Cattle Cams Save Time, Labor

Cattle Cams Save Time Labor LIVESTOCK Beef Travis Peardon can check his watering tanks and his 250 cows by phone Cameras he can access with apps make it fast and easy With a full-time job as Saskatchewan Agriculture livestock and feed specialist Peardon can’t always be close by “I have a camera set up at a wintering site half a mile from the buildings and another set up in the cattle yard ” says Peardon “They were easy to set up and are easy to use I can be away for the weekend and know the cattle are getting water ” Peardon described his cattle cam setup in a recent issue of On Pasture the online magazine for graziers and later shared the information with FARM SHOW His setup consists of a $350 game camera from Cabela’s that he moves to remote sites as needed and a wifi-connected camera from Allan Leigh Security www precisioncam ca There are many wifi camera systems at Amazon and other retailers “The game camera is normally powered by AAA batteries but last year we added a solar backpack charger to it ” says Peardon “I downloaded the phone app for it I can program it to take pictures a certain time of the day or let motion trigger it It provides 100 free photos a month ” He set it up to take pictures 3 times a day Images are automatically transmitted to his phone as well as to his farming partner father The calving security camera offers more control options and constantly transmits video via Wi-Fi to the house for monitoring from his camera or portable tablet He can get pen-wide views or zoom in on a cow or a watering tank for a close-up view If the herd is spooked he can go out to see what’s happened “We had -45 degree windchills and I could check the water bowls from my phone ” says Peardon “It is amazing what you can see It’s technology that everyone needs The payback in time and labor is a matter of days or weeks I can be gone for my son’s weekend hockey tournament and know the cattle and water sources are fine ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Travis Peardon Box 9 410 Saskatchewan Ave W Outlook Sask Canada S0L 2N0 ph 306 867-5504; travis peardon@gov sk ca

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