Facts sheet: How to cut bacteria, increase fat content in milk

By Henry Jami Mang’eni

Pioneering dairy companies are moving to reward farmers with bonuses for supplying clean milk that has a low number of bacteria and is high in butterfat. This FarmbizAfrica guide will help you learn how to produce quality milk that will earn you up to 30 per cent more than the current average milk price

Bio-Foods currently pays its farmers Sh58-65 a litre depending on the quality of their milk. This Is up to seventeen shillings more than the current Sh50 milk buying price set out by the Kenyan government. According to the PS for Livestock Development Jonathan Mueke the government is also moving to the accepted global standard of paying dairy farmers on both the quantity and quality of milk they produce. “As part of the proposal in the draft Dairy Industry Bill 2024 if a farmer can supply KCC with high quality milk suited to make value added milk products such as cheese and ghee then they may be paid Sh60 rather than the current Sh50,” he said.

Quality milk takes care of the following:

• Bacterial Count

Milk is considered good quality when it has less than 2 million TPC, according to Kenya Bureau of Standards.

Bacteria growth in milk >2 million tpc is contributed mainly by poor hygiene for both structures and equipment used, soiled animals contributing to dirt on the teats and udder and also sick animals with clinical mastitis.

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Steps to reduce bacteria count in milk:

1. Observe hygiene during milking.
2. The boiled water for using in the process should be luke warm and if it is from the pond ; dis infect it further  by adding  a pinch of chloride lime.
3. Clean your hands then clean the udder and dry it with a  sterile cloth ( This is hand milking).

When not using hot water especially when using machine, you can clean udder using chlorine based disinfectant and dry the udder.

• Conduct a California Mastitis Test (CMT) by stripping milk at least ½ table spoon in a  cup by adding a domestic liquid detergent at a ratio of 1:1  then shake, if the milk from a teat is infected; the mixture becomes thick . This method helps in avoiding mixing good milk with infected milk.
• For those doing hand milking after washing and dis infecting the hands and teats ; apply milking jelly which is readily available in groceries or agro vet shops and then start milking, otherwise for machine;  the unit is attached to the teats and milking starts.
• Make sure no milk is left in the teats after milking to reduce risk of mastitis.
• After milking you dis infect the teats by teat dipping with a mixture of water and a chlorine based dis infectant.
• Hygiene in Handling / Storage
• Use of dirty containers and of poor material is a risk to infection. Milk stores well in steel or aluminum containers because dirt comes out easily during cleaning.
• Milk is sieved when poured in the can to guard from dirt or physical contaminants but for milking machine, they draw milk direct to the storage containers such that it is not affected by dirt.
• Milk is stored immediately after milking at a temperature of between 2 degrees centigrade and 5 degrees centigrade under cool to prevent bacterial growth just in case milk is not delivered quickly.
• Handling of the utensils
• Containers are rinsed after use.
• Wash using a food grade detergent or soap in warm water scrub using stiff bristled brush or scouring pad.
• Rinse thoroughly using clean running water.
• Dip the container in boiling water at least for one minute to kill germs.
• Rinse the container by pouring hot water into it.
• Dry it in the air on a table like structure facing it upside down.
• The towels are washed with water mixed with soap then rinsed in hot water before being sun dried.
• Housing  Hygiene
• Apart from udder cleaning before milking the general housing of the cow should be clean so that the cow dung will not be transferred to the milk.

• Fat Content

Good quality milk has fat content of between 4 – 5%.

Most farmers are managing 3.5 – 4.5 % which is actually low.

This can be increased to standards level of 5% by having:

1. Right breeds of cows:
2. Guernsey breed milk  has a butter fat content of 5%
3. Jersey breed milk has butter fat content of  5.45 %
4. Friesians breed milk has butter fat content of 2.5 to 3.6 %
5. Good Nutrition
6. Dairy cow ration should supply Energy/carbohydrates 70%, Proteins 30% and required minerals.

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Quality forage is a good contribution to quality fat content in milk with right quality amounts of concentrates, protein, minerals and vitamins.

A good example is 35% wheat bran, 35% maize, 30 % cotton seed cake and 1% minerals.