Spectacular STEMTACULAR
Farm Safety
The 2026 STEMTACULAR IASTA Agriculture in Science Award was won by Harry, Dallan and Thomas in 5th class from Scoil Mhuire Naofa. Their project, titled Farm Safety: From Calving Gates to Calving Gear, addressed critical safety risks associated with traditional calving equipment and storage.
All three students come from farming backgrounds and demonstrated strong real life and practical understanding of animal welfare and farm safety. Their initial investigation focused on the conventional calving gate system.
Identified Safety Issue
Traditional calving gates typically use a chain bolted to the wall, which attaches to the gate behind the cow. This setup presents two significant risks:
- Risk to the calf: If the cow lies down during calving, the chain can cause serious injury or be fatal to the newborn calf.
- Risk to the farmer: The calving jack may become entangled in the chain, creating a hazard that could result in injury to the farmer.
The students identified this as a design flaw.
Engineering Solution
The team designed a bracket modification for the calving gate that relocates the chain attachment point. Instead of being fixed behind the cow, the chain is secured over the cow’s back, positioned between the pin bones and the tail.
This modification:
- Maintains gate stability during calving
- Eliminates the chain hazard to the calf
- Reduces the likelihood of calving jack entanglement
- Improves overall operator safety
Additional Farm Safety Innovations
The three students developed complementary equipment to improve safety and workflow efficiency in the shed and yard environments:
- A crush platform for safer handling when clipping animals or administering medicines on the far side of the cow
- A gate latch system to secure gates in the open position to reduce a risk to animals, farmers and machinery. The students want to remove baling twine as a gate latch 😊
- A girder-mounted holder for securing the calving jack and tools. The students identified grapes/pikes, hay forks, calving jacks etc. as trip and injury hazards in sheds.
- A mountable shelf system for girders to hold essential calving supplies (iodine, ropes, bottles, teats, etc.) for easy access during and post calving.
Significance
This project exemplified practical STEM application within agricultural settings. By combining lived farming experience with mechanical problem-solving, the students delivered a scalable safety improvement with direct real-world impact.
They are already working on improvements for their designs such as:
- Crush platform being galvanised and foldable
- Gate latch using a spring system for greater security. They are also want a slot for bolting rather than a hole so allow for flexibility with height in case drilling is off.
