Wisconsin dairy farmers may know Nathan Ranallo as the local hoof trimmer. But online, millions know him as “Nate The Hoof Guy.”
Ranallo grew up a dairy kid in Northwest Wisconsin and continues to serve the dairy community as a hoof trimmer. In 2020, Nate decided to start taking videos of his work and posting it to social media channels. His goal was to be a resource for dairy farmers. But he was met with overwhelming interest from both the farming and nonfarming communities.
Since then he’s had up to millions of views per video he posts. He sees social media as a tool to bridge the knowledge gap between the good animal husbandry happening on farms and the end consumer.
He gets the most traction online with videos that require more skill or more knifework. These tend to be tricky problems. Nate says it’s counterintuitive, but the bigger hoof problems are the best opportunity to educate consumers on just how well taken care of dairy cows are.
Over time, he’s even noticed his followers answering questions correctly in the comments because they’ve learned a thing or two about hoof trimming from his videos.
He also has advice for dairy farmers, too — with the heat still in the forecast, he says cows will continue to experience some heat stress. Heat stress implicates hoof health. If you pair heat with moisture, cows on pasture may experience additional issues, such as hoof rot.
