Website Illustrates Proper Layouts For Cattle Working Facilities

Cattle working facilities can be the keystone of both good animal welfare and beef quality assurance. A new web page published by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture and the Cooperative Extension Service aims to help cattle producers make sure the facilities they’re using are up to industry standards.

The page, accessible at https://www.uaex.edu/ farm-ranch/animals-forages/beef-cattle/beef-cattle-handling-facilities.aspx, provides official publications for download, the appropriate dimensions of common holding structures, links to equipment manufacturers and suppliers and more.

One of the page’s key

assets is a series of photographs, diagrams and videos that clearly illustrate the proper dimensions for budboxes, corrals and other structures. The videos were shot using low-flying drones, and give users an expansive view of properly-constructed facilities, said Shane Gadberry, beef cattle specialist for the Division of Agriculture.

“The new perspective this webpage is offering is being captured at 50-250 foot above the ground,” Gadberry said. “Anyone planning to build or update their facility can watch videos to get a birds-eye view of facility layouts other producers around the state have envisioned.”

Gadberry said he sees this as just the beginning of what can be a very useful site.

“The goal is to capture facilities that have some practical aspects and offer examples scaled from the smallest to very large operations,” he said. “Topography and existing infrastructure prohibits a one-size-fits-all approach to designs. The goal with this project is to illustrate what others have done so their fellow cattle producers can glean from those ideas and adapt what fits their operation.”