July 2026 – Would you walk around with a stone in your shoe all day?

When I went on holiday a number of years ago, I had just completed a course on lameness. The person giving the course really emphasised the importance of detecting lame cows early because those that are identified and treated early will recover more quickly and are less likely to become chronically lame.

He asked us to imagine what it would be like if we had to walk bare foot on stones and the pain that involved. I visualised this but it wasn’t until I was on a stony beach in Spain attempting to go for a swim in the Mediterranean Sea, that his words came back to me. It was so painful! Luckily for me I live near the sea and so I try and swim regularly, but at times there are lots of stones and every time I step on stones now, his words come back to me and it reminds me why I need to do all I can to reduce the number of lame cows there are.

A recent Teagasc study showed that at any given time, one in 10 Irish dairy cows is lame. The worst performing 20% of dairy farms in the study had a lameness prevalence of 15 – 32%.

Besides being a painful disease and a significant welfare problem for cows there are several other downsides to having lame cows in your herd.

• Lame cows produce less milk, cost money to treat, are harder to get back in calf and are more likely to be culled at a young age. Shorter productive lifespans mean 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.
• A high prevalence of lameness in a dairy herd can be very frustrating and have a very negative effect on morale of those looking after the cows.

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 and following a structured approach, you can reduce the prevalence and severity of lameness on your farm.

The first step is to identify which cows are affected and what are the main causes for lameness in your herd. Causes of lameness generally falls into two categories -infectious and non-infectious but both have different control strategies.  Digital dermatitis, or more commonly known as Mortellaro, is an example of an infectious cause and sole ulcers/white line disease are examples of non-infectious lameness.

The next step is to consider the risk factors that may be contributing to causing the problems and completing a full risk assessment of your cow’s environment. Some of these risk factors are more obvious than others like poor roadways. But others like inadequate space in the collecting yard or feeding areas or rushing cows are less obvious. Cows like to choose where they walk and place their feet, but when they can’t do this either because of inadequate space or rushing, they are more likely to become lame.

So once the risks have been identified, start to consider what could be done to reduce or remove the risks. Make a plan with specific actions and timelines when they can be achieved, review regularly to monitor progress or if any adjustments are necessary.

In November 2025, a pilot lameness project called The Sound Cow Innovation Programme (SCIP), funded by the European Innovation Programme began with a group of 10 farmers, their hoof trimmers, vets and advisors. At AHI we are proud to be leading this project with valued input from UCD, Teagasc and other groups and individuals interested in managing and reducing lameness.  It is a three-year project but already there are many learnings from it that will be useful in reducing the level of lameness on dairy farms.

We want all farmers to picture what it’s like to walk around with a stone in their shoe all day. They’d be less productive, less happy and would likely to be able to think about anything else.

Why would we be happy to let cows do the same? Lameness is treatable, let’s be proactive.