Dairy lab testing provides positive results for farmers

Laboratories receiving DairyCo funding to participate in international ring trials of somatic cell counts have all had excellent results in the latest round of testing, meaning British dairy farmers can have more confidence in their milk test results.

A ring trial involves sending out a portion of the same sample to participating laboratories, who send their results back. These are then analysed and all laboratories are compared.

DairyCo research manager, Dr Elizabeth Berry, explains: "Milk price is set according to its constituents and quality so it is vitally important that the tests are as accurate as possible. The results of recent trials from British laboratories have been very good on reproducibility (comparing the results with other labs) and repeatability (testing the same sample repeatedly), which means farmers can be reassured that their milk is being tested to international standards and can have confidence in the results produced."

The success of the ring trials in testing somatic cell counts means that trials are now being extended to include butterfat, protein and lactose content of milk.

DairyCo is funding the participation of three NML/NMR laboratories and the Eclipse laboratory in the ring trials.

Group chemistry technical manager and consultant at Eclipse, John Searle, agrees: "The Cecalait scheme has helped define our performance on milk testing when compared with other laboratories around Europe. It has helped in the improvement of our quality control systems in SCC testing and it is now an invaluable tool in the identification of possible biases within our systems."

Paul O’Brien, NMR Group quality manager explains the role of the tests: "Whilst these ring trials are no substitute for comprehensive and ongoing internal quality control procedures, the NML/NMR laboratories consider the international proficiency schemes to be a valuable independent assessment of their performance and competence. In particular, the NML laboratories conduct testing to support UK farmer payment systems and use the information from Cecalait to support the quality assurance protocols necessary to maintain their UKAS accredited status."