NMC Annual meeting 2025 in Charlotte, US
NMC members approve name change
Founded in 1961 as the National Mastitis Council, members approved a new name – NMC: The Global Milk Quality Organization – during NMC’s 2025 Annual Business Meeting held on Jan. 30. This name change was one of several actions adopted as a result of NMC’s strategic plan, which now reflects the international membership of the organization.
Also, during the NMC Annual Business Meeting, members elected Jess Belsito, IBA Inc., Sutton, Mass., USA; Jeffrey Bewley, Holstein Association, USA; Elizabethtown, Ky., USA; and Carolina Pinzón-Sánchez, University of Wisconsin-Division of Extension, Madison, Wis., USA; to the NMC board of directors. Executive committee members are Justine Britten, Udder Health Systems, Meridian, Idaho, USA, president; Roger Thomson, Michigan State University and MQ-IQ Consulting LLC, Battle Creek, Mich., USA, first vice president; Alfonso Lago, DairyExperts, Inc., Tulare, Calif., USA, second vice president; Christy Dinsmoore, Michigan Milk Producers Association, Novi, Mich., USA, secretary-treasurer; and Keith Engel, GEA, Hampshire, Ill., USA, past president. Other board members include Simon Dufour, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Rick Watters, AgroChem, Saratoga Springs, N.Y., USA; Amy Vasquez, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., USA; Steve Jones, DeLaval, Trinity, Fla., USA; Ian Ohnstad, The Dairy Group, Dorchester, Somerset, England; Justin Graham, BrooksCo Dairy, Quitman, Ga., USA; and Pamela Adkins, University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo., USA. Christina Petersson-Wolfe, Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg, Va., USA; Juan “Rodrigo” Pedraza, Zoetis, Willow Park, Texas, USA; and Brandon Treichler, Treichler Consulting Services, Canyon, Texas, USA; retired from the board.
Attendees represent 21 countries
With a theme of “Raising the Bar! Elevating Global Milk Quality,” 296 NMC members from around the world gathered for the group’s 64th annual meeting, held Jan. 27-30, in Charlotte, N.C., USA. Attendees hailed from 31 U.S. states, five Canadian provinces and 21 countries, and represented milk quality, mastitis and udder health researchers, dairy producers and dairy industry partners. Meeting topics ranged from data-driven milking diagnostics to milk quality in high throughput milking systems to mammary development and mastitis risk in pregnant heifers to what to prepare for when using recycled bedding materials.
“NMC continues to expand its reach beyond North America – with members in more than 40 countries. That’s why ‘global’ played a key role in executing this year’s NMC Annual Meeting,” stated Justine Britten, NMC Annual Meeting program chair and Udder Health Systems laboratory director. “Additionally, NMC continues to ‘raise the bar’ for higher milk quality and animal care standards through educational programming and hands-on training opportunities.”
Graeme Mein wins ‘Award of Excellence’
During this event, NMC honored Graeme Mein, Werribee, Victoria, Australia, who spent more than three decades with the Australia Department of Agriculture. He received the NMC Award of Excellence for Contribution to Mastitis Prevention and Control. After leaving the Australia Department of Agriculture, he served as a visiting professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of Melbourne. Also, he worked as a vice president and then director of research for BouMatic, DEC International. Furthermore, he established the Milking Research Centre at Werribee – one of the world’s leading centers for milking and mastitis research, and a base for machine milking research for Australia.
The NMC Award of Excellence recognizes an NMC member who has provided sustained contributions to mastitis prevention and control through research, extension and/or education, clinical practice or service to dairy producers. Boehringer Ingelheim sponsors the award.
Numerous organizations lauded Mein for his exemplary work and contributions to enhancing milking machine performance and udder health. His awards include Friend of Wisconsin Veterinary Medical Association, First Life Member of the Australian Milking Machine Trade Association, and Dairy Industry Association of Australia Loftus-Hills medal for contributions to dairy science in Australia.
