To Dry Treat or Not to Dry Treat: Managing Dry off to Produce High Quality Milk

KEY TAKE HOME POINTS 1. The purpose of dry cow therapy is both therapeutic and prophylactic; selective DCT is aimed only at therapeutic aims 2. Cows that maintain persistent subclinical infections across the dry period are at greater risk of subclinical and clinical mastitis and reduced milk yield during the subsequent lactation 3. Few mastitis pathogens are resistant to most antimicrobials used in DCT 4. Research indicates that selective DCT programs can be successful if applied to rigorously screened herds and cows 5. Research also indicates that use of selective DCT without rigorous screening of herds and cows will result in increased CM and increased SCC