Argentina seeks beef production boost with bovine IUD
Enrique Turin, a professor at the National University of Northwestern Buenos Aires, designed and is producing what he says is the world's first bovine intra-uterine device.
He has patented his invention locally and in the European Union.
The IUD is designed for cows that have already given birth to five to seven calves, and are being fattened for slaughter.
Turin, 47, began experimenting with home-made bovine IUDs 20 years ago. Today he has a small factory built next to his home in Pergamino -- 245 kilometers (152 miles) north of Buenos Aires in Argentina's livestock and agricultural heartland -- to produce the $3.00 devices.
The cheap and simple items have been a success: some 2.5 million bovine IUDs have been exported to places like Brazil -- a world beef-producing giant -- and Spain.
Spanish officials have even approved one of Turin's models for use in sows, especially since the castration of boars was recently banned due to animal welfare concerns.
Cows need to reach the slaughterhouse with an empty uterus, but "that's not the case in Argentina," said Turin. "There's a high percentage of females that have finished their reproduction cycle and arrive at the slaughterhouse already pregnant."
Regresar
