U.S. Department of Agriculture Publishes Second Dairy 2002 Report

Veterinary Services

June 26, 2003

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health (CEAH), a part of USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s (APHIS) Veterinary Services program (VS), has published its second descriptive report for the Dairy 2002 study entitled Part II: Changes in the United States Dairy Industry, 1991-2002. This study is a part of the APHIS’ Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS).

In 1991, NAHMS conducted the National Dairy Heifer Evaluation Project (NDHEP). Through this project, baseline information on heifer health, illnesses, and management practices, as well as prevalence estimates for Cryptospordium, Eschericia coli 0157:H7 and Salmonella, were published.

In 1996, the NAHMS’ Dairy ’96 study built on the results of the NDHEP. Objectives of the Dairy ’96 study included estimating the national prevalence of Mycobacterium paratuberculosis (Johne’s disease), bovine leukosis virus, and fecal shedding of E.coli 0157 and Salmonella in adult dairy cows.

The NAHMS’ Dairy 2002 study continues to address issues important to the U.S. dairy industry by describing changes in baseline dairy cattle health and management practices, strategies to address Johne’s disease, and providing a profile of animal waste handling systems used on U.S. dairy operations. A few highlights from Dairy 2002 Part II include:

Almost one in two dairy operations has disappeared since 1991, with roughly a 4– to 5–percent decrease per year. Combined with the relatively slower decline in milk cow numbers, the result is nearly a 73 percent increase in average herd size.
From 1991 to 2001, total annual U.S. milk production increased 11.9 percent. This increase was achieved with a concurrent 7.2 percent decline in number of milk cows and a 20.7 percent increase in milk production per cow.
Between 1991 and 1996 there was a sharp decline in the percentage of operations that reported using Dairy Herd Improvement Association (DHIA) recordkeeping systems. However, the percentage of operations using DHIA recordkeeping systems remained the same between 1996 and 2001.
Overall, a higher percentage of operations fed a total mixed ration in 2001 (47.0 percent of operations) than in 1995 (35.6 percent of operations).
Overall, the use of bovine somatotropin (BST) increased between 1995 and 2001 (9.4 percent and 15.2 percent of operations, respectively). The overall percentage of cows that were given BST during the current lactation (at the time of the interview) also increased between 1995 and 2001 (10.1 percent and 22.3 percent, respectively).
There was no change essentially in the overall mortality of preweaned heifer calves born alive from 1995 to 2001 (10.8 percent and 10.5 percent of heifer calves, respectively). There was no change in heifer calf mortality due to scours/diarrhea between 1995 and 2001 (6.5 percent reported for both years).
Overall, a substantial decline occurred between 1995 and 2001 in the percentage of operations that, before bringing cattle on the farm, tested cattle for brucellosis (31.0 percent and 15.9 percent of operations, respectively) and tuberculosis (23.4 percent and 12.4 percent, respectively).

To receive further Dairy 2002 Part II information please visit VS’ Web site at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs.

Note to Stakeholders: Stakeholder announcements and other APHIS information are available on the Internet. Access the APHIS home page by pointing your Web browser to http://www.aphis.usda.gov and clicking on the “News” button. For additional information on this topic, contact Teresa Howes (970) 494-7410 or teresa.k.howes@aphis.usda.gov.

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