Loading ramp built from a lifetime of knowledge

Recently, around 80 producers and industry personnel travelled four to five hours to attend a relatively remote AgForce and Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) field day which showcased a state-of-the-art loading ramp at Amber Station, Mount Surprise in North Queensland.

The day – hosted by North Queensland cattle producer, transporter and MLA Board member Russell Lethbridge and his family –  showcased their new cattle ramp. It brought together transporters, producers and agents to discuss livestock transport.

All eyes were on the ramp designed by Russell’s uncle, John Lethbridge, who’d made it his retirement project to design and build “the perfect loading ramp.”

Designed for optimal efficiency, safety and animal welfare, the double decker ramp is 32 metres long for a gradual incline. Walkways are 1.7 metres wide, enabling cattle to cater to their herding instinct by walking on and off together.

Improved efficiency and catering to instinct

Russell Lethbridge said he has already seen the benefits after purchasing two ‘Stressless Loading Ramps’, constructed by Shawn Chapman of Nugget Engineering in Charters Towers.

“It’s far easier and more efficient,” Mr Lethbridge said.

“It’s certainly ticked boxes animal welfare-wise. There’s less effort required to unload and reload,” he said.

“We’re unloading fresh weaners, in their thousands at that yard.

“Anyone handling weaners knows if they’re in an unfamiliar place, they can be cautious and careful and sometimes it’s a job to get them off.

“With the new ramps, once they see the bigger opening, they just walk off and find their own way,” he said.

The ramp is fully accredited with work, health and safety requirements and is designed for safe loading and unloading.

“It’s way easier having the walkway right back down to the last trailer. You don’t have to climb up and down crates. You just open the gate from the walkway and don’t have to get in with the animals,” Mr Lethbridge said.

Gulf Savannah cattle producer Simon Terry said the event was very well run and a good opportunity to hear livestock transport information.

The day featured presentations and panel sessions from MLA, transporters, transport regulators, producers, buyers, agents and safety organisations.

“We don’t get the opportunity too often to have these types of field days put on by such good operators. You wouldn’t miss them.

“It was a good mix of people from industry and also outside of industry,” Mr Terry said.

“We were really impressed with the topics and the way it was run.

“There was good discussion around transport, transportation, the compliance side of that, the safety aspect of trucking cattle and facilitating cattle through yards. There was just so much covered.

“It was interesting hearing from Dr Geoffrey Fordyce on the science behind the animal nutrition and the stress repercussions on cattle if they’re not prepared properly. If they’re about to go on a truck and haven’t been fed or watered well, they’re not ready,” he said.

Seeing it in action

Mr Terry − a family friend of Lethbridge’s − had heard of the ramp’s construction and was keen to see it in action.

“We saw firsthand how it worked with cattle going on and coming off the trucks.

“We have double decker ramps on our place but the wider ramp concept is a bit outside the box,” Mr Terry said.

“Obviously it works really well. The cattle can walk side-by-side. Just the flow of cattle going through surprised everyone there I think.”

A ramp of that size is not necessary or feasible for every operation, Mr Terry acknowledged, but there were elements people could adapt in their own infrastructure.

“It’s not everyone’s cup of tea. One that size is designed for large volumes of cattle going through meatworks or on bigger stations.

“But the concept works really well and could be sized down to suit other operations.”

Themes that rang true

Beef Central journalist Eric Barker attended the field day with his publisher James Nason, saying it was one of the best he had been to.

“People were speaking honestly and passionately,” Mr Barker said.

“They were not afraid to disagree with each other and it was clearly working towards an outcome.”

Themes from the recent Beef Central Top 25 Livestock Transporters feature carried through the day, Mr Barker said.

“Most transporters we spoke to in the feature talked about the difficulty finding drivers and here you had a push from within the production industry to try and better support truck drivers.

“Loading ramps were also a popular topic, with the transporters telling us that there can never be enough double loading ramps and cat walks in the industry.”