Many eyes make light work during calving

The old saying goes, “many hands make light work”. However, an extra set of eyes around the farm can significantly lighten the workload too. Calving cows or lambing ewes is an extremely busy time. Nobody minds going to the yard to assist a cow or ewe giving birth. It’s the late night and early-morning monitoring where nothing is happening that can be the most tiresome. Or, worse again, when an animal is only in the early stages of giving birth and you make several trips to and from the shed – but a watched pot never boils.

The constant drag of monitoring cows and ewes during the calving/lambing season is also worsened by the fact that so many farmers now work off-farm too.

Plenty of part-time farmers spend their lunch breaks rushing back to the farm to monitor animals, not to mention a few trips to the yard every night too. Long days and a lack of sleep can ultimately be a dangerous thing on a farm.

It is for that reason that more and more farmers are getting those extra sets of eyes around their farm – eyes in the form of cameras. At a recent installation, I caught up with camera expert Stephen Whitney from Easycam, to get a lowdown on calving/lambing cameras and some considerations you should make before getting one.

Know what you want

Stephen says: “The first thing is to know what you want.”

It might sound simple but it is often the case that farmers get work done and either the camera isn’t right for the job, the system they try to use isn’t working or they realise they put the camera in the wrong place.

“The first thing I’ll ask a farmer is how big the shed or area they want to cover is,” Stephen explains.

“Then I’ll want to get a feel for what type of system can be installed depending on internet availability.” He says, without doubt, the best thing to do is get out to the farm and assess the situation before launching into any work.

In terms of cameras, there are lots of considerations. The good thing is, the technology is getting better all the time. There’s the basic rigid camera, right up to the cameras that can rotate 360 degrees. Then there are features such as the strength of the zoom, night vision and sound. “They are all things a farmer should be thinking about,” Stephen says.

In terms of camera positioning, placing a camera right in the middle of the shed isn’t always the best thing.

“I’d always prefer a camera to be at one side of a shed looking at the animals, rather than looking directly down on them. Also, ask yourself can the camera cover more than one shed? Maybe sitting it between two sheds is an option.”

In terms of camera systems, the most common option is to use Wi-Fi from a nearby house. However, in remote farms or out-farms, modems with sim cards can be used to provide internet. These need to be topped up with credit each month, but only for the months they are being used.

Regulations

“Every single day, I get calls from people who bought cameras and installed them themselves or got a local person who didn’t know the job and now their camera isn’t working,” Stephen explains.

He said that one of the biggest problems is that while the CCTV and alarm business is highly regulated, there are absolutely no regulations when it comes to calving cameras.

“There’s no problem getting cameras installed. There are people all over the country who will do them,” he says. “But, sometimes, these systems aren’t put in right and then if there’s a problem down the line, there’s absolutely no backup service. People often tell me the original installer won’t even answer the phone to them.”

I’d always be looking to see can we install a camera that will service the shed, but will also look out on to a yard

Stephen’s best advice is to acquire the services of a reputable name in the business and, often, word of mouth is the best. “I’d always tell people to ask two or three other farmers who have experience with the installer they are thinking of using. At the very least, look for someone who can offer a warranty on their products. And make sure that they have insurance to be working on your farm,” he adds.

He also said that “a good system should be able to offer diagnostics. If there’s an issue, it can be remotely detected without having to go to a farm every time for what could be a small problem. It’s something we are finding very useful and it’s important to our customers including Tullamore Farm.” And while there are no regulatory requirements, NSAI and/or PSA certificates are certainly an added bonus.

Bonus

Speaking of added bonuses, Stephen explains that more and more farmers are using cameras for things such as security. “I’d always be looking to see can we install a camera that will service the shed, but will also look out on to a yard,” he said. “There are then the added options of getting a recording system set up.” For the part-time farmer who isn’t always in the yard, this is something that can be of real benefit.

On the flip side of the camera giving farmers more security, I asked Stephen whether there was a risk to farmers’ security, particularly with people tapping into camera feeds: “The systems we use are fully secure. Every system should be but it’s important to check,” he says.

“They should have a camera ID, codes or passwords that block access to the camera even if people connect to your network, for example.”