Livestock and user friendly beef barn: Beef safe house

Poorly maintained equipment and a lack of safe animal handling facilities have been the leading cause of the majority of farm fatalities. However, constant drives by farming groups and safety organisations are showing progress in addressing the issues. When 27-year-old beef farmer and agricultural contractor James Kennedy needed to build a new beef house on his farm he decided the design should prevent humans and livestock getting in direct close proximity to each other.

By creating a safe space for both man and beast, his new 30.5m by 22.2m shed does exactly that and is full of simple yet clever solutions to make handling livestock much easier, even for one person.

James farms close to the village of Rasharkin in County Antrim and usually buys store beef cattle in the spring and autumn to fatten them up before they are sent to slaughter. With the completion of the new building in October 2020 he has housing capacity at any one time for around 250 beef cattle. The farm extends to 73ha mostly