Dairy 2007 Study

National Animal Health Monitoring System, Dairy 2007
The Dairy 2007 Study
In January 2007, the
U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s (USDA)
Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service’s
(APHIS) National Animal
Health Monitoring System
(NAHMS) will launch its
fourth national study of
the U.S. dairy industry,
Dairy 2007. Dairy
producers from 17 of
the Nation’s top dairy States* will be asked to
participate in this valuable study. It will take an
indepth look at the priority health and healthmanagement issues facing the U.S. dairy
industry.

Study Focus
Dairy 2007 is a national study designed to
provide individual participants, stakeholders,
and the dairy industry as a whole with valuable
information representing 79.3 percent of U.S.
dairy herds and 82.0 percent of U.S. dairy cows.
Dairy 2007 will
n Describe trends in dairy-cattle health and
management practices,
n Evaluate management factors related to
cow comfort and removal rates,
n Describe dairy-calf health and nutrition
from birth to weaning and evaluate heifer
disease-prevention practices,
n Estimate the prevalence of herds infected
with bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) virus,
*California, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan,
Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington,
and Wisconsin.

n Describe current milking procedures and

estimate the prevalence of contagious
mastitis pathogens,
n Estimate the herd-level prevalence and
associated costs of Mycobacterium
paratuberculosis,
n Describe current biosecurity practices
and determine producer motivation
for implementing or not implementing
biosecurity practices, and
n Determine the prevalence of specific foodsafety pathogens and describe antimicrobial
resistance patterns.

How You Can Help
By participating in Dairy 2007, you will help the
industry and your own operation by contributing
to the development of reliable and valuable
information that will be used to
n Define and evaluate current management
practices and trends,
n Help policymakers and industry make
informed decisions,
n Assist researchers and private enterprise to
identify and focus on vital issues related to
dairy-cattle health and productivity, and
n Conduct economic analyses of the health
and production of the U.S. dairy industry.

Testing Options
Results from tests on biological and
environmental samples will be provided to
participating producers at the conclusion of the
study.
Evaluation of Passive Transfer
Goal: Estimate the percentage of calves that
receive adequate immunoglobulins through
colostrum by measuring serum proteins in
calves 1 to 3 days of age.

BVD
Goal: Evaluate herds for animals persistently
infected with BVD virus. Bulk-tank milk samples
will be collected from each participating herd.
Mastitis Pathogens
Goal: Estimate the herd-level prevalence of
contagious mastitis pathogens (Streptococcus
agalactiae, Staphylococcus aureus, and
Mycoplasma). Bulk-tank milk samples will be
collected from each participating herd.
Johne’s Disease
Goal: Estimate the herd-level prevalence
of Mycobacterium paratuberculosis. Six
composite environmental samples will be
collected from each participating herd.
Food-Safety Pathogens
Goal: Estimate the prevalence of specific
food-safety pathogens such as Salmonella and
Campylobacter via testing of fecal samples.

How Dairy Producers Benefit
By fully participating in the Dairy 2007 study,
you will receive
n A cow-comfort evaluation of your herd,
n A bulk-tank milk culture for contagious
mastitis pathogens,
n Environmental sample results that will help
determine whether your herd has Johne’s
disease, and
n Several reports and information sheets that
will allow you to compare your operation to
others in the dairy industry.
“The NAHMS Dairy 2007 study is a grass-roots
effort to gather valuable health data about
the most important asset on America’s dairy
farms—the dairy cow and her offspring. This
study will greatly benefit both the scientific
community and U.S. dairy producers.”
—Bill Wailes
Department Head, Animal Sciences
Extension Dairy Specialist
Colorado State University

What Your Participation Involves
Participation in all NAHMS studies is voluntary.
If you are selected to participate in Dairy 2007
and decide to do so, representatives from
the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics
Service (NASS) will visit you to complete a
questionnaire. If you are eligible and choose to
continue in the study, veterinary medical officers
(VMOs) and/or animal health technicians
(AHTs) will visit and explain further phases of
the study.
n NASS will contact selected dairy producers
between January 1 and January 31, 2007.
n VMOs and/or AHTs will visit between
February 26 and April 30, 2007.
n At the producer’s option, VMOs and/or
AHTs may make a second visit to some
operations between May 1 and July 31,
2007.

A Scientific Approach
APHIS established NAHMS to collect accurate
and valuable information on animal health and
management in the United States. Since 1990,

“Dairy 2007 is a study all dairymen should
participate in. The NAHMS Dairy ’96 and Dairy
2002 studies provided invaluable information
that helped guide the development and
implementation of the National Johne’s Disease
Control Program and helped update the Bovine
TB Eradication Program. Information from
NAHMS dairy studies has helped USDA and
our university system better focus available
research dollars to address the most urgent
animal health and dairy management issues.
I hope all producers selected to participate in
Dairy 2007 will do so knowing that they will be
making a valuable contribution to our overall
knowledge of the U.S. dairy industry.”
—John Adams
Director of Animal Health and Farm Services
National Milk Producers Federation

“Data gathered during the Dairy 2007 study will
help enhance the health and productivity of our
industry by providing valuable information on
many important issues, such as lameness, cow
comfort, herd retention, disease prevalence,
and control practices. I strongly encourage
dairy producers to participate in this essential
study.”
—M. Gatz Riddell, Jr., D.V.M.
Executive Vice President
American Association of Bovine Practitioners

NAHMS has developed national estimates on
disease prevalence and other factors related
to the health of U.S. dairy cattle, swine, beef
cattle, equine, poultry, catfish, and sheep. The
science-based results produced by NAHMS
have proven to be of considerable value to
the U.S. livestock, poultry, and aquaculture
industries. NAHMS studies are
n National in scope,
n Voluntary and confidential,
n Statistically valid,
n Scientific, and
n Collaborative in nature.

Confidentiality
Because NAHMS’ studies rely on voluntary
participation, APHIS protects the privacy of
every participant. Only those collecting the
data know the identity of the respondent. No
name or address is ever recorded in any APHIS
database. No data will be reported on any
individual or in a manner that would allow the
identification of an individual.

For More Information
To find out more about Dairy 2007,
please contact
USDA–APHIS
Veterinary Services, Attention: NAHMS
NRRC Building B, Mailstop 2E7
2150 Centre Avenue
Fort Collins, CO 80526–8117
Phone: (970) 494–7000
E-mail: [email protected]
Or visit NAHMS on the Web at
.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits
discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis
of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where
applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental
status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information,
political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an
individual’s income is derived from any public assistance
program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.)
Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for
communication of program information (Braille, large print,
audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center
at (202) 720–2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint
of discrimination, write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil
Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington,
D.C. 20250–9410, or call (800) 795–3272 (voice) or (202)
720–6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider
and employer.

Photo credits: All images of Holstein cows in this
leaflet were taken by APHIS dairy specialist Dr. Jason
Lombard. The photo of Jersey cows was shot by USDA
photographer Bill Tarpenning.
Issued November 2006

United States Department of Agriculture
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Program Aid No. 1899

Dairy 2007
An Indepth Look at the
U.S. Dairy Industry