| 67 nzdairy DAIRY SERVICES » Four Peaks Hoof Trimming Hoof health helps prevent lameness Working on a cow in the crush. It’s comfortable for the animal and the operator and very safe says Four Peaks Hoof Trimming owner Arno Luten. Randall Johnston Geraldine-based Four Peaks Hoof Trimming owner Arno Luten is loving his new career, after making the transition from contract milking in the early 2020’s. Born in the Netherlands, his farming family moved over the border into Germany before Arno immigrated to Canterbury. “I’m now in my second year of business and I’m really enjoying the work,” Arno says. “Before this I was contract milking in Oxford. I’ve always enjoyed hoof trimming and I did my training about 10 years ago now with VeeHof near Ashburton, which is the advanced hoof trimming course. The course was only one week long, but it’s very intensive and you trim a lot of cows in that time. You still need to practice afterwards just to maintain your skill and be willing to keep learning, because while the approach is the same with the five step Dutch method - every foot is different.” “I was going to become a hoof trimmer back then, but I went down the contract milking path instead, milking on a 900-head farm in Oxford, as that good opportunity came up at the time,” he explains. Arno bought the Wopa Cattle Crush and all the tools required in 2022, a significant investment but one that he is very glad he made. “It just makes the process so much easier for the cows and for myself being able to lift their legs up to working height. It’s comfortable for the animal and the operator and very safe, which is important for sure.” Arno has had bulls in there that exceed 1,200 kilograms with no problem. “Back during my training, it was all done using manual winches. It’s good to be able to know how to do it that way, but it’s much nicer having something that is designed specifically for the task and you can get a better result ultimately.” Arno’s first client was his previous boss Roel Wobben in Oxford, trimming the hooves of his dairy herd quickly led to more extensive work with other farmers in the area. Word of mouth has been the biggest thing, with farming talking about the great results they were getting using Arno’s services. “One job has led to another thankfully and it’s taken off, I don’t really intend to employ anyone else yet, potentially in the future I might consider that, but they would have to be very skilled. I can do anywhere between 10 to 20 cows per hour, depending on the lameness. “If it’s just preventative trimming, 20 per hours is quite achievable. It’s obliviously a bit more time consuming if you need to put a block on to take the weight off the claw with the issue.” Overseas farmers quite often have their cows hooves trimmed twice a year, but that’s not generally happening or very practical in New Zealand. “If you can do 20 to 30 per cent of your cows a year, that’s pretty good, as a preventative measure of lameness.” It’s still early in 2024 and the work is steadily flowing in, Arno believes that more farmers in Canterbury are now booking regular hoof trimmings and seeing it as a necessary service to prevent lameness and disease. Arno with his family in front of the cattle crush. Proud to be associated with Four Peaks Hoof Trimming Personal & Professional Service, Farm, Commerical & Business Accountancy Taxation Advice, Financial Returns 6 Blake St, Rangiora PH: 03 313 7824 team@prosser-quirke.co.nz www.prosser-quirke.co.nz
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