New Zealand – Seasonal Milking and its challenges in the ... · Total Bacterial Estimate - Bactoscan

1

ICAR 2008Niagara USA

Gavin Scott16th June 2008

New Zealand – Seasonal Milking and its

challenges in the Laboratory



Special Thanks

Craig Bell – LIC Testlink Manager

Steve Holdroyd – Fonterra

Paul Jamieson - SAITL

2



Where is New Zealand?

Total area = 268,680 square Km

Similar in size to the state of Colorado

4 Million People

SAITL Dairy Lab



New Zealand Dairy Industry – long history

1800’s Dairying in NZ began

1927Amalgamated Dairies established in London to market New Zealand butter and cheese

1930Many towns have dairy factories in New Zealand

1963New Zealand Dairy Board established

1970-1990Dairy factories merged

2000Milk supply by two major companies New Zealand Dairy Group & Kiwi Cooperative Dairies

2001 NZ Dairy Board disbanded.Fonterra formed

1882 SS Dunedin sailed to London with first refrigerated shipment of butter in the world

1909 FirstHerd testing in NZ

3



New Zealand Dairy Industry

Number of Dairy Companies Operating 1920–2001

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

YEAR



Current NZ Dairy companies - 2008

Tatua, 1.0%

Synlait, 0.4%

Open country Cheese, 1.7%

NZ Dairy's, 0.4%

Westland, 3.2%

Dairy Trust, 0.4%

Fonterra, 92.9%

4



Dairy farming in New Zealand

Approx 4 million dairy cows11,500 suppliersAverage herd size approx 350Average kg milksolids per cow approx 33020 Billion litres of milk processed each year



Dairy farming in New Zealand

Pasture based seasonal milk productionTemperate climateGeographic isolationStrict border controls and food safety regulationsNo subsidies!

5



Seasonal milk flow

Milk flow



Dairy exports a vital part of NZ economy

Horticulture 6%

Aluminium 4%

Wool/Leather 6%

Fishing 5% Other 32%Dairy 21%

Forestry 12% Meat 14%

Dairy 21%

6



New Zealand Milk Production

Consumed Domestically

Exported

5%

95%Total New Zealand production is equivalent to 2% of world milk production

Source: Rabobank Global Focus, August 2003



World Dairy Trade

Fonterra

World

Fonterra provides 40% of all internationally tradable dairy products

40%

60%

Source: Rabobank Global Focus, August 2003

7



Fonterra’s product mix

Cream Products

Cheese

Powder

ProteinsOther



World Dairy Access and Tariffs

Access All Products / Low Tariffs (0-30%) Product Specific Access / Medium Tariffs (30-70%)

Product Specific Access / Medium-High Tariffs (70-220%) Only Butter / Cheese / Protein Quota Access / High Tariffs (>220%)

8



New Zealand Milk Testing Labs

LIC – Testlink DHI herd testing (> 95% NZ market)

SAITL Dairy laboratoryFarmer payment (> 96 % NZ Farmers)DHI under contract to small NZ player (<5% NZ Market)



LIC – Testlink Labs

LIC is a dairy farmer owned, farm improvement company providing a diverse range of products and services. Test link has two labs

9 CombiFosses in North Island (Hamilton).5 CombiFosses in South Island (Christchurch).

Processes over 9 million samples per year.Runs two shifts – 8 lab staff per shift (40% permanent rest casual)

9



LIC Laboratory

Test instruments automated with ILAS robots to reduce staff requirements

Pre automation – 3 shifts 15 staff = 45 staff

Now 2 shifts 8 staff = 16 staff



LIC Test numbersLIC - test numbers 2007/8

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

70000

80000

90000

1/06/0

7

1/07/0

7

31/07

/07

30/08

/07

29/09

/07

29/10

/07

28/11

/07

28/12

/07

27/01

/08

26/02

/08

27/03

/08

26/04

/08

26/05

/08

10



LIC herd testing

SAITL Dairy Lab

LIC Testlink North

LIC Testlink South



SAITL Dairy Laboratory

SAITL = South Auckland Independent Testing LaboratoryNon Profit Organisation (Industrial Provident Society).

