Wales Farmer 14 FEATURE JANUARY 2014


FEET FIRST: Dr Nick Bell examines foot health at Marcross Farm. He says early treatment is more likely to pick up issues such as sole bruising.


PICTURES: Debbie James Stepping up herd health By Debbie James


AFOCUS on tackling lameness has had a marked improvement on foot health on one Welsh


dairy unit. At Marcross Farm,near Llantwit Major,cow mobility wasidentified as akey area where the business could gain acost benefit. Aprotocol including trimming


cows’ feet, at drying offand at 100 days into lactation, and foot- bathing has cut lameness rates; a mobility scorerecentlyconduct- ed by Ben Hembrow of Kite Consulting ranked the herdin the top 25 per cent of UK herds formobility. “Fertility and feed intakes are


better and throughput in the par- lour has improved too.All these things help us to makemore money,’’said Tony Evans,who farms with his wife,Sharon, and son, Hopkin. During an open dayat


Marcross Farm,aFarming Connect Demonstration Farm, leading UK lameness specialist Dr Nick Bell led an interactive discussion with alarge group of farmers whoare all seeking to improvefoot health. Three keylesions –sole ulcers,


white line lesions and digital der- matitis and its associated lesions –cause most lameness. “In the last 10 years,digital


dermatitis has become aproblem across most farms.Only10per cent of UK dairy farms arefree


“


of it and thatnumber is dwin- dling,’’ said Dr Bell. He said sole ulcers were caused mainlywhen cows were forced to stand for long periods. Of the farmers attending the


open day, 42 per cent said digital dermatitis and sole ulcers were the principal causes of lameness on their farms while the key changes thathad generated the biggest improvement in foot health on their farms were foot trimming and foot bathing.


HEALTH CHECK: Dairy farmer Hopkin Evans is pictured with Dr Nick Bell. They estimated thateach sole


ulcer case cost them £600 in lost milk production, reduced fertility and longevity while the financial loss associated with digital der- matitis wasaround £150 per case. One of those farmers,Howell


Thomas,who farms in Pyle,has movedtowardsamainlyHolstein herdtoincrease production and profitability buthehad not expected the cows to experience such ahigh incidence of lameness. “Wehaveexperienced great


problems with sole ulcers,ithas become ahuge economic loss despite regular foot trimming,’’ he said. Dr Bell stronglyadvises using


foot trimmers licensed by the National Association of Cattle Foot Trimmers.“Be wary if a foot trimmer isn’t on thatlist,’’ he said.


And he warned farmers not to


expect immediate benefits.“The improvements won’thappen overnight, it could be acouple of


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Fertility and feed intakes are better and throughput in the parlour has improved too. All these things help us to make more money


years beforethe full benefits are apparent. Afarmer can makea big difference by pulling out cows as soon as they arelame and hav- ing agood handling set up and crush in place.’’ He advisedmobility scoring


thewhole herdonce amonth and pulling out anycowsthatwere not sound on their feet. Early treatment is morelikely


to pick up issues such as sole bruising and hoof overgrowth, therebypreventing sole ulcers and white line disease. Acategory one licensed foot


trimmer visits Marcross Farm onceamonth and worksonupto 30 cows. “It isn’t cheapbut the cows are


walking better and thathas abig knock-on effect,’’ said Hopkin. “It is noticeableifwemiss atrim 100 days into lactation, more cows showreduced mobility by day150.’’


The Evanses also have aweek-


ly foot-bathing programme. During aseven-dayperiod cows walk through afootbath of for- malin forfour days and hypochlorite forone day. Dr Bell advises regular foot-


bathing, ideallyonadailybasis at adepth of 15-20cm so feet are well soaked butudder contami- nation is minimised. Farming Connect facilitator


Mari Goldsworthy, whoorgan- ised the open dayatMarcross Farm,said the event had demon- strated thataproactive approach to lameness could bring whole herdbenefits. Farming Connect, which is


deliveredbyMenter aBusnes,is funded through the Rural Development Plan 2007-2013 which is


financed by the


European Agricultural Fund for RuralDevelopment and the Welsh Government.


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