SOUTH East Queensland beef producer Bruce Warren says he is seeing the benefits of applying the pain relief product Tri-Solfen to his cattle, even when using elastic bands for castration.
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Mr Warren, who runs 130-160 cattle on his 120 hectare Scenic Rim property Pine Park near Boonah, said although pain relief was more closely associated with invasive surgical procedures, the gel also worked where purpose designed elastic bands were used.
"I was interested in Tri-Solfen when it first began to appear on the market because there was a definite need to improve our animal welfare standards," Mr Warren said.
"As soon as it was commercially available I bought it, used it when we were dehorning steers and haven't stopped using it.
"Now my approach is that anywhere I think pain is going to be an issue with my cattle I am applying Tri-Solfen."
Mr Warren said when he used pain relief on calves being castrated using a rubber band, the level of pain relief was obvious.
"The calves are just less stressed, so much so you would almost not even think that the rubber band had even been applied," he said.
Mr Warren has spent a lifetime in the beef industry, including helping to develop major feedlots in Indonesia that sourced live cattle from Australia.
Tri-Solfen is a distinctive blue gel that contains two local anaesthetics - lignocane and bupivivaine - plus adrenalin to stop bleeding and an antiseptic to prevent infection. The gel is applied using a specially designed applicator gun.
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