Milk quality data — collected routinely by milk buyers and processing companies — provides a continuous stream of welfare-relevant information about dairy cow health. Understanding how to interpret these data from a welfare perspective turns a commercial monitoring tool into a powerful welfare assessment resource.
Individual cow SCC is the most direct welfare indicator available in routine milk recording. High SCC indicates udder infection (mastitis) causing pain and systemic illness. Key welfare thresholds:
Monthly parlour recording schemes provide individual cow SCC, enabling identification of chronic high-SCC cows and tracking of new infection events. This data directly informs welfare intervention decisions.
Milk fat and protein data provide metabolic status information:
Antibiotic residue tests protect food safety and indirectly reflect welfare practice. Residue failures indicate errors in dry cow therapy, withdrawal period management, or identification of treated cows. While rare, residue failures should trigger investigation of treatment record management and cow identification practices.
Dairy herds in parlour recording schemes receive monthly data that should be reviewed at quarterly or annual herd health planning meetings. Trends in BSCC, chronic SCC cows, and fat:protein ratios over time provide a welfare narrative for the herd that complements clinical observation and veterinary assessment.