“Producers are aware of lameness as an issue in dairy herds and almost all monitor lameness as part of their daily routine. However, producers underestimate lameness prevalence, which highlights that lameness detection continues to be difficult in in all housing systems, especially in tie stall herds,” according to researchers who studied dairy farms.
Source: Dairy Herd Management, November 17, 2017.
In research conducted on 237 Canadian dairy farms, veterinary students and researchers scored 40 cows from each of the herds, and found an average lameness prevalence of 22%. Dairy farmers estimated the prevalence of lameness in their herds at just 9%. They concluded, “Training to improve detection, record keeping, identification of farm-specific risk factors, and treatment planning for lame cows is likely to help decrease lameness prevalence.”
INSIGHTS: Attention sales representatives! This information is valuable for all of your dairy customers and will help promote solutions for laminitis that you sell from your portfolio of products.