With 2025 drawing to a close, it's time to put a lameness control plan in place for 2026 that will help boost animal welfare on the farm.

The scourge that is lameness is seen in over 10% of the national dairy herd, costing up to €8,750 in a 100-cow herd annually when high prevalence is evident.

According to some studies, severe lesions can cost more than €500 per case when treatment, lost milk production, poor fertility, as well as any additional factors are included - a high price to pay at a time where every cent matters for dairy farmers.

On top of lost revenue, lameness presents itself as a serious welfare issue, causing pain to the cow and preventing her from moving and behaving normally.

Therefore proper management is vital in controlling the problem on farm and setting yourself up for a good 2026.

Lameness

When designing a lameness control plan for the year ahead, you need to consider that the typical grazing herd are most prone to mechanical issues such as bruising, white line disease and ulcers.

Herds which are housed are more prone to infectious diseases such as mortellaro, foul in the foot, or other infections.

Mechanical hoof issues are relatively easy to manage, but attention to detail is required when it comes to cow flow, farm roadways and collecting yards.

Therefore when planning for lameness in the spring you need to focus on problem areas by observing cow flow and inspecting road surfaces/verges.

Roadways and yards should then be adjusted to make the system easier on the herd's hooves.

Hoof management

Farmers need to have a plan in place to ensure they are hoof trimming the herd regularly, as well as inspecting cows on a regular basis to prevent any costly situations from getting out of hand.

The aim of inspecting cows’ hooves once a year is to identify those that need preventative hoof trimming or other treatment.

Preventative hoof trimming should correct any overgrowth in the claws of the hoof, as overgrowth of the hoof can alter weight bearing within the hoof, leading to future lameness issues.

Foot bathing is another tool farmers should be implementing in their lameness plan, in a bid to kill infections and improve hoof hygiene.

However, foot bathing could prove to be a waste of time or even contribute to the spread of infectious disease if it is done incorrectly.

Therefore it is essential to have a system in which there is good cow flow through adequate levels of disinfecting solution.

To maximise cow flow, the bath should be level with the ground and be a minimum of 700-800mm wide and 3m in length for herds up to 250 head, and 2m wide for herds over 250 head.

Foot baths should have a solution depth of 100-125mm with the volume of solution equating to 1L/cow, meaning in a 100-cow herd, you will need 100L of solution to do the whole herd at once.

Another useful tool to help identify any cases of lameness in a herd early on is locomotion scoring, which assesses the movement of the cow to determine if there is a mobility or lameness issue.

Locomotion scoring is a five-point system based on both gait and posture, as follows:

Normal: The cow is not lame; the back is flat;
Mildly lame: The back is slightly arched when walking;
Moderately lame: The back is arched when both standing and walking. The cow walks with short strides in one or more legs;
Lame: The lame cow can still bear some weight on the affected foot;
Severely lame: The back is arched; the cow refuses to bear weight on the affected foot and remains recumbent.

The hidden cost of lameness is cows not going back in calf or in severe scenarios, slipping their calf leading, lost body condition score (BCS), as well as other health and welfare issues.