Fifty-nine herds, 26 based in the South Island and 33 in the North Island, were surveyed. All farms
were visited on one occasion at the expected peak time for lameness, and data were collected via a questionnaire
which included details on farm size, and productivity as well as lameness. The latter included
a farmer estimate of the number of lame cows which were currently on-farm and the number of lame
cows there had been in the previous 12 months. Whole herd locomotion scoring, using the DairyCo 0–3
scale, was then used to estimate the prevalence of lameness in the herd.