Region’s Dairy Industry Breeds Innovative Jobs
Published Mar 27, 2006
The growing dairy industry also is leading to a varied workforce in the region – and the addition of innovative jobs.
About a dozen cattle hoof trimming companies have opened in the region.
Prime Hoof Care owner and Lubbock area native Eric Romero went into business for himself in 2003 after graduating from Texas Tech University in 2002 with an agriculture degree and then learning hoof care at the Dairyland Hoof Care Institute in Wisconsin.
“With all the dairies coming in, if you do good work, you won’t have a problem having something to do around here,” he says.
Caring for hooves on dairy cows isn’t much different than trimming horses’ hooves.
Much like when getting a pedicure, the procedure is painless, unless just like if “you clip your nails too short. That’s the only way they can feel it, and of course if you do that, you’re cutting them too short,” he says.
About 60 days before cows give birth, “we do a maintenance trim to make sure it’s flat when they walk,” Romero says. “If you cut one side that’s a little off, it will make them walk funny.”
Prime Hoof Care handles the trimming needs for five dairies in Clovis, Muleshoe and Brownfield.
“Some guys have eight or nine dairies,” Romero says. “I average about 60 cows in a day and can do as many as 85 a day. There’s going to be more than 100 dairies in this area in the next few years, so there’s definitely going to be a need for them.”
Story by Cristal Cody
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