Mastitis research needs a long-term agenda
As a little boy, I saw the first tractor entering my grandfather’s farm, where he had worked with horses until then. Nowadays, my cousins have milking robots and technology I could not imagine 50 years ago. Mastitis has also changed over the last decades. Changes in the dairy industry, especially at the farm level, have shaped mastitis as we know it.
Evolving milk quality standards, veterinary regulations, farm technology, and the farm economy are important mega-drivers. I believe that these mega-drivers will remain, and there will be additional ones.
Carbon footprint, animal welfare requirements, restrictions on antibiotics, access to qualified labour, and farm technology will shape future mastitis challenges. What will happen of the age of first calving goes down and at the same time prolonged cow-calf contact becomes a common practice? There is a good chance that unknown challenges pop up requiring new knowledge and innovation.
Over the years, the response time for innovations has also increased. Bringing veterinary innovations to the market was unregulated in the past, but nowadays, it takes Animal Health companies 10-20 years to make an invention available for field application. Farm technology and farm buildings also have an investment cycle of 10-20 years. For this reason, mastitis research requires a long-term agenda.
Impactful innovation is beyond the capabilities of single scientists, farmers, veterinarians, and even companies. Academia, industry, and governments must collaborate to facilitate these multidisciplinary solutions. The big question is, who will take responsibility and ownership of this agenda? Volunteers please!
Rinse Boersma founded Beluga Animal Health to improve health, welfare, and performance in the global dairy business through science and innovation. Rinse grew up with a dairy background and continued to pursue his interest through both his education and his career. Within the Animal Health industry, he has worked for global companies like Boehringer Ingelheim, Intervet/Schering-Plough, Merck, Nutreco, Bayer, and Elanco. He substantially contributed to developing, positioning, and launching many well-known veterinary products.
