Animal welfare and lameness are significant industry concerns cited by dairy producers.
Those are some of the findings from the National Dairy Study 2015 (NDS2015), led by population medicine professor David Kelton from the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC). An ongoing study conducted through the NDS2015 shows there is still much to be done to improve lameness in dairy cattle.
Lameness impacts animal well-being and is a significant economic issue in the Canadian dairy industry. Increased rates of premature culling, decreased milk production and increased treatment costs associated with lameness place the average cost at over $300 per case. Combine this with the estimated 30 per cent of Canadian dairy cows that have some degree of lameness, and the costs can add up very quickly.
“There’s a lot of emphasis on the importance of lameness in the dairy industry, but we’re still underestimating it,” says Dr. Stephanie Croyle, PhD student in the department of population medicine at the OVC.
By comparing producers’ responses to the NDS2015 Phase I survey with lameness data collected on-farm, Croyle found dairy farmers are underestimating lameness. Data shows on average, for every three lame cows, only one is detected. Other studies in the United Kingdom (2002) and the United Stated (2010) showed farmers similarly underestimate lameness in their herds.
Read the entire article by OVC SPARK writer Amy Westlund on
page 32 of the June issue of the Milk
Producer.
