Research center installs new feedlot facility designed by Temple Grandin

by Heather Smith Thomas

The second annual Field Day and Open House for the U. of Idaho Nancy M. Cummings Research, Extension and Education Center (Salmon, Idaho) gave local ranchers a first-hand look at the new working facility designed for the Center by Temple Grandin and manufactured by Titan West company from Kansas. Field Day attendees saw this facility’s first use, as a group of bred heifers was put through the runway and sorting tub and routed into either the Silencer squeeze chute or AI barn. Several heifers were put through the portable AI barn where Dr. John Hall, ranch Superintendent, gave an ultrasound pregnancy detection demonstration.

One person can easily put animals through the sorting system. “This new facility will not only allow us to do our normal ranch and research work safely and efficiently, but it will also enable us to do more training of students—especially graduate students and veterinary students,” said Hall. The system includes the standard pens and curved alleys and also has two variable-width chutes. One goes to the silencer-type headgate for normal cattle processing. This hydraulic squeeze chute is comfortable and easy on the animals and holds their head and neck in position for ease of neck injections.

The other chute routes cattle to a calf table or a two-stall AI barn. For the Field Day demonstration, the portable AI barn was in place. As the animal enters the small dark building, she is restrained by a bar that falls behind her. The barn has an area to hold semen tanks and loading guns, and has both 12-volt and 110-volt capabilities for electricity to operate the ultrasound machine.

“With the two stalls, we can have two cows in here at once, and train students while still doing our routine pregnancy testing or AI work, without slowing down the process so much,” explains Hall. “We can have a student palpating or trying to AI or ultrasound a cow while we’re doing our routine work, or allowing several students to be working at the same time. This helps facilitate the learning process because the students don’t feel as rushed,” said Hall.
The new facility has a sorting pod with hydraulically-operated gates that allow for sorting up to 5 different ways. “This is very helpful for our research projects. As we put cattle together after calving for instance, we can sort them into different research groups,” he explained.