Provides Farmer Payment services to member Dairy companiesEstablished 1984Current Member companies

FonterraTatua

11



SAITL Dairy Laboratory

34 Permanent StaffTest samples 365 days per yearApprox 11,000 Farmers tested – including South Island suppliers.5.5 million samples received each year.96% of all Dairy Farmers in New ZealandProvide commercial testing to other Dairy organisations eg. Dairy Goat Co-op, Open Country Cheese, Synlait, NZ Dairies, Dairy Trust, and Ambreed



Completed transition from screw capped vial to flipcap vial in November 2006Completed transition from Barcode to RFID in April this year.New vial/ RFID enables automation:

Automated opening/ closing of vials on Foss instruments.Enabled RFID reading at pipette on Foss instrumentsAutomated inhibitory testing.

SAITL Dairy Laboratory Developments

12



Inhibitory Robot



SAITL Dairy Laboratory - Next steps

2009/10 Automate Plate counting (Coliforms + Thermodurics).

Currently working with a Japanese company who have an automatic plater that meets our requirements.

2009/10 Automate test selection process.Have initial concept drawings from a local automation house.

13



Payment testing

Fonterra 4 head automatic sampler. Other company’s range from manual dip systems to semi automated systems.

Vials colour coded – clear for quality testing, Green for composition testing. Tanker composite sample is pink.



S a mpl e s r e c e i v e d 2 0 0 6 / 7

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

Tatua

Fonter r a Upper NI

Fonter r a Lower NI

Fonter r a SI

Total

June May

SAITL Member company testing

Seasonal

Two samples – one for composition analysis and one for milk quality analysis. So at peak getting approx 22,000 samples from our member companies

14



SAITL - Milk Quality Section

Thermoduric plating

Milk Quality tests done on Regime basis – each

company slightly different

Antibiotic testing Total Bacteria Estimate

Coliform plating

Foreign Matter Testing

Senses testing

IgG testing

DDE Testing

Twice Month Twice MonthOnce Every 4 days

Once every 10 days

Once a Month

Once a Month

Start of season

As requested

Aflatoxin testingAs requested



Milk quality testingNo of Tests Performed per Day in Quality Section (Milk)

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

5000

5500

6000

6500

7000

7500

8000

8500

9000

9500

1 16 31 46 61 76 91 106 121 136 151 166 181 196 211 226 241

256

271

286

301

316

331

346

361

2005/20062006/20072007/2008

June

Drought 2007/8

May

15



Screening for Inhibitory Substances

Samples placed into 8x12 matrixPlated onto Copan milk test by robotic system



Copan Testing Plate

Negative Control

0.003IU Control

0.006IU Control

16



Confirmation Testing

Plated on both Delvo and Copan.Must be positive on both before we issue a positive gradeAlso plated with penase to confirm Beta-Lactam.If not Beta-Lactam then carry out other confirmatory tests.Also tested on Bacillus Stearothermophilus Disk Assay (BSDA) plate for est. concentration.



BSDA Plate

Before Incubation

After Incubation

17



What do the Inhib Grades Mean

Grades issued based on estimation of concentration0.003 – 0.006 IU/ml = 12 demerits 60%

0.006 – 0.01 IU/ml = 50 demerits 250%

0.01 – 0.03 IU/ml = 50 demerits 250%

>0.03 IU/ml = 100 demerits 500%

Plus consequential loss.

Less than 0.05% of samples tested are confirmed as positive. Most of these are still below MRL (0.006

IU/ml).



Challenges - Antibiotic testing

End of season and start of season higher risk.due to higher incidence of mastitis at end of season, anduse of dry cow therapy over the off season.

Dairy companies manage their risk at these times by increasing testing at the start and end of season – eg. daily testing of all samples for antibiotics.

18



Challenges - Antibiotic testing

This extra testing at start/end of season has historically meant hiring extra labour resource to help do the plating.Last season the inhibitory test was automated thus eliminating the need for this extra labourresource.



Total Bacterial Estimate - Bactoscan

3x Foss BactoscanProcess 150 samples an hourReplaces reference test that takes 72 hours.Calibration samples taken daily for SPC.

