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Teys is fortunate to have committed team members working across the business – passionate people like Sam Gladman from our Charlton feedlot, who work hard to improve our operations and the industry overall.
Sam has been the Feedlot representative running the on-site components of a twelve-month MLA trial for automated induction crush for cattle entering feedlots, with the trial involving 100 head per month, over the year.
The trial, based at Teys Charlton, was a test run for the application of an automated induction crush in the feedlot environment, with the objective of utilising an automated catching function for feedlot cattle induction to reduce labour required and maintain or improve animal welfare standards throughout.
Also integral to the trial project were the TePari team who designed and engineered the crush equipment, and Melbourne University’s Daniel Brookes, who observed and monitored animal welfare for the project.
The Results
The results of the trial have proved that cattle can be inducted at a commercial level, with the aid of the automated induction crush and depending on skill levels, a reduction in labour required is also feasible.
Critically, the trial also demonstrated that animal welfare standards were maintained and in fact, cattle proved to be calmer due to the reduced human interaction and handling.
What is encouraging for the trial and beyond is the big step forward that automated induction can bring to combat the challenges of acquiring skilled labour for livestock roles, particularly in remote feedlot locations. It opens the task to the possibility of using staff with less specialist experience, as the skill of manually catching the animal is being done automatically, with parallel benefits of calmer animals throughout the handling process.
Sam and the team recently presented the results of this MLA Grain Fed Levy funded R&D trial at BeefEx 2024 in Brisbane. We are proud of the focus on innovation and continuous improvement for the feedlot industry that Sam and the entire project team have demonstrated and been keen to share for the benefit of all.
