New App Helps Producers Identify And Reduce Lameness In Beef Cattle

In partnership with Zinpro, the Beef Cattle Institute at Kansas State University has recently released the Step-Up mobile application. It's a new educational training tool for identifying and managing beef cattle lameness that can be downloaded to your smartphone or to your tablet. BCI Director and veterinarian Dr. Dan Thomson said cattle lameness costs producers significantly every year and this app has a lot to offer producers to help them get around those problems.

"First of all it has pictures and it has language to show producers what different lameness is and how it presents itself," Thomson said. "Whether its an environmental lameness like foot rot or toe abscess, if it's a nutritional deal such laminitis from soluble carbohydrate intake or if it infectious, we can take a look at how it presents itself. So it really gives the producer and veterinarian a tool to look at different lameness and then match up what's going on in their operation with the pictures and videos as far as the locomotion scoring and the severity of the lameness and then helps them make a diagnosis.

Thomson believes this app can helpful to anyone interested in maintaining the health of your beef cattle herd. He said the target audience is veterinarians, producers and extension educators in helping them make a diagnosis. With today's cattle prices, Thomson said the treatment costs or having a second set of eyes on your cattle is inexpensive relative to cost of losing an animal or losing the production of 20 animals.

The Step-Up app provides convenient access to a wealth of educational information available from the Step-Up Lameness Management Program, including:

Locomotion scoring videos - learn to locomotion score growing and finishing feedlot cattle

Diagnostic guide (new!) - introducing an industry-first tool that provides a systematic, easy-to-use approach for proper identification and management of the most common causes of lameness in beef cattle

Nutrition overview - learn more about the essential role that trace mineral nutrition plays in decreasing cattle lameness

Resources - convenient access to additional training materials

Research from the BCI was the foundation for the program, Thomson said. K-State graduate student Dr. Shane Terrell worked with Thomson and Chris Reinhardt, K-State Research and Extension feedlot specialist by conducting surveys of feedlot managers, veterinarians and nutritionists across the United States and Canada.

“Our group developed the lameness scoring system and validated the consistency of the scoring through research in a field setting,” Thomson said. “We then went to the field to help develop the video training tools to support feedlot producers and packers to consistently score lameness issues in our industry.”