Released August 26, 2008
JACKSON, Ohio — Less stress for cattle can mean less stress for cattle farmers, too. Hear why at Ohio State University’s first-ever Low Stress Cattle Handling Workshop, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 20, at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center’s (OARDC) Jackson Agricultural Research Station in Jackson, Ohio.
The topics: Cattle behavior, low-stress handling methods, and how those methods can improve the animals’ performance, health and welfare while keeping handlers safe.
Speaking will be Ron Gill, livestock extension specialist, Texas A&M University, and Curt Pate, rancher and livestock handling clinician, Helena, Mont.
Cattle flight zones and other behaviors will be discussed. Effective ways to sort cattle and move cattle through working facilities will be demonstrated.
“The event will be very hands-on,” said Kenny Wells, Jackson station manager. “We will be spending most of our time in the corrals and working facilities watching and listening to the presenters as they work with cattle. It will be completely focused on working with commercial cattle in a real production environment.”
Registration costs $5 per person. Lunch, given by the Jackson County Cattlemen’s Association, and refreshments, provided by the Jackson Soil and Water Conservation District, are included in the cost.
Contact Wells at (740) 286-3803 or wells.296@osu.edu for details and to register.
Participants are asked to register by Sept. 12.
OARDC and Ohio State University Extension are the sponsors.
Throughout the program, Wells said, the speakers will emphasize the importance of reducing stress on cattle.
Minimizing stress, he said, improves safety for both cattle and people, reduces adverse effects on the animals’ growth and performance, and makes cattle farming easier.
Wells and Steve Boyles, an OSU Extension beef cattle specialist, will discuss and demonstrate another lower-stress method, fenceline weaning.
“Fenceline weaning is a method where calves are exposed to their dams across a fenceline for about a week post-weaning,” Wells explained. “This is different from most traditional methods, in which calves are abruptly separated from dams at the time of weaning. Fenceline weaning results in less stress on calves and their mothers.”
The station is located two miles southeast of Jackson on State Route 93, at 019 Standpipe Road in Jackson County.
OARDC and OSU Extension are the research and outreach arms, respectively, of Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
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http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~news/story.php?id=4797
Contacts: Kenny Wells, 740-286-3803, wells.296@osu.edu
Randi Espinoza, 330-263-3780, ct-oardc@osu.edu
