Albert Cousineau recently set down the hoof knives and grinders after an impressive 42 years in business. As of Jan. 1, and nearly 200,000 cows later, Cousineau retired as one of Ontario’s staple hoof trimmers and sold the business to his son, Joël.

For some time now, producers have known that lameness causes major loss in the dairy industry, including both economic injury and a decline in animal health and well-being. 

We have been discussing the optimum use, management and design of footbaths for about 20 years, but what evidence do we have that footbaths are effective in controlling digital dermatitis (DD)?

Digital dermatitis (DD) affects more than 95% of cattle in husbandry systems under compromised hygienic conditions and with high cattle density.

At any given time, 25% of dairy cows in the U.S. are lame, and more than that experience lameness at some point throughout their lactation, according to Dr. Jennifer Walker, DVM.