Loss Calculator - Interactive Worksheet

The National Mastitis Council proclaims mastitis to be the single most costly disease to the dairy industry, while the USDA reports that United States dairy producers lose about two billion dollars a year to this disease. What is not as well publicized is how much money this disease costs the individual farmer — money that could be used in so many other ways.

Use this interactive worksheet to estimate how many dollars you are losing to mastitis annually. The four biggest contributors to losses from mastitis are:

A. Losses From Rejected Bulk Tanks

  1. Enter: number of rejected bulk tanks (last 12 months)
  2. Enter: the average cwt/bulk tank
  3. Line 1 times Line 2 equals: total cwt rejected
    1. $
      Enter: typical Grade A price/cwt
    2. $
      Enter: price/cwt for rejected milk (if any)
  4. $
    Line 3a minus Line 3b equals: average $ loss/cwt for rejected milk
  5. $
    Line 3 times Line 4 equals: approximate $ loss from rejected tanks

B. Lost Production Yields

Approximate annual production loss/cow (assuming 25% of milking cows are first lactation cows)

Bulk Tank SCC Loss/Cow/Year
100,000 cells/mL 3.5 cwt
200,000 cells/mL 7.0 cwt
400,000 cells/mL 10.5 cwt
800,000 cells/mL 14.0 cwt
  1. Enter: estimated annual Loss/Cow/Year (obtain from table above, based on your typical Bulk Tank SCC)
  2. Enter: approximate average # of cows in herd last 12 months
  3. Line 1 times Line 2 equals: estimated 1 year lost production (in cwt)
  4. $
    Enter: current or typical price/cwt
  5. $
    Line 3 times Line 4 equals: approximate $ loss from lower production yield

C. Price Penalties and Lost Premiums

  1. Enter: average total monthly cwt production (for entire herd)
  2. Line 1 times 12 equals: estimated total annual production (cwt)
    1. $
      Enter: typical maximum SCC premium/cwt
    2. $
      Enter: average premium/penalty received (enter negative value for penalty)
  3. $
    Line 2a minus Line 2b equals: price loss/cwt
  4. $
    Line 2 times Line 3 equals: estimated Premium $ loss

D. Losses From Discarded Milk

  1. Enter: average cwt of milk/cow/day
    1. Enter: average # of cows treated/month
    2. Line 1a times 12 equals: estimated # of cows treated/year
    3. Enter: # of days milk is discarded/cow
  2. Line 1b times Line 1c equals: Total # discarded milk days
  3. Line 1 times Line 2 equals: estimated # of cwt discarded
  4. $
    Enter: typical price received/cwt
  5. $
    Line 3 times Line 4 equals: approximate $ loss from discarded milk

E. Total annual Estimated Dollar Loss Summary

  • $
    Rejected Bulk Tank (Line A5)
  • $
    Lost Production Yield (Line B5)
  • $
    Price Penalties and Lost Premiums (Line C4)
  • $
    Discarded Milk (Line D5)
  • $
    Costs associated with treating clinical mastitis (estimated to be a fraction of discarded milk cost)
  • $
    Net replacement costs times the number of cows in the herd (estimated to average $17.50 at SCC over 400,000)

F. Your Estimated Total Annual Loss

  • $
    Total all Lines under Section E