Economic Losses Resulting from Mastitis. A Review

Mastitis reduces the milk yield, changes milk composition, shortens the productive life of affected cows, and is very costly to the dairy farmer. Losses in total milk production range from 5.0 to 25.0%, with one extreme of 83.9%. In terms of milk losses per quarter per day, 0.76 to 5.86 lb, or 9.0 to 43.3%, have been observed. Decreases in the composition of milk have been recorded for fat, 0.1 to 0.45%; solids-not-fat, 0.1 to 0.57%; lactose, 0.1 to 0.77%; and total solids, 1.07%.