National Service for Udder Health & Milk Quality

Founded by the Israel Dairy Board, Israel Cattle Breeders Association, and the Dairy Industry, ”The National Service for Udder Health and Milk Quality” is a non-profit organization, whose objective is to improve the udder health and milk quality of all milk producers (cows, sheep & goats) in Israel. Today the “National Service” is the operative branch of the Israel Dairy Board, providing services to all milk producers with milk quotas, by virtue of a levy on each liter of marketed milk. The organization consists of a mastitis control laboratory, veterinarians and milking management advisers who are responsible for all farms in Israel that wish to employ their services. The laboratory also serves as a bacteriologicalreference laboratory for the central milk components laboratory. The proximity of the two laboratories enables samples sent by dairy farmers to the mastitis control laboratory for analysis, to be forwarded in the same transportation with the samples to the milk components laboratory, that are sent daily by the processing plants from all over the country. There is no further payment from the producers. The staff of the “National Service” works in close co-operation with the Mastitis Reference Center at the Kimron Veterinary Institute. Payments for the services provided by the National service for Udder Health and Milk Quality derive from the Israeli Dairy Board budget. The following services are provided to all dairy herds: Laboratory diagnosis and services

Periodic sampling and analysis of all dairy cow herds.
Analysis of samples from clinical mastitic cows sent by dairy farmers.
Analysis of samples sent by farmers from pre-partum cows, for sub-clinical mastitis.
Analysis of samples sent by farmers from sheep & goats
Antibiograms providing information for the clinical veterinarian.
Evaluation of teat dip, water, towel, etc. samples for total and differential bacteria counts.
Bulk tank analysis for total Bacteria counts.
Analysis of bedding samples.
Pregnancy milk test for individual cows/sheep 28 days after insemination/mating.
rRT-PCR Bulk tank analysis for contagious mastitis pathogens & BVD antigen.

The lab is certificated with the Quality Management Standard ISO 17025 since 2007. Udder Health Tracing and planning the eradication of contagious mastitis. E.g. Strep. Agalactiae , Micoplasma and Staph. Aureus.

To the Laboratory Accreditation

Advice and support during the eradication phase .
Advice to producers with high Somatic Cell Counts and/or high “bactoscan” counts.
Planning, implementation, and follow up on programs to combat mastitis in individual cows, and on a herd basis.

Analysis of milking parlors and milking equipment

Advice on milking parlor construction.
Advice to dairy farmers on milking machine specifications.
Supervision of companies supplying milking equipment, teat dips and detergents.
Static and dynamic testing of milk parlors.
Milk parlor trouble shooting.

Education

Advice on laboratory facilities and laboratory examinations
Organization of workshops for producers and processors.
Publication of technical news-letters and posters.
Promotion of research projects.
Field studies.
Advice, co-ordination, and follow up of all services provided.


Dr Ya’ad Dahan	Professional Director and Field Activity Coordinator	yaad@milk.org.il

Dr. Rama Falk	Laboratory Manager	rama@milk.org.il

Gavriel Peretz	Milking Management Instructor	gavriel@milk.org.il
Meir Reichman	Milking Management Instructor	meir@milk.org.il
Golan Yaakov	Milking Management Instructor	golan@milk.org.il