeting will highlight mastitis control and overall milk quality improvement as they relate to people, cows and the environment.
The two-day conference kicks off with specialized short courses and a farm tour on Wednesday, Sept. 8. The short courses will cover topics relative to visual inspection techniques, controlling somatic cell counts, and on-farm culture-based treatment of clinical mastitis. The farm tour features the robotic milking system and pasture-based dairy center at Michigan State University’s W.K. Kellogg Biological Station. Attendees must pre-register for the short course or farm tour by Aug. 31. An informal reception will culminate the first day of the meeting.
The second day of the program features presentations by David Sumrall, Dairy Production Systems; Janice Swanson, Michigan State University; Aaron Gasper, Lew-Max Holsteins LLC; Jim Dickrell, Dairy Today; Pamela Ruegg, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Dale Moore, Washington State University; Andres Contrares, Michigan State University; and Ron Erskine, Michigan State University. Featured topics include making quality milk simple, animal welfare in legislation, creating a positive farm image, dairy export issues, making better mastitis treatment decisions, eliminating drug residues, disease susceptibility in the transition cow, and vaccinating for coliform mastitis.
The NMC Regional Meeting again will feature a special program for Spanish-speaking employees involved in the milking process on Sept. 9, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Topics will be presented in Spanish and include basic quality milk production tips, management efficiencies, and proper cow management in the parlor.
Individuals interested in attending the sessions on Thursday, Sept. 9 can pre-register by Aug. 31, or register at the door. Additional program content and registration information can be found online.
Source: National Mastitis Council, Inc.