Australian Graeme Mein earns NMC Award of Excellence
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NEWS RELEASE
Australian Graeme Mein earns NMC Award of Excellence
New Prague MN (January 30, 2025) – The National Mastitis Council (NMC) awarded its 2025 Award of Excellence for Contribution to Mastitis Prevention and Control to Graeme Mein, Werribee, Victoria, Australia. One of his key contributions to enhancing milk quality was co-founding the University of Wisconsin-Madison Milking Lab. He also established the Milking Research Centre at Werribee – one of the world’s leading centers for milking and mastitis research, and a base for machine milking research for Australia.
This award recognizes an NMC member who has provided sustained contributions to mastitis prevention and control through research, extension and/or education, clinical practice or service to dairy producers. Boehringer Ingelheim sponsors the award.
Mein spent more than three decades with the Australia Department of Agriculture. After leaving the Australia Department of Agriculture, he served as a visiting professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of Melbourne. Also, he worked as a vice president and then director of research for BouMatic, DEC International.
Numerous organizations lauded him for his exemplary work and contributions to enhancing milking machine performance and udder health. His awards include Friend of Wisconsin Veterinary Medical Association, First Life Member of the Australian Milking Machine Trade Association, and Dairy Industry Association of Australia Loftus-Hills medal for contributions to dairy science in Australia.
In support of Mein’s nomination, Doug Reinemann, University of Wisconsin (UW) director of the UW Milking Research and Instruction Laboratory and professor of biological systems engineering and animal and dairy sciences, wrote, “Graeme is well known to NMC due to his unique combination of scientific excellence and integrity, copious contributions to NMC events and uncommonly warm, friendly and widespread connection with anyone in the world interested in milk harvesting and mastitis. Graeme devoted his long and productive career to furthering the science of milk extraction with the objectives that I believe he coined, ‘Quickly, Completely and Gently,’ the last of which included an encyclopedic knowledge of the risk factors for new mastitis infections.”
David Reid of Rocky Ridge Dairy Consulting, LLC, Hazel Green, Wis., and a past NMC president, stated, “Graeme is a world-renowned researcher who has greatly influenced the dairy world during a career that has spanned more than 50 years. His contributions through his research and publications are the foundation of milking equipment performance evaluation throughout the world.” A past NMC board member and chair of the Machine Milking Committee, Mein represented the United States and Australia on the International Standards Organization (ISO) committee to revise the ISO standards on Construction and Performance of Milking Systems, Mechanical Testing Procedures and on terminology. He also was the lead contributor to developing NMC’s “Procedures for Evaluating Vacuum Levels and Airflow in Milking Systems.”
Andy Johnson, “The Udder Doctor” and another past NMC president said this about Mein. “When Dr. Mein came to the United States, he made a significant difference to our dairy industry. He took the practical work consulting veterinarians were doing and added science to it so our contributions were even more useful to dairy farms. The biggest difference Dr. Mein made was at NMC. Before his arrival, the NMC Milking Machine Committee was an ineffective group that did not accomplish much. He turned the committee into an active committee that accomplished many great things.” Mein was also instrument in standardizing milking equipment testing.
NMC: The Global Milk Quality Organization is a non-profit professional organization devoted to reducing mastitis and enhancing milk quality. NMC promotes research and provides science-based information to the dairy industry on udder health, milking management, milk quality, animal welfare and food safety. Founded in 1961, NMC has about 1,000 members in more than 40 countries throughout the world.