Understanding mastitis for beef producers

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By Bob Larson, Kansas State University

Although mastitis (infection of the udder) is often considered a dairy cow problem rather than a beef cow problem, the disease does affect many beef herds. Most cases of mastitis only involve one quarter (one teat) of a cow’s udder and the other three quarters remain normal. Even though most cases of mastitis do not result in the complete loss of milk production, calves from affected cows have lighter weaning weights than if their dam had a normal udder. Occasionally, mastitis causes severe illness in the cow, but in most situations, the cow is not greatly affected other than having reduced milk production. Mastitis can occur at any stage of lactation or even when the cow is dry, but most commonly becomes a problem early in lactation shortly after a cow calves.