6 Jun 2016
Moving mountains to tackle problems and break down barriers
Peter Edmondson reports on the 55th National Mastitis Council annual meeting, which involved lectures on effective communication and the future of antibiotic use.

Everyone likes training, especially if it is fun and engaging.
Milk quality experts representing 28 countries gathered in Arizona, US for the 55th National Mastitis Council (NMC) annual meeting.

More than 400 attendees learned about the science of motivating behavioural change, animal well-being and intersection with milk quality, judicious drug use in relation to quality milk, and implementing, sustaining and communicating change.
Unconscious decisions
Jolanda Jansen, from the Netherlands, talked about the importance of effective communication and how people think. The talk was about social psychology, the science of people’s thoughts, feelings and behaviours in relation to other people, situations, places and perceptions.
Ms Jansen started with a fun challenge, asking the audience to choose a number between 1 and 4, with 3 seconds to make a choice. She repeated the amount of time we had. About 85% of people chose 3, directly because she mentioned this number twice immediately before we made our decision.
In many ways, you feel as if you have been conned, but she pointed out 10% of our thoughts come from conscious thinking, 10% subconscious and 80% unconscious. When you think about this, it is hardly surprising as this is how advertising works, by playing on our minds. It grabbed our attention.
So when it comes to mastitis and how farmers think, we find more than half worry about mastitis problems, 90% of them think it is very difficult to manage and 95% want a reduction in mastitis levels. If this underlying concern exists for farmers, why are they not knocking at our doors seeking advice and help?
This is because we can all put up barriers as to why things can’t be changed or the problems are too big. On second thoughts, we come up with excuses, such as the problems not being on their farm, the mastitis issues are not that severe, it’s not clear what the benefits would be, having no time and unable to afford to solve the problem.
On reflection, many think they do not have a real problem and solutions are theoretical, so there is no motivation for them to change or take action. We can put ourselves in a similar situation, so we need to come up with different ways to communicate with farmers to get them to consider change and take action.
Power of authority
You can use the power of authority. We were shown images of five people wearing white coats and stethoscopes and had to choose who the doctor was. The one most people chose was a binman – sorry, a waste management consultant. He really looked the part and seemed the most credible. There are two choices – we can take on the power of authority ourselves or we can refer the problem on to an “expert”, within the practice or from the outside.
I am always amused when carrying out referral visits I am repeating advice given previously by the farmer’s vet. Just to reassure everyone, I do come up with other things that help, but because I am an ”expert”, in that I have come from far away and the farmer is paying a chunk of dosh, the farmer has this perception of authority about me. He listens to me more than his regular vet, even though I am mostly saying the same things. It’s as if he has never heard it before. It’s all about the power of authority and how we use this.
Lots of farmers like to follow the leader. There are highly respected farmers and people like to know what they are up to and what they think about X, Y and Z. Are they using this new product? What do they think? If they like it, others are more inclined to follow and often value their opinion more than that of their vet.
In practice, there is much we can do to persuade people to do things. Say we wish to get some farmers thinking about a new service your practice is offering. Invite the key farmer who is using the service and sees the benefit to come to a small meeting, maybe at lunchtime over drinks and sandwiches, and invite those you want to convert. Do a short introduction and then get your converted farmer to do the talking. Let him demonstrate the benefits and value to the others. It can work very well. You act as a facilitator for the meeting, but get the brownie points.
It’s important to give freedom of choice, so offering options and possibilities works well. People tend to agree with people they like, but we also have to accept “no”.
Also, think outside the box for novel ways to do things. Ms Jansen’s presentation should be given to every vet student, as communication is key to success and remembering a smile is the shortest distance between two people and important when you meet people. A cheery smile when you get out of the car to greet a depressed and tired farmer goes a long way and is always welcomed.
Herd cell counts
NMC board member Ron Erskine talked about correlations with mastitis in some US herds. Low cell count herds use blanket internal teat sealants and dry cow therapy, do not use water during milking (they predip), have a set milking routine and written protocols and employee incentives – not all of which are financial.
