Want your herd to move beyond 90 pounds of milk a day? According to Dr. Gordie Jones, the “game is to fill them up and lay them down.”

Summertime is great for eating ice cream, but the heat and humidity can be dangerous for dairy cows, lowering milk production and threatening their health, says Dr. Meggan Hain, staff veterinarian at Penn Vet’s Marshak Dairy at the New Bolton Center.

It is mid-July, it is hot, and heat abatement is the topic once again.

Even with excellent nutrition, cow comfort and management, even the best dairies deal with lameness to some degree, often occurring as a lesion in the rear outside claw.

Over the years, I have come to understand that nutrition and foot health go hand-in-hand. I learned that rations are directly related to laminitis, and laminitis is often the reason we have sole ulcers, which are a major lameness concern.

It is now becoming common on dairy farms to have a dedicated area for hoof-trimming cattle. This is perhaps not surprising given the importance of lameness prevention to overall successful herd management.

Many dairy producers rely on footbath programs to help prevent and control active and chronic infectious claw lesions, such as digital dermatitis (DD), in their herds. Maximizing the effectiveness of a footbath program hinges on three key factors: foot hygiene, proper footbath design (size, length and depth) and effective footbath management (chemical concentration, cow passes per change and frequency of use).