Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what assessment her Department has made of the effect of mastitis in cow herds;
[115479]
Answer
Mastitis is the most common disease of dairy cows and involuntary culling due to mastitis is a major cost to the dairy industry, as was highlighted in the Farm Animal Welfare Council's 2009 Opinion on the Welfare of the Dairy Cow.
The dairy industry has established the Cattle Health and Welfare Group, which includes representatives from DEFRA and the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA). The Group has four key priorities, one of which is the dairy cow welfare strategy which was launched in August 2010 with support of the whole dairy supply chain. The strategy is aiming to improve recognition, treatment, prevention and control of mastitis and expand the excellent work of DairyCo and its Mastitis Control Initiative to reduce levels of mastitis. The strategy's first progress report published in September last year reported the incidence rate of cows affected by clinical mastitis (expressed as the proportion of cows affected) reduced by 7.8% over the 12 months to June 2011. The AHVLA provides a diagnostic service for diseases, including mastitis and maintains a database of submissions and diagnosis as part of its surveillance remit. A summary of its analysis is published annually.
DEFRA's cattle welfare code provides farmers with good husbandry advice based on best practice and includes guidance on mastitis. Over a number of years ADAS, on behalf of DEFRA, has provided comprehensive welfare advice through a variety of media for farmers around the country to encourage good welfare, in an effort to reduce the incidence of mastitis in cow herds. The programme has included advice on 'Reducing injuries
to Dairy Cows', 'Milking Management and the Mastitis Management Action Plan' and more recently 'Breeding Dairy cows for Longevity'.