A Rylstone farmer has invented the perfect solution for cows who are struggling to get up.

Jonathan Caygill, of Manor House Farm, came up with the Easy Cow Lift as a way of dealing with “downer” cows on his dairy farm.

Cows can go down after a difficult calving, post-bulling, or for a medical reasons, and unless they are put back on their feet quickly, may have to be destroyed.

Mr Caygill’s rubber and steel hoist, that fits to a tractor’s pallet forks, was the result of several prototypes.

It was launched in January and has now been named new product of the year at Scotland’s leading farm business event, AgriScot.

Mr Caygill said: “I had previously tried various methods of lifting cows and none had seemed ideal, so I invented something that I knew would be useful and after a few prototypes, it is now available to others,” he said. “My own vet gave me the initial endorsement to start selling the product and we still make them all on the farm.”

The lift costs £345, but a newly calved cow can be worth anything between £1,500 and £2,000, whereas a farmer will only receive £250 for an emergency slaughter and a dead cow costs its owner £70 to incinerate.

Mr Caygill added: “We were even more delighted when two of the competition judges actually ordered an Easy Cow Lift and one existing customer saw our certificate and told us he thought we thoroughly deserved the win - that kind of praise made me really proud.”

The Easy Cow Lift is already proving to be a vital piece of equipment on both dairy and beef farms. One customer reported saving three animals in the first three months of buying one of the lifts.