Short communication: Comparison of bulk milk, yield-corrected, and average somatic cell counts as parameters to summarize the subclinical mastitis situation in a dairy herd

In this study, the correlation was determined between the prevalence of high cow-level somatic cell count (SCC > 250,000 cells/mL), a summary of the subclinical mastitis situation in a dairy herd, and 3 average herd SCC parameters: bulk milk SCC (BMSCC), yield-corrected test-day SCC (CHSCC), and the arithmetic average test-day SCC (HSCC) of the lactating herd. The herd prevalence of cows with an SCC of > 250,000 cells/mL was calculated by using Dairy Herd Improvement data. Herds were included if BMSCC was sampled within 2 d of the Dairy Herd Improvement test day and if the BMSCC did not exceed 400,000 cells/mL. The interval between sampling, 0, 1, or 2 d, did not significantly influence the correlation between BMSCC and the prevalence of high SCC. The correlations between the prevalence of high SCC and BMSCC, yield-corrected test-day SCC, and HSCC, examined by using a linear regression model, were 0.64, 0.78, and 0.89, respectively. Therefore, it can be concluded that, based on the highest correlation, HSCC is a more appropriate parameter than BMSCC to summarize the average herd subclinical mastitis situation in a dairy herd.