DAIRY BARN FLOORING

It starts at the ground level.

- Mark Moore

Dairy barn flooring is more than a concrete slab. Your dairy barn floor may be impacting your herd much more than you think. While it's easy to overlook, the barn's flooring surface can have a significant impact on your herd's well-being and performance.

Your cows must have a surface that is safe to walk on, yet provides the traction necessary to minimize slips and falls. It's a delicate balancing act that when done correctly has a direct benefit to the bottom line. Flooring can be an issue in new construction or in barns that are decades old. How you address the issue depends on a variety of factors, but the bottom line is to ensure the surface does not create issues in your herd.

In Karl Burgi's more than three decades working in all aspects of dairy hoof care, he's seen all kinds of dairy barn flooring and how it can impact the cow, and ultimately the cow's productivity. "We developed standards for dairy barn flooring more than 15 years ago that still hold true today," Burgi says. "But even though the information is out there, you still run into a lot of situations where the flooring is having a direct impact on dairy herd health, mostly through lameness issues." Proper flooring has a texture with nice sharp edges yet a smooth surface. Grooves or texture are necessary for the cow to be able to move through the barn without slipping on areas that can be subjected to bedding residue, manure, and liquids - things that don't lend themselves to good traction.

On the other hand, the surface needs to be smooth enough to reduce wear on hooves.

"It's like walking barefoot across a smooth floor," Burgi says. "If there's a sharp point or ridge in the floor, you will notice it immediately. It's no different for the cow walking across a barn floor."