Management of spent milk in dairies in the northwest of Paraná

Resumo

Brazilian milk production has been increasing in recent years and places Brazil as the fourth largest producer in the world. The state of Paraná occupies the third position in the Brazilian ranking. However, in spite of the impressive growth of the dairy industry, several quantitative and qualitative aspects still deserve attention, such as the management of spent milk. Spent milk is non-marketable milk, which may be colostrum, transitional milk, milk containing pharmacological residues or milk from diseased cows. Spent milk represents an economic loss to the producer and a residue problem on the farm. Looking to avoid this loss, most producers supply this milk to other animals (especially calves) or discard it the environment, even though these measures require criteria. The objective of this study was to characterize the main forms of spent milk from dairy farms in the northwest region of Paraná. This quantitative study was carried out between March and July 2017 and the data collected were from ten dairies and three employees, involving: 1) knowledge of the producer about the concept of spent milk; 2) destination of spent milk on the farm; and 3) producer€™s knowledge about the right disposal. The data were analyzed by calculating descriptive statistics, using Microsoft Excel to estimate the relative frequencies. The results regarding knowledge of the producers of the definition of spent milk showed that the majority (90%) were aware of the types of milk. Therefore, colostrum, transitional milk, milk with chemical residues or other wastes should not go to the cooler along with healthy milk. Regarding the destination of milk, a majority of producers (80%) adopted the practice of supplying suckler calves. Other producers (10%) stated they pasteurize the milk before supplying it to animals, with understanding of the importance of this practice, considered a good option due to the reduction of the pathogenic bacterial load. The remaining producers (10%) said they discard the milk in the environment in situations when the quantity is small or if there are no animals to consume this milk. However, it was found that these producers were totally unaware of the seriousness of the pollution generated by the practice. An evaluation of the knowledge about whether the destination used is correct, 62.50% said they are unaware about the harms of this technique and justified this use based on economic questions. Based on the results and in line with sustainability of the dairy industry, it is important to inform farmers about the proper management of spent milk, especially regarding its supply without treatment to heifers.