GB Dairy Cow Lameness Manifesto: Working Together to Improve Dairy Cow Welfare
A 20-year commitment to healthier herds, with AgriStride flooring playing a key role in improving cow comfort and reducing lameness.
Cow lameness is still one of the main animal welfare issues in the dairy industry. It impacts cow comfort, productivity, and lifespan, as well as farm profits. That’s why preventing lameness is a top priority for everyone involved, from farmers to researchers and manufacturers.
This is why we signed the GB Dairy Cow Lameness Manifesto in 2025. It’s a 20-year commitment that brings together groups from across the dairy industry to work towards a common goal: lowering lameness in British dairy herds and improving cows’ lives.
As a company that helps build dairy farm infrastructure, we believe that better environments are key to preventing lameness. By working together and finding practical solutions, we can help cows move more comfortably and stay healthy for longer.
Why cow lameness matters
Lameness is still the main ongoing health problem for British dairy cattle, costing the industry about £568 million each year.
Lameness causes pain for cows, makes it harder for them to move, and can stop them from reaching food and water. It also changes how they behave. For farmers, lameness can lower milk production, affect fertility, herd lifespan, and reduce profits. It also means more time and money spent on treatment and care.
Preventing lameness takes a whole-farm approach. Things like foot health, nutrition, housing design, cow comfort, flooring, keeping an eye on mobility, and acting early all help keep herds healthier.
When we share knowledge and use proven methods, the industry can make real progress in reducing lameness and improving cow welfare.
What is the GB Dairy Cow Lameness Manifesto?
No single group or approach can solve lameness on its own. That’s why the Manifesto is a promise from 27 organisations to work together and bring lameness down to below 5% in at least 95% of British dairy herds.
This commitment includes 21 practical actions in four main areas. These cover improving our understanding of lameness, supporting prevention, sharing knowledge, and encouraging solutions that help cow health.
Turning commitment into action: One year on
Since signing the Manifesto, we have kept supporting the industry’s efforts to reduce lameness and improve cow welfare.
The first Year One Progress Report shows positive progress across the sector. As part of the supply chain helping improve dairy farm infrastructure, we have focused on Action 11 of the Manifesto, which covers best practices in housing, flooring, cubicle comfort, space, floor surfaces, and cow tracks.
Our high-welfare slats show how new infrastructure can help foot health by reducing impact and strain on hooves, while also keeping conditions cleaner and drier.
But our commitment goes beyond just supplying products. We are working to help more farmers use welfare-friendly flooring by pushing for these solutions to be included in grant funding, making them easier to get.
We are also trying to get funding for research to prove how slatted covers help hoof health and prevent lameness. Farmers already report better cow confidence and comfort, but more evidence will help more people adopt these solutions and benefit the whole industry.
We believe prevention begins with the daily environment cows live in. Things like housing design, flooring, and movement areas all affect cow comfort, confidence, and long-term foot health.
AgriStride’s journey
2025: We become a signatory to the GB Dairy Cow Lameness Manifesto
We joined other organisations in the dairy sector who are committed to improving cow welfare by working together, finding new solutions, and creating better farm environments.
2026: Year One Progress Report published
The first progress review highlights how important the whole supply chain is in helping improve dairy infrastructure.
Looking towards the future
Reducing dairy cow lameness is a long-term challenge that needs commitment from everyone in the industry.
The next phase of the Manifesto will focus on ongoing teamwork, using proven methods more widely, and tracking progress towards healthier herds.
At AgriStride, we will keep supporting new ideas in dairy housing and work with farmers and industry partners to create environments that help cows move better, improve welfare, and make dairy farming more sustainable.
By working together, we can help create a future where lameness is no longer a major challenge for dairy cattle.