19



BScan Grades

A+ = Less than 10,000 cfu/ml 0 demeritsA = 10,000 – 19,000 cfu/ml 0 demeritB = 20,000 – 49,000 cfu/ml 0 demeritsC = 50,000 – 99,999 cfu/ml 1 demerit (5%)

D = 100,000 – 199,999 cfu/ml 2 demerits (10%)

E = 200,000 – 499,999 cfu/ml 4 demerits (20%)

F = 500,000 – 2,999,999 cfu/ml 8 demerits (40%)

R = > 3,000,000 cfu/ml 20 demerits (100%)



Grade Investigation

Purpose is to indicate if the grade has been primarily due to mastitis or hygiene issuesGrade investigation carried out on sampleswith a bacterial count

of 50,000 cfu and above.

20



Thermoduric Testing

Thermoduric organism is any organism that will survive pasteurization 72°C for 15 sec or 62.8°C for 30 minsSample added to petri dishand agar added.Incubated for72 hours at 30°C



Thermoduric Grades

Less than 1,500 0 Demerits1,500 – 4,999 1 demerit (5%)

5,000 – 59,999 4 demerits (20%)

>60,000 20 demerits (100%)

Spreader – a single organism has taken overNormally an indicator of

A build up of milk stone within the plant. Perished rubber ware.Or may be due to environmental sources.

21



Spreader

Spreader – a single organism has taken over



Thermoduric Grades

Spore Forming OrganismsIndicated if above 50% of total count on plate.Identified by morphology.Can be an indication of poor quality silage.Normally a Bacillus species.

22



Spore Forming Organisms



Coliform Testing

Samples tested for presence of total ColiformsUse selective mediaie VRBAIncubated at 30°Cfor 24 hours

23



Coliform Testing



Coliform Grades

Less than 499 cfu/ml 0 Demerits500 – 999 cfu/ml 1 Demerit (5%)

1000 – 1,999 cfu/ml 2 demerit (10%)

>2000 cfu/ml 4 demerit (20%)

Normally an indicator of faecal contamination or poor hygiene (eg. no hot wash or chemical clean).Characteristic slimy bio-film build up in the Dairy plant with a distinctive odour.

24



Organoleptic Testing

Visually Inspect Milk (physical defects egblood)Smell the Milk and identify off taints.Final Grade result of consensus between 2 or more testers on senses panel.



Organoleptic Grades

Grades cover a range of sensory defects. Including:

Cowy, Fishy, Feedy, Skatol, SourIn all cases they smell like they are describedCan also pick up Kiwifruit, Turnips and other feed taints.

25



Foreign matter

Milk Sample passed through a filter (Lintenepad). Residue analysed.Normally find partly digested plant matter, sand, grit, animal hairsNormally indicates that the filter sock is ruptured or full, or that the vat is open.



Grading rates (Fonterra)

% Finest (on per test basis)

97.5

95.8

8

92.7

2

97.2

7 99.9

3

97.6

8

95.6

9

91.1

2

96.1

6

99.9

3

86

88

90

92

94

96

98

100

102

Bactoscan Coliform Thermoduric Somatic CellCount

InhibitorySubstance

Test type

060707/08

<50,000 <500 <1,500 <400,000 <0.003

26



Component test numbersNo of Tests Performed per Day for Composition (Milk)

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

10000

11000

12000

13000

1-Jun

15-Ju

n

29-Ju

n13

-Jul

27-Ju

l

10-A

ug

24-A

ug7-S

ep

21-S

ep5-O

ct

19-O

ct2-N

ov

16-N

ov

30-N

ov

14-D

ec

28-D

ec

11-Ja

n

25-Ja

n8-F

eb

22-Feb

7-Mar

21-M

ar4-A

pr

18-A

pr

2-May

16-M

ay

30-M

ay

2005/20062006/20072007/2008

Drought 2007/8

June May



SAITL Composition testing

5 CombiFoss instruments – payment2 x FT6000 + 3 x MSC4000 (1 x FT600+ on way)

2 CombiFoss (MSC 4000) instruments - DHITest Fat, Protein, Lactose, Total Solids, Somatic Cells, Freezing Point on all composition samples received.NZ Dairy companies tend to payout on “Milk Solids” (ie Fat + Protein).

