Neville Kirkham has won first place in the intermediate category.

Leicestershire dairy farmer Neville Kirkham built a telehandler-mounted cow sledge to quickly get down cows back on their feet without causing undue stress or injury.

Thanks to a slim profile and chamfered edges on three sides the base plate sits tight to the ground, offering a smooth transition during loading.

See also: Lifting kit launched to help with downer cows

No manual handling is required for this process – instead, a custom-made harness is placed over the animal.

This is attached to two hydraulic winches positioned behind the backplate which, when wound in, gently tighten the straps before sliding the cow onto the platform.

Power for the winches is provided by the handler’s third service and there are separate spool levers to control each of them.

This allows operators to adjust the tension on either side of harness according to the position of the animal and the area it needs to be retrieved from.

Rather than having loader-specific brackets, the rig has slots to accommodate pallet tines, meaning it can be quickly picked up by any machine.

There are also chains to lock it securely in place.

Neville has been using the sledge for more than two and a half years and says it has massively improved animal welfare and recovery, as well as staff safety.

Neville now hopes to begin manufacturing his cow sledge to sell to other farmers.