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137. Farmers and stockmen should be aware of the common types and causes of lameness by keeping up-to-date with new information by, for example, attending relevant meetings and courses (paragraph 146).
138. MAFF should pursue advisory campaigns to educate stockmen in lameness prevention. Farmers and stockmen should familiarise themselves with the MAFF booklet, Lameness in dairy cattle'; (PB1150). We understand that the booklet is shortly to be updated (paragraph 147).
139. Records of all lameness incidents should be kept to aid management in dealing with the problem. The information should be made available by farmers to breeding companies and the Animal Data Centre (ADC) to identify bulls whose daughters have good foot conformation and low lameness incidence (paragraph 149).
140. Subject to the recommendations at paragraphs 40 and 41 of the main text, breeding companies should pay special attention to the selection of cattle with good feet and legs so as to reduce the risk of lameness. This may require the collection and processing of more on-farm data to aid better choice of breeding animals (paragraph 151).
141. Sire selection should take account of good linear assessment scores for foot depth and angle and straightness of legs. Replacements should not be bred from cows or sires with a history of severe clinical lameness or badly deformed feet and legs (paragraph 152).
142. Bulls should be culled if their offspring have a poor record of foot health and conformation, even though they may be genetically superior in other traits (paragraph 153).
143. Non-veterinarians should only be allowed to carry out foot trimming after reaching a required standard of competence. Those new to the technique should be trained and reach a recognised standard. Those who carry out the procedure on a regular basis should attend refresher courses to ensure that new techniques are assimilated (paragraph 161).
144. Veterinary surgeons should be encouraged to employ, or liaise with, foot trimmers as such direct contact will enable the veterinary surgeon to decide whether further treatment, including antibiotics, is necessary (paragraph 162).
145. Consideration should be given to the construction of special cow tracks which should be properly maintained and not used by farm machinery (paragraph 168).
146. Gateways, narrow tracks and the areas surrounding water troughs require special attention as they are often covered with sharp stones, rubble or gravel and are liable to become muddy in wet weather (paragraph 169).