FRESNO, Calif., Oct 1, 2025 – Specialty Sales, LLC, and Nedap Livestock announce a partnership to bring HoofStrong® Automated Hoof Care and SmartSight AI-driven locomotion monitoring services to U.S. dairy customers.

Lameness is one of the top three reasons for involuntary culling, with around 90% of dairy cows suffering one or more lameness events in their lifetime. Improving lameness management and prevention benefits the health and productivity of the cow, bolsters bottom line profits and improves consumer perceptions of cow care.

“As dairy facilities expand, consistent locomotion monitoring of every cow becomes more and more challenging. Research studies have also proven human-only assessments are prone to perceptual constancy, and workers often disregard mild cases of lameness.1 Leveraging technology and AI-driven data insights is how we will overcome these limitations and move our industry forward,” said Matt Nelson, CEO of Specialty Sales, LLC, during the partnership announcement at World Dairy Expo on Sept. 30.

For the past three decades, the industry has made little progress to improve this condition. Some scientific authorities have set the benchmark at 10%, stating anything above this indicates an inadequate lameness prevention program. HoofStrong automation empowers dairy farms to consistently provide a high-quality foot bath hygiene protocol that keeps bacteria responsible for digital dermatitis at bay.

SmartSight monitors the locomotion of each cow using a 3D camera and proprietary AI algorithm to objectively monitor changes in gait. Nedap invested several years into the development, with rigorous testing on commercial dairy farms in multiple countries. Millions of real-world data points have trained the algorithm to understand cow locomotion and achieve exceptional accuracy.

Combined, HoofStrong and SmartSight technologies can help dairy producers:

• Monitor and identify cows that show the early indications of becoming pre-lame
• Mitigate losses from lameness with faster intervention and recovery
• Enable experienced HoofStrong hoof care specialists to spot data trends and pinpoint root
  causes of hoof care challenges
• Proactively adjust hoof bath protocols to preemptively address data confirmed challenges, such
  as seasonal weather events

“The connection between HoofStrong and SmartSight will usher in a new era of lameness management and hoof care in the U.S., giving dairy farms access to real-time lameness insights that are objective, continuous, and consistent. These powerful benefits can bring us into a future where lameness rates are lower than ever before, and cows have a longer, more productive and profitable lifespan,” said Maarten Idink, Managing Director Livestock at Nedap.

“Together, HoofStrong and SmartSight will help dairy producers streamline their operations and take proactive action to improve herd health, well-being and productivity,” states Nelson.

In celebration of the powerful partnership, the companies are hosting a contest to win a trip to the World Ag Expo for a technology tour with progressive farmers that are successfully implementing these new systems. Learn more and sign-up at www.specialtysalesllc.com/products/smartsight.