Factors Affecting Bacterial Spores in Organic Tank Milk

Presented by Dr. Nicole Martin of Cornell University on August 7, 2024. Sporeforming bacteria are ubiquitous in the dairy farm environment. They can survive pasteurization and cause spoilage in dairy products and can also affect laboratory pasteurization counts (LPC), a common parameter used for quality premiums on organic dairy farms. This webinar will discuss farm management practices that impact the levels and types of spores found in bulk tank milk, and practical strategies that can be used to decrease the level of spores in organic bulk tank milk. Dr. Nicole Martin is an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Food Science at Cornell University. Nicole oversees the farm to consumer dairy microbiology research conducted in the Milk Quality Improvement Program (MQIP) and works closely with dairy industry stakeholders including producers and processors. Nicole studies the transmission of spoilage organisms from environmental niches into raw and processed dairy products, strategies to reduce or eliminate this transmission, the implications of spoilage organisms on finished product and methods of detection. This project was funded by the NIFA OREI grant 2019-51300-30242: A Systems Approach To Improve Quality and Shelf Life of Organic Dairy Products for Domestic and Export Markets. Learn more about this project at https://eorganic.info/dairyproducts