**3.1.2 The cow and the milker**

Cleaning the udder of cows before milking is important since it could have direct contact with the ground, urine, dung and feed refusals while resting. Not washing udder before milking can impart possible contaminants into the milk. Milk is highly nutritious; therefore spoilage as well as pathogenic microorganisms present in the dust, urine, dung and feed refusals, once get access, can easily multiply and deteriorate the quality of milk making it unsafe for consumption and unfit for further processing. As observed during the present study, over 31 and 14% of the respondents owning local and crossbred dairy cows, respectively, do not wash the cow's udder before milking. They rather let calves to suckle before milking. Such practice, however, cannot replace washing. Producers should therefore make udder washing a regular practice in order to minimize contamination and produce good quality milk.

About 39 and 36% of the respondents owning local and crossbred milking cows, respectively, reported to not use towel at all, while about 10 and 20% of local and crossbred cow owners, respectively, responded to use collective towel to clean the udder of two or more milking cows. Such practice, in addition to its effect on milk quality, can lead to cross contamination of udder health problems of milking cows and related complications. In the current study about 27% of the respondents reported to have encountered udder health problems and over 18% of them reported the problem to have occurred more than twice a year. To reverse the situation, producers spent 650 birr per crossbred and 242 birr per local milking cows per year as treatment cost. The reported milk disposal from infected udders was estimated to amount to 1056 birr per crossbred and 560 birr per local cows. The use of individual towel and following essential cleaning practices during milking is important for the production of good quality milk and need be practiced by all producers.

Milkers, in addition to keeping good personal hygiene, should be in good health during milk operation. In this study, about 94 and 96% of the respondents reported to wash their hands before milking their local and crossbred cows, respectively. Covering hair and dressing gown during milking and handling of milk and milk products are important practices milkers need to obey, which weren't observed in any of the farms visited.
