In the UK, as part of the industry’s efforts to reduce the use of antibiotics, dairy farmers are encouraged to open their farms to test a new bovine mastitis test on farms.
The field lab will evaluate if MastDecide’s new farm bacteria test kit is an effective tool to help farmers determine the cause of an infection or illness.
Bovine mastitis is a persistent inflammatory reaction of udder tissue due to physical injuries or infections of microorganisms, a potentially fatal infection of the mammary gland, the most common disease of dairy cattle worldwide.
The field lab will also consider the need for antibiotics, as studies show that in most cases, mild to moderate mastitis can be cured spontaneously without medication.
Innovative Farmers, a non-profit research-led network for farmers, will link farmers and their veterinarians with researchers from Royal Veterinary College.
Veterinarians will try to find out if a culture test can be practically applied to reduce the use of antibiotics without compromising animal health and milk quality.
Liz Bowles, deputy director of agriculture at the Soil Association charity, said the new culture test will make it easier for farmers to determine when antibiotic treatment will be redundant during infection, and the field lab will help determine the practicality and impact of the test in real-life scenarios.
