One of the major changes in my business over the years is the type of records I keep on trim day and how I record this data, but even more important is how and with whom I share these records. When dairy producers put this information to work, they can make great strides to reduce lameness.

When helping a dairyman sort cows to be trimmed, I often point out cows in the herd that have a limp or long toes. All too often, I hear the dairyman saying, “We won’t trim her because she’s a cull cow.”

A well-managed footbath is an effective line of defense against digital dermatitis and foot rot. “You can get yourself out of a bad situation with a footbath,” Roger Olson, dairy specialist with Zinpro Performance Minerals, says.

Digital dermatitis (DD) infections are a common sight on confinement dairies, often ailing more than 20 percent of cows in a herd, but there are ways to reduce the incidence of these painful lesions that lead to limping and lameness.

Digital dermatitis (DD) goes by many different names: Mortellaro’s disease, strawberry foot rot and hairy heel warts. But the one thing everyone can agree on is how frustrating it is to see on your farm, over and over and over again – especially among heifers.

Proper hoof care management during the dry period is crucial to the cow’s ability to recover and replenish body condition. After a long, productive and taxing lactation, it is imperative that the cow is able to restore its nutrient reserves and recuperate.

Hoof problems are the bane of many producers’ existences. Lame cows eat less, fail to achieve optimal production and are more prone to other issues, such as ketosis and reduced fertility.

I am more and more disturbed at the amount of people who are campaigning for a professed socialist. Do they even know what it means to be a socialist? I wonder if they know what kind of society we would live in if capitalism was abandoned and socialism was adopted.

With summer and hay season already upon us, it’s too late for most producers to consider going through their balers with a fine-toothed comb, which is best done during off-season servicing.

Investigating the underlying factors of dairy reproductive performance is a lot like peeling an onion – the more you look, the more layers you find.