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Sorry for the late reply. Wanted to wait til I got home to answer these as it's easier on PC. Fun part of my job though is most of my time is spent scrolling Lemmy.

Can I ask: why isn’t it possible to transport lab equipment to conduct bacteriological tests on site? I worked for an ag tech firm and closely with our biologists. Is it because it takes time to culture on an agar plate?

So at the plant they need to be calibrated every morning. That required spoiled milk to actually give a positive result in testing. So that would require us as drivers to always have spoiled milk on us at all times. They also take a while to test, up to around 5 minutes with the strip dipping into the milk and into the machine. We sometimes only have access to a 240V plug for our trailer pumps, so finding an outlet and a stable level surface can sometimes be impossible. One of the runs I do is 9 farms. Doing that 9 times would take forever.

Is it safe to drink fresh milk because bacteria haven’t had time to replicate?

Nope. Bacteria just exists. The level of it matters whether the plant rejects it or accepts it. Sometimes we'll get calls from farmers saying their samples from last week had seen increased bacteria levels (Still safe for production) and if there is something we can do about it. Nope. It could be anything from the milking equipment not getting washed well enough, not enough iodine on the cow's teats before milking, something collecting in the pipes, or the wash of the bulk tank not hot enough. There are a dozen reasons a farmer might see increased bacteria.

But if the milk is delivered into the tank right after milking and begins to cool immediately, it limits the replication by a remarkable amount. It's also why we have farm priority when we arrive on site and other vehicles are required by law to move for us, because time does matter.

Are there conditions that would mean the milk is unsafe straight out of the udder, maybe in a way that isn’t detectable by flavour?

Yup, and it's always not seen by the farmer which is where we come in. I had a farm a few years ago that when I opened the tank and inspected it, there was a hint of pink in the milk. That would be linked to blood in the utter of a cow. While sometimes things just happen and the cow herself is likely perfectly okay, that would obviously be a rejection before I even open the back of my trailer.

Why and in what regard do U.S. regulatory standards differ from Canada?

While I don't have all the details, we prohibit antibiotics in cows. Farms can and do treat cows for being sick all the time, but they need to be removed from the main herd and milked after the main run is complete. Antibiotics is the main reason for a rejection for a trailer at a plant. We also have specifics when it comes to grain feeding, but most farmers in my province just feed hay and silage from their own farms every year. Basically, we don't allow any form of drugs to be given to a cow and then milked into the main supply. If a cow is sick they must be milked afterwards and that milk is dumped until a certain amount of time since last medication.

Among other laws. Our regulations over dairy is stupid strict.

Do you think that widespread antibiotic use in ag will breed superbugs? Is this avoidable somehow?

It's already happening in some places that I know of, but I don't know enough about it to answer properly.

And finally, what is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?

African or European? Regardless of your answer, the answer is 42.