Investment of €500,000 in cattle handling simulators for use at agricultural colleges and Teagasc livestock research centres has been announced today (Monday, July 17).
The allocated funding will see the procurement of 11 bovine calving simulators and 11 bovine injecting simulators to support students in developing livestock handling skills early in their career.
Cattle have been involved in almost a fifth of fatal farm fatalities over the past decade, according to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).
There are approximately 4,500 non-fatal incidents each year on Irish farms, with just over half of these incidents involving livestock, data from the Teagasc National Farm Survey shows.
Making the announcement, Minister of State at the DAFM with responsibility for farm safety, Martin Heydon said: “Improving farmer health, safety and well-being is a priority for me.
“The training of students on handling livestock safely presents a particular challenge due to the need for close contact with animals that can become stressed, particularly large animals.
“This investment of €500,000 in 11 bovine calving simulators and 11 bovine injecting simulators will give students the best opportunity to develop their livestock handling skills early in their career.”
The use of bovine simulators has been shown to be an effective training tool when handling large animals, by creating or replicating conditions to resemble real-life situations, the DAFM said.
Cattle handling simulators
“With live-animal training, students have limited opportunities to perform a procedure and learn the required competency.
“However, with bovine simulators, every student can practice cow calving and injecting skills in a safe environment until they are proficient and confident to progress to training on live animals.
“This investment will yield dividends not only for safer livestock handling but also the quality of training available at our education centres,” Minister Heydon added.
The simulators are expected to be in use for the coming academic year, and will be available to students completing courses at the colleges and to other students who use the college facilities for practical learning.
Commenting that the training of today’s agriculture students is the pathway to making Irish farms safer places to work and live in the future, Teagasc director Prof. Frank O’Mara said:
“Using modern technologies to improve the health and safety training of these students is an innovative way of equipping the farmers of tomorrow with the skills to carry out routine tasks with livestock in as safer way.”
In excess of 5,000 learners per annum will benefit from the new cattle handling simulators across our full-time, part-time and distance courses, Teagasc head of education, Dr. Anne-Marie Butler said.