National Mastitis Council Blog

All of the paper presented at the National Mastitis Council 51st Annual Meeting, held January 22-24, 2012 in St. Pete Beach, Florida, are available in the NMC Online Proceedings Library, which can be accessed through the “members only” section of the NMC website.

The NMC Online Proceedings Library includes papers from all of the NMC annual and regional meetings back to 2001.  Hundreds of papers are available for viewing and download.

Access to the online library is limited to NMC members. Not a member yet? Check out all the benefits here:
http://nmconline.org/membership.html

Registration is open for the National Mastitis Council 51st Annual Meeting, scheduled for JANUARY 22-24, 2012 in St. Pete Beach, Florida.

About 400 people from all over the world are expected to attend this international forum which focuses on mastitis control and quality milk production.  If you have an interest in udder health, mastitis prevention, milking management, milk quality, and milk safety… then this conference is for you!

Click here for details on the program, registration, and hotel accommodations.

Nominations are now being accepted for the NMC Award of Excellence for Mastitis Prevention and Control.

New this year, the award will be awarded annually to an active NMC member for sustained contribution to mastitis prevention and control through research, extension or education, clinical practice, or service to producers. The award is open to NMC members from around the world.

Do you know someone deserving of this award?  Get details here!

The deadline for nominations is November 15, 2011.

Each year the NMC annual meeting  features a Technology Transfer Session (TTS). The TTS supplements the main program by providing mastitis and milk quality information through the use of posters and one-on-one interaction. The session provides a forum for exchanging information in an informal, relaxed atmosphere.

TTS participants also have the option to submit their poster presentation for consideration as an oral presentation during the Research and Development Summaries Session. This session is open to all individuals presenting posters, with a special focus on graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and research associates.

Click here for additional information on participating in these sessions, which will be held during the upcoming NMC 51st Annual Meeting, January 22-24, 2012 in St. Pete Beach, Florida. The deadline for manuscript submission is November 1, 2011.

Information regarding the upcoming National Mastitis Council 51st Annual Meeting, scheduled for JANUARY 22-24, 2012 (Sunday – Tuesday) in St. Pete Beach, Florida, will be posted on the NMC website over the next several weeks.  Some key reminders:

• The overall format has changed. Most significantly — the meeting will end on Tuesday night, rather than Wednesday morning. However since sessions run throughout the entire day and into the evening, it will be best to make your travel arrangements to fly out Wednesday morning. Committee meetings will also be held on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday rather than just Monday.
• The meeting will be held at the TradeWinds Grand Island Resort, (Tampa area). The closest airport is Tampa International Airport.

Information about the TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER SESSION (poster session) and Research and Development Summaries Session) held during the meeting will also be posted soon. The deadline for submitting manuscripts for the poster session in NOVEMBER 1.

Four graduate students with an interest in mastitis, udder health, and quality milk production have been selected by the National Mastitis Research Foundation (NMRF) board of directors as NMC Scholars for the upcoming year.  

The goal of the NMC Scholars program is to encourage graduate student participation in National Mastitis Council programs and activities, and support the development of future milk quality researchers and specialists. Funded by the NMRF, the NMC Scholars will receive travel scholarships to attend the NMC 51st Annual Meeting, January 22-24, 2012 in St. Pete Beach, Florida.

Read about the students here.

Each year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture monitors milk quality in the U.S. using bulk tank milk somatic cell count (SCC) data provided by four of the nation’s 10 Federal Milk Marketing Orders, which account for nearly half of the nation’s milk supply.

Click here for more information, including the % of milk and the % of producers in the federal orders monitored that met the current U.S. federal regulatory SCC limit  of 750,000 cells/ml; the percentages that would have met a 400,000 cells/ml limit (current regulatory limit in the European Union); as well as seasonal trends.

Do you know a dairy producer who deserves to be recognized for producing high quality milk?

Nominations are now being accepted for the 18th annual National Dairy Quality Awards (NDQA).  Open to producers in the United States, the goal of the NDQA program is to honor dairy producers from across the country who have successfully placed high priority on producing milk of the highest quality.

Click here for more information, including links to previous years’ NDQA recipients.

Registration for the Third International Symposium on Mastitis and Milk Quality is now open. The symposium, co-sponsored by the NMC and the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP), will be held in conjunction with the AABP 44th Annual Conference, September 22-24, 2011 in St. Louis, Missouri.

The NMC and AABP have jointly sponsored each of the previous international symposia, held September 1990 (Indianapolis, Indiana) and September 2001 (Vancouver, BC, Canada).

[More information.]

One of goals of the NMC  is to support the development of future udder health, milking management and milk quality specialists. For the fifth consecutive year, NMC is providing travel scholarships for full-time graduate students to attend the NMC annual meeting and participate in NMC activities.

The NMC Scholars Program, funded by the National Mastitis Research Foundation, awards a maximum of four scholarships annually. At least two scholarship recipients will be graduate students at a university or college outside of the United States and Canada.

The application deadline is July 31, 2011. [Read more here.]