27



SAITL Composition testing



Challenges - Resources

Need to have enough test equipment and labour to meet requirements at peak.

Very inefficient use of resources!!For example the lab needs 5 CombiFoss instruments at peak to do 12,000 testsHowever in the off season when we are doing 800 tests only need 1 instrument for a couple of hours.

28



Challenges – Milk composition

The composition of the milk changes throughout the season.

Calibration issues – milk matrix changes through season and also season to season.Lactation issues – eg start of season potential Colostrum contamination.Unexpected matrix issues due to environmental effects – eg Drought, flooding etc.



Milk Composition - Fat

Average of Fat TestsUpper North Island Suppliers

4

4.5

5

5.5

6

6.5

01 Ju

n

15 Ju

n

29 Ju

n13

Jul

27 Ju

l

10 A

ug

24 A

ug

07 S

ep

21 S

ep

05 O

ct

19 O

ct

02 N

ov

16 N

ov

30 N

ov

14 D

ec

28 D

ec

11 Ja

n

25 Ja

n

08 Feb

22 Feb

07 M

ar

21 M

ar

04 A

pr

18 A

pr

02 M

ay

16 M

ay

30 M

ay

2004/2005

2005/2006

2006/2007

2007/2008

29



Milk Composition – Crude Protein

Average of Protein TestsUpper North Island Suppliers

3

3.5

4

4.5

01 Ju

n

15 Ju

n

29 Ju

n13

Jul

27 Ju

l

10 A

ug

24 A

ug

07 S

ep

21 S

ep

05 O

ct

19 O

ct

02 N

ov

16 N

ov

30 N

ov

14 D

ec

28 D

ec

11 Ja

n

25 Ja

n

08 F

eb

22 F

eb

07 M

ar

21 M

ar

04 A

pr

18 A

pr

02 M

ay

16 M

ay

30 M

ay

2004/2005

2005/2006

2006/2007

2007/2008



Milk Composition - Lactose

Average of Lactose TestsUpper North Island

4

4.5

5

5.5

01 Ju

n

15 Ju

n

29 Ju

n13

Jul

27 Ju

l

10 A

ug

24 A

ug

07 S

ep

21 S

ep

05 O

ct

19 O

ct

02 N

ov

16 N

ov

30 N

ov

14 D

ec

28 D

ec

11 Ja

n

25 Ja

n

08 Fe

b

22 Fe

b

07 M

ar

21 M

ar

04 A

pr

18 A

pr

02 M

ay

16 M

ay

30 M

ay

2004/2005

2005/2006

2006/2007

2007/2008

30



Milk Composition

Average of Total Solids TestsUpper North Island

12.0

12.5

13.0

13.5

14.0

14.5

15.0

15.5

16.0

01 Ju

n

15 Ju

n

29 Ju

n13

Jul

27 Ju

l

10 A

ug

24 A

ug

07 S

ep

21 S

ep

05 O

ct

19 O

ct

02 N

ov

16 N

ov

30 N

ov

14 D

ec

28 D

ec

11 Ja

n

25 Ja

n

08 Feb

22 Feb

07 M

ar

21 M

ar

04 Apr

18 Apr

02 M

ay

16 M

ay

30 M

ay

2004/2005

2005/2006

2006/2007

2007/2008



Milk Composition – Somatic Cells

Average of Somatic Cell CountsUpper North Island

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

01 Ju

n

15 Ju

n

29 Ju

n13

Jul

27 Ju

l

10 A

ug

24 A

ug

07 S

ep

21 S

ep

05 O

ct

19 O

ct

02 N

ov

16 N

ov

30 N

ov

14 D

ec

28 D

ec

11 Ja

n

25 Ja

n

08 Feb

22 Feb

07 M

ar

21 M

ar

04 A

pr

18 A

pr

02 M

ay

16 M

ay

30 M

ay

2004/2005

2005/2006

2006/2007

2007/2008

31



Questions?



A word from our sponsors

Documents

New Zealand – Seasonal Milking and its challenges in the ... · Total Bacterial Estimate - Bactoscan