Working Ranch Magazine Summer 2025

traditional portable chute on wheels,” Terry explains about his design. Terry noted that he and most farmers in the Midwest have bail beds on their pick ups, so he designed a system to utilize that already familiar piece of equip ment. After perfecting the design, the manufacturer began making the chutes, as demand increased, becom ing too high for him, his sons, and his employees to handle alongside their other tasks. Terry’s design eliminates the need to mess with a trailer, trailer tongue, or other pieces of equipment that can get old and fall apart. Using the EZ Load Chute allows an operator to get down the highway as quickly as needed without worrying about lights, speed, or mechanical failure. Terry has been selling his design for the past five years, with dealers across ten states selling his product. Cattle handling systems continue to evolve to meet the needs of beef producers, who require systems that enhance their work efficiency and safety and minimize stress for both cattle and humans. While investing in a quality portable chute can prove daunting, ranchers and farmers con tinue to find, when considering their operations’ needs, a return on their investment in labor efficiency, safety, and animal stress management. As operations adapt to changing eco nomics, weather patterns, and land use requirements, the flexibility a portal chute continues to offer will increase in value.

about frequency of use and the safety aspect can help you make a decision more easily,” she continues. A significant factor in implement ing any type of working facility, whether portable or not, is safety and the reduction of injuries for both cat tle and humans. According to a 1997 study conducted by the Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Department at Oklahoma State University, examining 150 cattle handling-related injuries at 100 Oklahoma cow-calf operations, 50% of injuries were attributed to human error, with equipment and facilities accounting for 25% each. A portable load chute is handy for ranchers and farmers who work multi ple locations, have properties scattered

over a large area, and for those who have leased land,” says Ethan Cantrell of MJE Livestock Equipment. “It allows you to buy one piece of equipment to use in multiple places instead of buy ing many pieces to use at each loca tion.” A design feature on the MJE portable chute that comes in handy is the walk-through gate on the side, allowing one to follow cattle into the trucks and facilitating easier and more practical loading. MJE Livestock Equipment’s parent company, MJE, LLC, is a construction company that builds commercial feed lots and dairies in the Midwest, allow ing for hands-on and practical testing of all their cattle handling equipment at a commercial level. “We have the advantage of testing these pieces of

equipment in a commercial environment. If it holds up there, it’s going to hold up being used on your everyday cow-calf operation,” Ethan shares about the company’s products. Terry Kudlock of EZ Load Chute, a cow-calf rancher out of Belle Fourche, South Dakota, developed a solution for his individual needs out of pure necessity. “We have permits and some private leases up in the Black Hills, which is about 30 miles from headquarters. With traffic along the route to these pastures continuing to increase, my sons and I knew we needed something differ ent to fit our needs than the

EZ Load Chute

EZ LOAD CHUTE

EZ Load Chute

EZ LOAD CHUTE

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