Costs of lameness in cows - an update

In 2009, an Economic Review of Cattle Lameness was published, based on UK data at the time (Wilshire and Bell, 2009). Subsequently, and based on these data, the cost was estimated to be £2.20 for each day a cow is lame. However, as market conditions and inflationary pressure have impacted on the economics of dairy farming, it has been necessary to re-evaluate this cost estimate and adjust it to reflect current prices, writes Owen Atkinson.

Put simply, inflation on dairy farms, as well as the value of milk, means that the figures used in 2009 need updating. The new costs of lameness now used in the HFP Lameness Cost Calculator are as follows:

Table 1: Costs of lameness in UK dairy herds, updated for 2023

It is still likely that we may in fact under-estimate the true costs of lameness, because we are not attributing cost to those cows which are sub-clinically affected by foot pathologies.

Previous work indicates that milk yield, for example, may be reduced some weeks or months before the cow is perceptibly lame, as judged by mobility scoring (Green et al, 2002).

These figures, therefore, are a conservative cost of lameness. Mobility scores (lameness prevalence) are required to calculate the cost for an individual herd, and it is important that these provide a true and accurate prevalence estimate so they do not further reduce the likely cost.

The main four reasons for the costs are the same as the 2009 modelling: fertility, premature culling, reduced yield, and treatment costs.

References

Green LH, Hedges VJ, Schukken YH, Blowey RW, Packington AJ, 2002. The impact of clinical lameness on the milk yield of dairy cows. Journal of Dairy Science 85:9 2250-2256
Wilshire JA, Bell NJ, 2009. An economic review of cattle lameness. Cattle Practice 17:2 136-141