A pilot study to use foot trimmer's records for lameness genetic evaluations

AHDB has partnered with the University of Liverpool with the aim to create a national database of UK foot trimmer records that will be used for the genetic evaluation of resistance to lameness causing foot lesions. In due course this will lead to improvement of the AHDB Lameness Advantage Index. Professor Georgios Oikonomou tells us a little more about his team's work on the genomics of lameness.

Why do this project?

Readers will appreciate that lameness is one of the largest health issues of the UK dairy herd and severely impacts cattle production and welfare. It has been shown that foot lesions are heritable traits, and that genetic selection can make a difference in breeding resistance against lameness. However, high quality phenotypes (lesion data) will lead to more accurate breeding values and therefore these records are crucial for genetic selection to work.

Currently in the UK genetic evaluations for lameness traits rely solely on information provided through milk recording organisations. The University of Liverpool (in collaboration with SRUC and the Royal Veterinary College, and funded by BBSRC) is currently conducting a large scale study on the genetics of cattle lameness. The preliminary results were presented at BCVA Congress in 2021. 2,352 Holstein cows were enrolled on four dairy farms and subsequently assessed at four stages of a lactation cycle. At each stage, feet were inspected by a veterinary surgeon and all foot lesions were recorded and scored according to severity. In short, it was found that there was a reasonable association between the cows’ genomic indexes (the AHDB Lameness Advantage index) and the risk of the cows developing a sole haemorrhage or sole ulcer or being lame, but not with the risk of having white line lesions.

The University of Liverpool results highlight the potential for genetic selection and the importance of accurate phenotyping. However, the effectiveness of Lameness Advantage will only increase if farm lesion records improve and foot-trimming records include all lesions and are recorded on-farm software.

The overarching aim of this project is to create one national database merging different UK foot trimmers’ records that will be used for the genetic evaluation of resistance to lameness causing foot lesions.

How will the project do this?

The project team has partnered with the National Association of Cattle Foot Trimmers and the Cattle Hoof Care Standards Board and will also work directly with All4Feet, VetIMPRESS and HoofTec (companies that provide software for the electronic recording of foot lesions during foot trimming). It will gain access to records through foot trimmers (after gaining consent from the farmer and foot trimmer) and these datasets will be provided to one of the researchers via one of the foot trimming recording platforms. These data will additionally be matched to milk recording data. Finally, these data will be standardised and joined to create a national database. This database will then be shared with AHDB to help improve the Lameness Advantage Index. This is summarised in Figure One.

Figure One: Graphic to show flow of phenotype data (lesion records) to help build the database which will improve the Lameness Advantage Index.

Who are we?

The AHDB funded project is being led by two cattle veterinarians and researchers based at the University of Liverpool who will work in close collaboration with the teams at NACFT, CHCSB, All4Feet, VetIMPRESS and HoofTec. Prof Georgios Oikonomou is an expert on cattle lameness and has worked clinically across Europe and the United States of America. He currently leads multiple research projects exploring cattle lameness. Dr John Tulloch has worked in dairy practice in the United States and the UK. He is an epidemiologist and has worked extensively with NHS datasets, he will be leading the data management and analysis side of the project.

How can you help?

If you work closely with, or employ, foot trimmers that maintain electronic foot trimming and you are interested in taking part, or would like further information, please get in contact with Prof Oikonomou (goikon@liv.ac.uk). The team can provide further study details and consent forms, and are happy to chat with you about any aspects of the project.