M. Nielen et al., RELATIONS BETWEEN ONLINE ELECTRICAL-CONDUCTIVITY AND DAILY MILK-PRODUCTION ON A LOW SOMATIC-CELL COUNT FARM, Journal of dairy science, 76(9), 1993, pp. 2589-2596
To study the relation between on-line electrical conductivity and dail
y milk production, data of 1389 cow days were analyzed. After correcti
on for cow effects and DIM, a rise of 1 mS of the mean electrical cond
uctivity caused a decline of .88 kg/d in milk production. A rise of 1
ln(SCC) unit was associated with an additional decline of .54 kg/d in
milk production. In cows without clinical mastitis during the test per
iod, the losses associated with mean electrical conductivity and ln(SC
C) were 1.06 and .45 kg/d of milk production, respectively. Electrical
conductivity and SCC were associated with daily production loss; the
effects were additive. Therefore, electrical conductivity and SCC can
be utilized as indirect tests of subclinical mastitis.