In Adair County, the dairy industry produce $13.2 million dollars in products each year.  Mastitis not only reduces milk quality, but also results in a reduction in the amount of milk produced and sold from the farm.  In 2020, the Adair County Cooperative Extension Service launched the Adair County Milk Quality Initiative (ACMQI) to improve milk quality among Adair County dairy farms.

26 of the Adair County dairy farms (93%) opted to participate in the ACMQI program. The first step of the program was to collect bulk tank samples on each farm for culturing.  Culturing revealed what mastitis causing organisms existed among the herd of each farm.  From there, an action plan was developed for each farm which included strategies to implement to address the causes of mastitis revealed from the bulk tank culture.

Post evaluations of the program revealed that 77% of the producers implemented one or more management strategies as a result of the program and was successful in mastitis cases.  As a result, these producers saw an overall increase in milk quality which has implications for both increased milk production and an increased price received for their milk.  As one producer stated, "This program made me money".