Monday, 16 June 2025
Mastitis affects most dairy herds across the country. On average, there are 26 clinical mastitis cases per 100 cows, accounting for around 8% of cows exiting the dairy system (Kingshay’s 2024 Dairy Costings Focus Report).
As part of our Strategic Dairy Farm programme, Howard and Tom Pattison at Willow Tree Farm, a high-yielding Yorkshire dairy, have been working to reduce mastitis while optimising resource use and maintaining milk production.
Over the past year, the farm has seen fewer clinical cases, changes in how mastitis appears in the herd, and significant cost savings through relatively small changes to their facilities.
The Pattison family has long prioritised disease control. Recently, mastitis has become their main focus, a challenge exacerbated by the herd’s high productivity.
With support from James Breen, veterinary advisor at Map of Ag, they’ve successfully reduced mastitis cases by 40%.
James began working with Willow Tree in 2022 to help this low cell count herd reduce environmental mastitis.
They initially focused on a few key changes:
- Regrouping cows
- Increasing space
- Modifying bedding
One major adjustment involved merging two milking groups by opening four sheds and removing dividing gates to form a single, larger group.
They also repurposed an unused space near the parlour into an extended collecting yard, improving cow flow and creating room for a new automated footbath, which cows now use twice daily. This also increased loafing space per cow.
They switched to a larger-grained bedding sand to prevent compaction. Bacteriology tests showed improved or comparable results, and the new sand eliminated the need for full bed dig-outs — saving time and money.
James said:
“Seasonal variation is becoming more noticeable, with higher clinical cases in summer.
“One of the most important factors in reducing infection pressure is optimising cow space, particularly in collecting and dispersal areas.
“Expanding these zones improves welfare and lowers infection risk.”
James also emphasised the importance of ‘living space’, the area beyond feeding and lying zones, linking it to longer lying times and improved yields.
This year, the Pattison family also focused on ventilation. They noticed cows bunching up in certain sheds despite adequate airspace.
Working with Jamie Robertson, they explored airflow patterns, suspecting a link between poor ventilation, pathogen build-up, and mastitis risk.
Howard explained:
“We made some small changes over the last year. In our south-facing shed, we removed every other bay of boarding on the outside and moved it to the inside.
“This gave us six-inch gaps between the wooden slats to allow better airflow.”
One year after first tackling their mastitis issue, Willow Tree reviewed their progress with James.
Tom said:
“We’ve seen a drop in clinical mastitis cases. The cases we do see now tend to be more severe, so we’re exploring vaccination to reduce severity and frequency.”
Cost has been a major motivator. Each mastitis case can cost between £250 and £300 in treatment, yield losses, and discarded milk.
In October 2020, Willow Tree recorded 199 cases. By October 2024, that number had dropped to 131. That 68-case difference could equate to savings of £17,000–£20,400 annually.
Join us at Willow Tree Farm on Thursday 3 July for a practical, farmer-led workshop with dairy consultant Dr Deborah Brown, focusing on how simple data insights can boost profitability.