Less tolerance for mastitis in low-SCC herds

Herds with a low somatic cell count are not so tolerant of high-SCC cows, according to research in the February Journal of Dairy Science. In low-SCC herds, Holstein cows with an average SCC greater than 700,000 were 3.4 times more likely to be culled than cows with a SCC of between 200,000 and 250,000. By contrast, in high-SCC herds, cows with a SCC greater than 700,000 were just 2.3 times more likely to be culled than cows with a SCC of between 200,000 to 250,000