High cell count herds know they have mastitis problems, but say they can’t get staff to comply with milking routines or treatment protocols. Mr Erskine focused on how we can make improvements.
They carried out a survey on 194 staff on 37 dairies, where 49% of workers did not know the herd cell count and I am often surprised this is not uncommon in some UK herds. Most (77%) workers were either self-taught or picked up things from other staff. Only 23% were formally trained by owners or managers, 72% only had a meeting with management if there was a problem, while the remaining 28% had a meeting at least once a year.
Now, think about the implications of this if these results related to your vet practice. How well would it run? Are people really engaged and do they feel valued and part of the practice team? Clearly, the majority of these milkers interviewed feel somewhat isolated – not a nice feeling.
Foreign staff were more likely to be poorly trained, but nearly all want to learn more. All 194 staff were asked to rate their desire for training from 1 (not interested) to 5 (really keen). The average score was 4.75, so it’s clear milkers want more training. They also want to know what’s going on in the farm, how they are performing and how they can improve.
So, how does this relate to what we do in vet practice? Farmers look to us for all sorts of things, apart from treating sick cows and sticking our arm up a cow’s backside. We come from a different environment and can bring a wealth of new ideas, suggestions and thinking to the farm. They really value this and us for bringing these ideas.
Training on farm
I visit a number of farms two or three times a year to offer mastitis advice. A key part of each visit is to go through the successes since the previous one, staff training and dealing with their concerns about mastitis. This might make up a couple of hours and helps engage people, lets them celebrate the successes that have been made and helps them come up with solutions for any remaining problems. People really enjoy learning, including foreign staff, but sometimes we forget this.
Training helps build and cement the team and this is something good farm managers really value. I explain the “why”, tell them and show them. They have to tell me what they learned and show me, so I know the correct message has got through.
Engaged employees perform much better. More practices are offering training, which is great fun and a super way to demonstrate your knowledge. We can do similar things in practice – all we have to do is come up with ideas and options, and offer choice. Many farmers will not be interested at first, but some will, and from small acorns big oak trees grow.
Antibiotic use
Scott MacDougall, from New Zealand, talked about future antibiotic use. The New Zealand Veterinary Association (NZVA) has made an aspirational statement that by 2030 animals will not need antibiotics for the maintenance of animal health and wellness, a big undertaking and commitment from a country heavily reliant on exports of farm produce.
Vets have agreed to follow prescribing guidelines from the NZVA. They will only prescribe for bona fide clients and look at alternative methods to control disease.
He cited various surveys. In New Zealand, 24% of treatments follow on-label guidelines, which is probably similar to the UK. In France, 47% of farmers were unaware antibiotics were only for bacterial infections.
New Zealand farmers choose antibiotics based on experience first and vet advice second. Efficacy was the key driver and the price of the antibiotic was of minor importance. Written treatment protocols drawn up by the vet and farmer were considered essential.
Most (73%) of New Zealand dairy farmers thought antimicrobial resistance problems in their cows was a real threat and less than half thought how they used antibiotics would influence future resistance in their herd. It would be interesting to know the views of UK farmers.
Steve Oliver, from the University of Tennessee, US, followed and recommended preventive practices for disease and complement judicious drug use strategies. Established practices to prevent or control infectious diseases of dairy cows include improved husbandry, quarantine and biosecurity measures, vaccinations, use of antiseptics, vector control and use of probiotics or other competitive microorganisms to exclude pathogens.
Other options include improved nutrition, environmental sanitation, teat sealant use, disease-resistance genetic traits and rapid pathogen detection, and characterisation systems to help fine-tune treatment and if there was a need to use antimicrobials. The pressure on antimicrobial use is a global issue and every country is looking at ways to minimise use and avoid resistance.
Overall, there was plenty of practical stuff from the NMC meeting to take away and put in to practice, and lots of thought-provoking ideas.
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