The Cost of Lameness in Irish Dairy Herds

The economic costs of lameness are significant; lameness is estimated to be the third most costly health issue of dairy cows after mastitis and fertility. The costs arise both directly and indirectly; direct costs include additional expenditure that is directly linked to the case of lameness (such as additional farm labour, cost of hoof trimming and veterinary treatment, decreased milk production and the cost of milk withdrawal if milk has to be discarded owing to drug treatments), while indirect costs arise due to the side effects of lameness. These include reduced reproductive performance and early culling. The greatest costs related to the disease are generally losses in production, such as reproductive performance and milk yield, but these costs may be the ones which are easiest to forget, as there isn’t a tangible immediate cost related to them.