Lameness is one of the main reasons for involuntary culling in the majority of dairy herds. Apart from increasing replacement rates, lameness reduces feed intake, depresses yield and impacts adversely on reproductive performance. In the UK the average cost of a lameness case is close to £200. With an estimated 15% of the national herd affected at any one time it is easy to see how costs soon mount up. Although lameness is primarily a management issue, is there a genetic component which makes cows more or less susceptible to hoof problems?

The Scandinavians certainly think so as they have been the first to introduce  a hoof health index for their AI sires that incorporates field data from registered hoof trimmers.

Recent Swedish research has found that there is a strong correlation between specific type traits and hoof health problems. The most strongly linked in the Holstein population appears to be rear leg side view which suggests that the more sickle the leg set the higher the risk of digital dermatitis, heel erosion, solar bruising and ulcers. Foot angle also has an impact on digital dermatitis while rear leg rear view is linked to both digital dermatitis and solar ulcers.

The genetic contribution to management traits like susceptibility to lameness is much lower than it is for production and type traits, so a lot of accurate data from a high number of animals is needed to produce a reliable index. By combining the type trait data with actual field data from registered hoof trimmers. Swedish geneticists have produced a hoof health index for both their Holstein and Swedish red sires. On the current Swedish Holstein rankings the gap between the best and worst hoof health is 6 standard deviation points, which highlights the potential genetic benefit of using a higher rated sire.

Following a merger last year between the Swedish and Danish breeding organisations Sven Gavel and Dansire - to form Viking Genetics - it is likely that similar hoof health indices will be available for Danish dairy breeds this summer. The merger also means that bulls will be joint tested in both countries and in Finland, where the breeding organisation there is also likely to join Viking Genetics this year.

All three countries now use the composite Nordic Total Merit Index to rank their dairy sires. The weightings vary between breeds but it is essentially a combined production and management trait index designed to identify the bulls likely to sire the most complete all round prgeny. For the Swedish and Danish Holstein, production accounts for 33% of the index with 50% coming from health traits (including fertility, udder and hoof health), 13% from conformation and 4% for workability (temperament and milking speed).

Hoof health is just the latest health trait to be incorporated into the Scandinavian breeding programme and will be one that keeps them ahead of the game on selection for management traits. The Scandinavians have long been world leaders in the selection for health and fertility traits although they do not always get full credit in the sire rankings abroad because most countries still put emphasis on production and type. The top rated TNM Danish Holstein sire at the moment is V Exces with nearly 15,000 daughters in his proof. In the UK he has a PLI of £202 and a lifespan of +0.6 which would put him at the top end of the rankings, but he has a negative score for Type Merit in the UK largely because of his below breed average body traits - yet he is the highest rated bull for longevity in his home country.

The real strength of the Scandinavian breeding programme lies in the type of cattle databases they are able to operate. Between them the Swedes and the Danes have a registered Holstein population of just over 500,000 cows and a further 170,000 registered Swedish and Danish red cattle. The average herd size in Denmark is now 130 and just over 100 in Sweden with around 80% of cattle housed all year round. There is a strong commitment to milk recording with nearly 90% of cows in milk recorded herds. In spite of their emphasis on non production traits both Holstein populations have average yields of around 9,500 litres.

From conception to slaughter every veterinary and fertility treatment carried out on every individual animal is recorded in a central database. "This means that there is enough progeny information to produce indices for low heritability traits like fertility and health problems" explains Hans Christian Hansen, Viking Genetics' export manager.

Although the Scandinavians are already well ahead of the game on selection for health and fertility Mr Hansen feels that the recent introduction of genomic selection will give them an even greater edge. "Having selected for these traits for 30 years the extra genetic information that comes from genomic selection should give us more accurate indices for our sires at an earlier stage."

Using genomic selection for these management traits is the equivalent of having field data on 1500 daughters so this will not only flag up the better proven bulls more quickly, but also help us to identify the best young bulls to test.

Viking Genetics sires are currently marketed in the UK by Bullsemen.com and Genus. According to Nick Kirby, managing director of Bullsemen.com, Scandinavian genetics are really coming in to their own as farmers are increasingly looking for easy care cows that can look after themselves in large herds. "With vet costs accounting for up to 2ppl there are considerable savings to be made if you can breed naturally healthy cows," he says.

Further information on the Total Nordic Merit Index and the current rankings for all Scandinavian dairy breeds can be found on the Viking Genetics website, vikinggenetics.com