Realities and practicalities of achieving sustainable improvements in foot health on dairy farms

Abstract

Dairy cattle lameness is still a significant problem on many dairy units, with the range of lameness prevalence still unchanged from reports nearly a decade ago (0–79%). There are three main areas to achieving sustained improvements in herd foot health: first, building a good working relationship with your farmer, ensuring a constructive 2-way dialogue is used; second, collecting a range of data about the herd's lameness status to indicate the major issues; third, coming up with appropriate and realistic suggestions to help ensure sustainable improvements in lameness are created. This article covers components of all three areas, helping practioners hone their consulting skills to achieve sustainable improvements in cattle lameness.