In support of Mein’s nomination, Doug Reinemann, University of Wisconsin (UW) director of the UW Milking Research and Instruction Laboratory and professor of biological systems engineering and animal and dairy sciences, wrote, “Graeme is well known to NMC due to his unique combination of scientific excellence and integrity, copious contributions to NMC events and uncommonly warm, friendly and widespread connection with anyone in the world interested in milk harvesting and mastitis. Graeme devoted his long and productive career to furthering the science of milk extraction with the objectives that I believe he coined, ‘Quickly, Completely and Gently,’ the last of which included an encyclopedic knowledge of the risk factors for new mastitis infections.”
David Reid of Rocky Ridge Dairy Consulting, LLC, Hazel Green, Wis., USA, and a past NMC president, stated, “Graeme is a world-renowned researcher who has greatly influenced the dairy world during a career that has spanned more than 50 years. His contributions through his research and publications are the foundation of milking equipment performance evaluation throughout the world.” A past NMC board member and chair of the Machine Milking Committee, Mein represented the United States and Australia on the International Standards Organization (ISO) committee to revise the ISO standards on Construction and Performance of Milking Systems, Mechanical Testing Procedures and on terminology. He was also the lead contributor to developing NMC’s “Procedures for Evaluating Vacuum Levels and Airflow in Milking Systems.”
Andy Johnson, “The Udder Doctor” and another past NMC president, said this about Mein. “When Dr. Mein came to the United States, he made a significant difference to our dairy industry. He took the practical work consulting veterinarians were doing and added science to it so our contributions were even more useful to dairy farms. The biggest difference Dr. Mein made was at NMC. Before his arrival, the NMC Milking Machine Committee was an ineffective group that did not accomplish much. He turned the committee into an active committee that accomplished many great things.” Mein was also instrumental in standardizing milking equipment testing.
Top dairies win milk quality awards
In the National Dairy Quality Awards program, NMC honored six U.S. dairy operations as Platinum winners. These top-quality milk producers included Cottonwood Dairy, South Wayne, Wis.; Country Aire Farms, Greenleaf, Wis.; Diamond J Dairy, Merced, Calif.; Green Hill Dairy, Scipio Center, N.Y.; Michigan State University Training and Research Center, Lansing, Mich.; and Stuart Farms Inc., Lowell, Mich.
Judges selected these dairies based on quality milk production indicators, such as somatic cell count and bacteria count, along with milking routine, systems of monitoring udder health, treatment protocols and strategies for overall herd health and welfare. These herds ranged in size from 255 to 1,897 cows. Annual milk production (per cow) averaged 23,383 pounds to 33,260 pounds (10,606 kg to 15,086 kg). For average somatic cell count (June 1, 2023-May 31, 2024), these dairies varied from 53,000 to 97,000 cells/ml.
In addition to the six Platinum winners, there were 14 Gold and 20 Silver NDQA winners. These U.S. and Canadian farms were selected from 72 nominations submitted for the 2024 awards. In the past, only U.S. dairy farms were eligible to compete in this milk quality awards program. As part of the NMC strategic plan, NMC added Canada to the NDQA program. Farms were nominated by professionals, such as dairy plant field staff, veterinarians, extension specialists and Dairy Herd Improvement supervisors, who serve the dairy industry.
NDQA judges considered many criteria when reviewing finalists’ applications. In addition to milk quality indicators, such as somatic cell count (SCC) and standard plate count (SPC), judges looked at specific details about each operation, including milking routine, cow comfort, udder health monitoring, prevention and treatment programs, strategies for overall herd health and welfare, and adherence to antimicrobial use and record keeping regulations.
Graduate students attend as ‘Scholars’
NMC awarded scholarships to six remarkable graduate students to attend the NMC Annual Meeting. This year’s NMC Scholars were Ridwan Adesola, University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo., USA; José Augusto Ferronatto, Penn State University, University Park, Pa., USA; Ana Beatriz Montevecchio Bernardino, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla., USA; Alexandre Rico Fernandez, University of California-Davis, Davis, Calif., USA; Matías Goddard, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile; and Gregory Rota, University of Ghent and University of Liège, Belgium. The NMC Scholars program fosters the development of mastitis researchers and milk quality professionals from around the world.
The 65th NMC Annual Meeting is set for Jan. 26- 29, 2026, in Birmingham, Ala., USA. For additional information, go to: www.nmconline.org.
