Think your milkroom is clean? Think again. In this episode of Hoofnotes, we dive into the microscopic world of biofilms, sticky, invisible communities of bacteria that love to set up shop inside milk lines, inflations, and buckets. These aren’t just harmless slime layers. Biofilms can harbor dangerous pathogens, resist standard cleaning routines, and quietly compromise both milk quality and herd health.
We’ll break down the science behind how biofilms form, why they’re so hard to kill, and what the latest research says about cleaning protocols that actually work. From the role of Clean-in-Place (CIP) systems to the chemistry of disinfectants and the dangers of “just rinsing it,” this episode arms you with the know-how to fight back.
Whether you're hand milking two goats or machine milking twenty-two, when it comes to biofilms, it's not just about milk safety, sloppy sanitation can lead to sick goats, mastitis outbreaks, and costly setbacks.
Visit Companion Blog for this Episode: https://goathousefarm.com/goat-parasite-control-national-study/
Articles for this episode:
Biofilms in hoses utilized to divert colostrum and milk on dairy farms: A report exploring their potential role in herd health, milk quality, and public health. Latorre, A. A., Oliva, R., Pugin, J., Estay, A., Nualart, F., Salazar, K., Garrido, N., & Muñoz, M. A. (2022). Front. Vet. Sci., 9:969455. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2022.969455.
Biofilms in the Dairy Industry. Kaylegian, K. E., & Rolon, L. (2023, January 10). Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education..
Biofilms in the milking machine, from laboratory scale to on-farm results. Desmousseaux, C., Guilbaud, M., Jard, G., Tormo, H., Oulahal, N., Hanin, A., Jha, P. K., & Laithier, C. (2025, March 4). J Dairy Sci. Advance online publication. doi: 10.3168/jds.2024-25352.
Biofilms: A Persistent Challenge to the Dairy Industry. Johnson, C., & Bigalke, D. (2023, February). QualiTru Sampling Systems..
Effect of biofilm formation by antimicrobial-resistant gram-negative bacteria in cold storage on survival in dairy processing lines. Woo, J., Guk, J.-H., Yi, S., Lee, J., Song, H., Kim, W.-H., & Cho, S. (2023, February 2). Int J Food Microbiol., 386:110019. Epub 2022 Nov 19. doi: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2022.110019.
FORMATION OF BIOFILMS ON DAIRY EQUIPMENT AND THE INFLUENCE OF DISINFECTANTS ON THEM. Kukhtyn, M., Berhilevych, O., Kravcheniuk, K., Shynkaruk, O., Horiuk, Y., & Semaniuk, N. (2017). Eastern-European Journal of Enterprise Technologies, 5(11 (89)). doi: 10.15587/1729-4061.2017.110488.
How to Clean Your Milking Equipment for Low-Risk Raw Milk. Smith, S. (2024, June 7). Raw Milk Institute..
Microbial Biofilms in the Food Industry—A Comprehensive Review. Carrascosa, C., Raheem, D., Ramos, F., Saraiva, A., & Raposo, A. (2021, February 19). Int J Environ Res Public Health, 18(4):2014. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18042014.
A NotebookLM Deep Dive human written to make goat science make sense.
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