Without sufficient communication channels and delivery, cow lameness research and development work will not find its way from laboratory to farm.

Russian veterinarians are learning that specific breakthroughs in microbiology can only be used to tackle issues like digital dermatitis if the science can be incorporated into a holistic management package for dairymen to enact.

Units of 6,000 cows are now commonplace in Russia. Typical holdings have around 800 cows housed inside all year.

Consequently, hoof health is a priority on many farms.

A DeLaval spokesperson said that the scale of both the dairy sector and the country in general means that putting theory into practice poses challenges and must be the next step for Russian dairying.

This is understood by UK agri-consultant and development service ADAS, which is targeting the young generation of industry leaders in their leadership skills training programme, announced this week.

The Defra funded programme will focus on topics such as management change, problem solving and leadership in sustainability and will deliver 12,000 hours of training.

The aim is to nurture innovative professionals which Leslie Berger, ADAS Agri-Food and Sustainability Consultant has said will secure a bright future for the land based sector.

However, without open minded farmers willing to experiment, the process of distilling science into agriculture takes too long, regardless of policy and implementation programmes.

Mike Gooding is a director at FAI, a food sustainability consultancy and training provider with its own leadership and development programmes.

Speaking from experience in working with the dairy industry, Mr Gooding knows which farmers to talk to in order to get a response.

He maintains that change can be made by using enterprising farmers as a flagship for the rest. This, he says, acts as a carrot with which to attract later adopters.

“We roughly know the farmers in the UK and we have identified five thousand of those who we want to work with to show how new approaches work,” explains Mr Gooding. “This is because farmers respect other farmers and seeing a fellow producer succeed can bring about change.”

What FAI has found is that progressive farmers are easy to spot as they are willing to question themselves and challenge tradition.

FAI’s message is that lameness should be trated as an economic setback that can be controlled through a better understanding of the cow's environment and a consideration of the ethical questions that consequently arise.