Effects of herd management practices on somatic cell counts in an arid climate

The objective of this study was to evaluate associations between average lactation somatic cell counts (SCC) and herd management practices in an arid climate. A total of 38,530 average lactation SCC records for 10,216 Holstein cows gathered on 25 dairy farms from January 2009 to October 2012 in Isfahan (Iran) were analyzed. Average lactation SCC (cells × 1,000) was 250.79 ranging from 90.31 to 483.23 cells/mL across investigated farms. Herd-level management factors associated with average lactation SCC were determined separately using mixed linear models in the MIXED procedure with average la...