“How can I recover more of my lame cows?” That is a question posed to hoof care professionals by dairy producers frequently. The answer at face value is rather simple: Managers must focus on proactively preventing the lesions that affect the majority of their herds.

It’s the middle of winter and your dairy cows have likely dealt with seasonal lameness this fall. This has probably led to lower production levels, weaker reproductive performance and a pile of bills for additional hoof trims, wrappings and other treatments.

There’s nothing more important to a dairy farmer than to keep milk production booming, which requires them to pay attention to anything that could possibly impede uptime.

With summer in full swing, high temperatures are here to stay. Increasing temperatures can have a multitude of negative effects on dairy cows, including hoof problems that rear their heads later on.

Lameness is one of the most common and most economically destructive production diseases of dairy cows. It is associated with a reduction in milk yield and fertility and an increase in culling rate and medical costs. The prevalence of lameness in dairy cow herds is estimated within the range of 20 to 25 percent, but it could reach up to 80 percent in some herds.