RE: The Scoop on Organic Dairy: Should You Change Your Buying Habits?
My wife worked for an organic dairy for about 2 years and I don't think they usually killed any cows with mastitis. She said they could sometimes clear up the infection by just milking the cow separately. If that didn't work, they would treat it with conventional antibiotics and then sell it to a conventional dairy once it was healed.
In regards to the lameness issues, I think a lot of that has to do with where the cows live. Do you have a feed lot or do they spend most time out on pasture? The dairy my wife worked was had the cows on pasture most of the year and they had very little lameness.
I still buy conventional milk most of the time, but every once in a while I will buy organic. My wife will only drink organic though because she doesn't like the taste of conventional milk and it doesn't make her feel good. That might also be due to some other differences though, such as the breed of cow and whether the milk is homogenized or not. The organic milk we buy is usually from Jerseys and it's never homogenized, while the conventional milk is homogenized and comes from Holstein cows.
@soaringeagle: these are excellent points. Half of mastitis cases usually resolve on their own without antibiotics, so it's not an entirely "wrong" strategy to wait it out and see what happens. But, in the meantime, cows are in pain and that's not good.
As far as lameness goes, cows are less lame on pasture, slightly more lame in a freestall, and definitely more lame in a tiestall (can't expect much else when you don't move around). However, the research is very clear on one point: the biggest problem with lameness is that farmers don't recognize it. So, only the severe cases get noticed and treated. Farms with "little lameness" often have a much bigger problem with milder cases that simply go unnoticed. I am not insinuating that this is the case on the farm your wife worked at. I am just pointing out that pasturing doesn't eliminate lameness, if you have other causes on your farm. Pasturing provides exercise, but it can't really undo the ill-effects of a poorly designed barn. This is especially important to consider in northern climates where organic cattle spend much more time inside in the winter.
Furthermore, one British study found that 37% of organic cows had hock lesions - anything from a scruff mark to full-on bulging inflammation on their "knee" joints. I think an industry who uses animal welfare as a huge selling point can do much better than having over a third of their cows walk on abraded/uncomfortable/injured joints.
That's interesting about your wife reacting differently to conventional and organic milk. It's not the first time I have heard about it though. Maybe if I get enough upvotes on my writing I can do a PhD on the subject ;)