Lameness is a painful disease that impacts a cow’s ability to move normally and is a major problem within the dairy sector worldwide. A recent Teagasc study showed that at any given time, one in ten Irish dairy cows is lame. The worst performing 20% of dairy farms in the study had a lameness prevalence of 15 – 32% percent. This demonstrates that lameness is a significant problem on many dairy farms in Ireland.
Lameness in dairy cows is important for a number of reasons.
- It is one of the costliest diseases in dairy herds, with an estimated financial loss of approximately €300 per case (Ryan and O’Grady, 2004). Losses/costs associated with each case of lameness €300
- Decreased milk production €100
- Treatment costs €50
- Reduced fertility performance €50
- Increased culling €100
- Lameness is a painful disease and a significant welfare problem for dairy cows. It affects a cow’s ability to move normally and changes her behaviour. Animal welfare is an issue of growing concern for consumers of dairy products and society in general. Improving dairy cow welfare by reducing lameness is critical to retain societal support for dairy farming.
- A high prevalence of lameness in a dairy herd can be very frustrating and have a very negative effect on morale among those looking after the cows.
- Lameness impacts sustainability. It results in increased greenhouse gas emissions, due to the culling of cows at a younger age. Shorter productive lifespans means that more cows are required to produce the same volume of milk. With the environmental implications of dairy farming increasingly coming under the spotlight, it is critical that every step is taken to reduce the carbon footprint of dairy production.
- Lameness increases antibiotic use on dairy farms. Even though most cases of lameness do not require antibiotic treatment, many farmers use antibiotics when treating lame cows. There is an urgent need to reduce antibiotic use in food producing animals because of the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance. Reducing lameness will help to do this.
If you have a lameness problem on your farm, it might sometimes feel like there is very little you can do to improve the situation. The good news is that by adopting certain simple measures, you can reduce the prevalence and severity of lameness on your farm.
Why reduce lameness? Reducing lameness in your dairy herd will:
- Reduce financial losses
- Improve dairy cow welfare and the sustainability of dairy farming
- Improve morale among stock people
- Reduce premature culling of young dairy cows due to lameness, and achieve longer production lives of dairy cows
- Reduce the quantity of antimicrobials used in the treatment of lame cows