World-renowned livestock behaviourist Temple Grandin is in Tintinara this week sharing decades of knowledge.
At a gala luncheon on Tuesday, she spoke about her journey living with autism and “thinking in pictures” to install low stress livestock facilities with natural flow.
The Colorado State University professor said one of her greatest achievements was developing the centre track restrainer system, which was in nearly half of all beef abattoirs in the United States, plus two in Australia.
In the past 20 years, she said there had been great steps forward in animal welfare in US abattoirs using “measurable outcomes”, but more could be done on-farm, including hazard analysis critical control point audits.
And while it was important to have good facilities with non-slip flooring and yards with no distractions, like chains hanging down, Professor Grandin said good stockmanship skills were equally as important.
“Quiet cattle make you more money,” she said.
