QMPS offers Vet Med 704, Quality Milk Elective, for upper level veterinary students. The course has been offered since 1988 and was originally taught only during even-numbered years. Since 1995, by popular demand from students, it has been taught annually. In 2001, we had a total of 18 students from Cornell, Guelph, London, and Croatia.

The course covers dairy herd health, emphasizing analysis of farm practices for prevention of mastitis. Other aspects of dairy farm management are also addressed. Instruction by field and laboratory staff covers farm and laboratory testing and evaluation of diagnostic results to make sound recommendations to control mastitis. Lectures, discussion, laboratory, farm visits, and student case reports are part of the course.

Spanish Program

In the year 2000, QMPS investigated the necessity for programming to overcome the language barrier existing on farms with Spanish-speaking milkers. Many farms throughout the State have hired Spanish-speaking employees and more farms are following suit. The need for educational services in Spanish is growing daily. QMPS is one of the first organizations in the State to begin offering a comprehensive service aimed at improving milk quality on farms employing Spanish-speaking workers.

Customized milker-training courses in Spanish are the main focus of the services. The courses use information from an individual farm to present an on-farm workshop on the theoretical and practical aspects of milk quality. QMPS also provides translation of farm documents, on-farm translation, development of on-farm educational materials, and English and Spanish classes focusing on communicating within the dairy industry. In the first year of offering the services, QMPS worked closely with nearly 20 farms from Erie to Columbia counties and offered a Spanish course for farm managers.

QMPS is also collaborating with other Cornell organizations to provide the dairies of New York with much needed educational opportunities in Spanish. The Department of Animal Science has offered a Spanish for Dairymen course to their Dairy Fellows taught by a QMPS employee, and will continue to offer this course in the future. Both Pro Dairy and Cornell Cooperative Extension have expressed the need to have courses translated into Spanish and given in Spanish. QMPS plans to help assist them with this in the coming year.