Here is a list of 10 things I would like my dairy clients to know pertaining to their hoof trimmer and his job: 1. I would like my dairymen to remember the scheduled appointment day on which I am to arrive. Not that I am that important, or that I want the dairyman’s undivided attention, but I dislike being the “surprise of the day,” let alone the all-too-familiar palm to the forehead indicating “Oh, I forgot he was coming.” Not a good way to begin the day.

In today’s modern dairies, one of the most fascinating relationships is between rumen health and hoof health. This is a two-way relationship; first is the effect that hoof health or infectious lameness can have on feeding behavior and the impact changes in feeding patterns have on rumen health. Second, nutrition and rumen health can directly affect hoof health through subclinical acidosis and laminitis.

Foot trimming and foot care are performed at two levels on your dairy: lameness correction and preventive hoof trimming. At either level, it needs to be done by trained, qualified persons. Whether foot trimming should be done by an off-farm specialist or a staff person on your dairy depends upon several factors you need to examine. Here are some views I shared with your herdsman in an article I wrote for the April 2010 issue of El Lechero.

Public perception of dairy, and agriculture in general, is extremely important to continuing production of food in this country. Animal welfare in particular, has become an area of great concern, and although all farmers strive to take excellent care of their animals, they are sometimes perceived by the non-farming community as not concerned with the health and well-being of production animals.

In North America alone, there are over 700 species of flies that belong to the Muscidae (filth fly) group. Probably the single-most common of these is the house fly. No geographic locations or socioeconomic communities are spared the constant presence of the house fly. While they don’t bite, this fly’s habit of constantly crawling on nearly every surface – particularly manure – makes them very undesirable to have around.

Heat stress defines a condition that involves many factors. It occurs when a cow’s heat dissipation is exceeded by heat load exposure from high environmental temperature and humidity. Her metabolic heat – generated from maintenance and production requirements – adds to the environmental heat index.

The most significant and economically important pest to dairymen is the biting stable fly. It is often referred to as the beach fly, dog fly, lawn mower fly and other names, some not printable. They attack most mammals, including cattle, horses, sheep, goats, swine, dogs and humans. If you have flies feeding on your cows’ legs or flanks, causing them to be nervous and constantly stomp and switch, you probably have a stable fly problem that is costing you money.

As most of America is struggling through one of the coldest winters in recent memory, dairy producers must start planning for the annual summertime problem of heat stress. While we long for warmer temperatures, heat stress can result in significant losses on the dairy.