Assessment of the impact of dairy farm management practices on milk bacterial count

Production of milk with a low bacterial count starts at the level of dairy farm and depends on management practices applied by dairy farmers. The main aim of this research was to study the effect of dairy farmer's management practices on reduction of milk bacterial count. A survey method was used. The population under consideration comprises of all industrial dairy farmers in Shiraz and Marvdasht districts who were delivering their milk to Pegah- e- Fars dairy processing factory. Based upon Morgan table, sample size was determined and it was set to be 175 subjects. A questionnaire was utilised for collecting required information of dairy farmers. Total bacterial count of each dairy farm was obtained by the results of total bacterial count test of Pegah- e- Fars dairy processing factory. The results revealed that total count of the samples was not at an appropriate level. Cleaning of milking machine as well as level of physical development of the dairy farms had negative effects and significant relationship with total bacterial count of milk. Mean total bacterial count of milk were compared between different groups and based on the results, some recommendations were suggested for reduction total milk bacterial count.