From the Corral: Tips on the central track fastening system

Thirty-six years ago, I developed the central restraint system used in many beef processing plants. Today, with the implementation of new systems, I see the same mistakes from the past being repeated. When I worked on the original central restraint system, I learned that it needed a false floor to prevent the incoming cattle from seeing the visual cliff effect. The top graphic shows a diagram of a central lane containment system. The thick black line represents the floor of the plant. To prevent the incoming cattle from seeing a 2.4-meter (8-foot) drop, a false floor is installed. The arrow in the lower center of the diagram points to the false floor. The cattle will enter without resistance because the false floor creates the illusion of a solid floor to walk on. Courtesy of Temple Grandin Recently, I saw a newly installed central restraint system in a plant where a simple solution to a problem was found. It became evident that the false floor was installed too low below the ...