Developments in managing dairy cow foot health

Cattle lameness recently topped the list of disease syndromes of greatest concern for farmers and veterinary surgeons in the 2021 UK Ruminant Health and Welfare Group survey (Miller et al, 2021). In the same grassroots survey, digital dermatitis was identified as the single most important disease affecting cattle or sheep in the four nations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Lameness is a serious issue, which costs the industry an estimated £1.2 million per day (Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), 2020). In addition, the reputational damage to the dairy sector is significant, and it is an animal welfare problem.

On the one hand, it would appear that little comfort can be derived from progress made over the past 30 years. A recent meta-analysis of lameness detection and prevalence studies in British dairy herds showed some evidence that lameness prevalence and lesion incidence may have actually increased (Afonso et al, 2020), although inconsistency of measuring methods hampers the comparison of results and limits our ability to see if lameness is changing over time. Whatever, the available estimates are that lameness levels are high, with circa 30% of British dairy cattle suffering from the ailment at any one time (Griffiths et al, 2018; Randall et al, 2019; Afonso et al, 2020). To put that in perspective, currently there are around 430 000 cows experiencing discomfort and pain associated with lameness within circa 8000 GB dairy herds. Criticism for this problem may certainly be levelled at the industry, and all those with an ability to make a difference.