Solomamitis begins a new phase in the city of Madrid

After the presentation of the new and improved “Solomamitis” web portal, the meeting of the expert group that makes up this initiative was held on May 16 in the city of Madrid.

The group, which is beginning a new phase, has received new members that will allow it to have a broader perspective on the topics addressed.

With the main objective of gathering knowledge on milk quality, the experts work with very well-defined goals:

1. Support the milk quality sector to become an international benchmark.
2. Share opinions on topics related to milk quality.
3. Bring together technicians who, due to their experience, can provide greater and innovative knowledge to the milk quality sector in Spain.

Additionally, a consensus document will be prepared with the outputs of the session to be disseminated to the rest of the sector.

A day focused on selective drying off

In this first edition, the Solomamitis group addressed selective drying off in the context of responsible antibiotic use and how to adapt it to the current reality of Spanish farms. As a result of this topic, three priority issues were discussed:

• How the new legislation that will limit the use of antibiotics will affect on-farm work protocols.

At this point, it will be essential for the veterinarian to be involved in the day-to-day operations of the farm, and the role of the farm veterinarian will gain importance. Additionally, farms that manage to improve their management and incorporate prevention routines will be best prepared to face the change.

• How the dry period is now approached in this environment of responsible antibiotic use.

This new phase represents an opportunity to improve farms and the quality of their production.

• What type of training and information should be provided to the farmer to adapt as quickly as possible to this new work environment.

The analysis tools already exist, but it is necessary to increase the farmer’s awareness to systematically record any relevant event on the farm. The data is available, so it is only necessary to improve the veterinarians’ analytical capacity.

These are the 14 experts of the new Solomamitis group:

The Solomamitis group for 2018 is composed of Luis Miguel Jiménez, Anna Jubert, Emili Calvet, Juan Miguel Echeverría, Antonio Palomino, Christian Paniagua, Patricia de Celis, Oriol Franquesa, José Luis Míguez, Carlos Noya, Gema Moyano, Nati Pérez Villalobos, Xabier Bermúdez, and José Mallo.