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Irish farmer Ger Daly with his invention.
Surgery to fuse four discs in his lower back prompted beef farmer Ger Daly, in County Galway, Ireland, to think again about how to do heavy lifting on his farm.
Calving 120 - 130 beef suckler cows meant that some calvings would need help -- lifting and inverting calves to clear their airways. The age-old option of throwing a calf over a five-bar gate to let gravity clear the airways was no longer an option, so Daly got practical.
He designed the Pro-Revive animal resuscitator, a clever device made from two GRP panels and a steel frame that mounts to a five-bar gate; it could just as easily be fitted to a quad or UTV on a typical Kiwi farm.
In opera,tion the unit is laid flat on the ground, from where the calf is slid onto the platform. Cranking a winch causes the two halves of the unit to pivot around its central hinge, causing the boards to rise, placing the calf in the best position to clear its mouth and airways, with low stress for animal and operator.
Daly recommends using a hand operated air pump at the same time to get oxygen into the animal’s lungs.
Research lending to the production of dairy products that benefit the elderly and improves the overall wellbeing of all people is a key focus of Fonterra's Research and Development centre, based in Palmerston North.
The Government wants to make sure that rural communities get a level of service that people who live in cities often complacently expect.
The Irish Minister of State for Rural Communities says his country and New Zealand face very similar challenges on a range of issues related to agriculture, including climate change, biodiversity and rural depopulation.
Over 1,000 Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) workers in the Hawke’s Bay have now been immunised against measles.
Hato Hone St John is urging Kiwis to have a safe summer this year.
Academic Dr Mike Joy and his employer, Victoria University of Wellington have apologised for his comments suggesting that dairy industry CEOs should be hanged for contributing towards nitrate poisoning of waterways.
Environment Southland's catchment improvement funding is once again available for innovative landowners in need of a boost to get their project going.
The team meeting at the Culverden Hotel was relaxed and open, despite being in the middle of calving when stress levels are at peak levels, especially in bitterly cold and wet conditions like today.
A comment by outspoken academic Dr Mike Joy suggesting that dairy industry leaders should be hanged for nitrate contamination of drinking/groundwater has enraged farmers.
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Driven by a lifelong passion for animals, Amy Toughey's journey from juggling three jobs with full-time study to working on cutting-edge dairy research trials shows what happens when hard work meets opportunity - and she's only just getting started.
