Companies supplying and installing calving cameras around the country have strongly advised farmers to invest in quality cameras that stand the test of time.

There are seven or eight companies installing calving cameras in Ireland at the moment and they are all using “the proper equipment,” Jamie Nolan told the Irish Farmers Journal.

Nolan, who owns the Carlow-based camera company Agricam, said that some farmers have put in cameras which were bought online for anywhere between €300 and €600, which have not withstood the elements of a calving shed.

“They might work fine for the first few months, but eventually the seal on them breaks and they fill up with water – they’re just not able for the environment they’re in, between the frost, rain and acidic nature of calving sheds,” he said.

Rotating cameras

The beauty about the now widely used rotating Hikvision cameras is that neither cobwebs or dust will settle on them, as they are constantly moving. They’re also power washable, Nolan said.

Cameras with a modum and sim card are retailing at €1,000, inclusive of installation and a three-year warranty. However, there are monthly charges depending on what sim card provider you choose.

For €1,100, farmers can install a camera that is beamed from the internet into the house.

“All you need is one of these cameras in the centre of the roof of a calving shed and you will be able to zoom in and read a cow’s tag, even with the lights switched off.

“There are 80-year-old men able to use the app we have and zoom in to look at ear tags,” he said.

The majority of farmers now want to be able to see the calving shed on their phone or tablet and be able to watch what’s going on from anywhere in the world.

“We’ve 9,500 customers all over Ireland from north to south and some of our cameras have been installed for nearly 10 years now at this stage.

“If you have the quality of the camera, they’ll last, ” he said.

Demand

Nolan said that with seven vans on the road travelling all over Ireland, counties Clare, Limerick, Laois and Kilkenny is where the most demand is.

“We’ve seen notable expansion on dairy farms in the past year. They were putting up sheds left right and centre. The suckler farmers with the show cattle are as busy as ever, however, we’ve not half as many sheep sheds done this year. Normally at this stage, we’d have 30 or 40 sheep sheds done, but we’ve only about 10,” Nolan added.

Hikvision is the Rolls Royce of calving cameras, Chris Pyke from Clonmel Co Tipperary said.

“They’re made to last and the quality of the picture and the zoom is the best out there. Nobody can dispute it either. The cheaper cameras just can’t handle the damp and cold,” he said.

Covering all counties from Dublin downwards, Pyke charges €850 for installation of the Hikvision rotating camera, which is transmitted from the house to the shed, with no additional monthly costs.