HEIFERMAX

The P.C.R.A.A. is fortunate to have secured the renowned Dr. Temple Grandin as the keynote speaker at its 2009 conference, which will be held on 1st July at the Airport Motel, Attwood.

Dr. Grandin is recognised as a world leader in livestock handling and animal psychology and her work has revolutionised stockyard design and stock handling methods world wide. She has designed livestock facilities throughout the United States and in Canada, Europe, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and many other countries. Her curved race systems are used worldwide and her writings on the flight zone and other principles of grazing animal behavior have helped many producers to reduce stress during handling.

Dr. Grandin has a Ph.D in Animal Science and is currently a professor of animal sciences at Colorado State University. This enables her to continue her research while teaching courses on stockyard design and livestock handling. She has done extensive work on the design of handling facilities with the result that half the cattle in the U.S. and Canada are handled in equipment she has designed for meat plants.

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The D.C.H.A. holds its annual conference in a different state of America each year. These conferences are a fascinating collection of presentations by speakers who have expertise in all facets of dairy heifer care and welfare.

At the beginning of April Sam was lucky enough to attend the 2009 conference, which was held in Tucson, Arizona. Kerry Spain, who was the 2008 winner of the “Diamond V Calf Rearer of the Year” award was also able to attend this great event. I am looking forward to catching up with Kerry to hear what she thought of the event. As soon as I have the copy of the proceedings Sam is sending me, I will post some of the information on the website.