Take the Next Step in Preventing, Managing Lameness at Hoof Management Workshop

PDP to host one-day event June 20 at Maier Farms, LLC, Waunakee, Wis.

Preventing lameness in a dairy herd requires a multi-faceted approach including managing a cow’s environment and handling. The 2024 Hoof Management Workshop presented by Professional Dairy Producers® (PDP) will take a deep dive into several aspects of preventing and managing lameness and provide hands-on opportunities to learn and practice key skills.

The one-day workshop is designed for hoof trimmers, herdspersons, nutritionists, and veterinarians. It will be held Thursday, June 20 at Maier Farms LLC, 7085 Schumacher Rd., Waunakee Wis. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. with the program concluding at 3:30 p.m. Simultaneous Spanish translation will be provided for the entire workshop.

“There’s just no substitute for the kind of training that gives attendees an immediate opportunity to try out what they’re learning, and this interactive program deliberately creates time and space for that,” said John Haag, Dane, Wis., dairy producer and PDP president.

The workshop’s on-farm location will provide practical, hands-on opportunities to:

• Practice stockmanship skills and put theory into practical application while implementing animal handling skills in pens with dairy cattle
• Explore the technical essentials of the footbath, including dimensions, functionality and visiting frequencies that may help alleviate digital dermatitis and foot rot
• Identify treatment options and protocols for chronically challenged cows during individual-cow and chute-side observations
• Discuss practices that create continuous improvements in hoof health to reduce the strain lameness places on cows and team members

The workshop will be facilitated by three world-class speakers and hoof health experts. Karl Burgi, founder of the Save Cows^® Network, hoof care provider and hoof care consultant, has served the international hoof health industry for 36 years. He collaborates with industry leaders around the globe to minimize lameness and foster animal well-being by facilitating hoof health educational programs and seminars and develops hoof care equipment and products for modern dairies. Ashlynn Kirk is program manager for the Humane Handling Institute, University of Wisconsin-River Falls, which offers training in humane livestock handling, animal stunning and proper equipment maintenance for meat processors. Dr. Laura Solano, DVM, PhD, is assistant professor of Food Animal Production at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine, where her primary focus is on dairy cattle hoof health and comfort within the framework of One Welfare. She has integrated her experience as a dairy cattle veterinarian, researcher and consultant, delivering evidence-based programs to address challenges in animal care and multi-factorial diseases for producers and farm advisors.

This program is accredited for up to 4 Dairy AdvanCE continuing education credits and up to 4 ARPAS continuing education credits.

Learn more about the 2024 PDP Dairy Wellbeing Workshop, including speaker information and available continuing-education units, and register your team today by visiting www.pdpw.org or calling 800-947-7379. Follow along digitally in advance of and during the event by following @dairyPDPW and using #mypdpw on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Professional Dairy Producers (PDP) is the nation’s largest dairy producer-led organization of its kind, focusing on producer professionalism, stakeholder engagement and unified outreach to share ideas, solutions, resources and experiences that help dairy producers succeed.