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On farm cameras boosting security, easing calving

A small Iowa based tech company is giving ag producers peace of mind during calving season.

Southern Iowa Technologies owner Larry Shepard tells Brownfield farm camera systems make calving and farrowing a little easier for livestock producers.

“We can put cameras in their calving barns, hog barns, sheep barns, whatever and watch their livestock from their basement in a recliner,” Shepard said. “As cold as it’s been, it’s been terrible outside, you don’t want to get up at 2:00 in the morning if you can watch them live from home where you’re warm.”

He said the company has also seen a boost in security camera use with systems that notify farmers when someone pulls into their driveway while in the field.

“Some of the cameras we sell, you can actually have them in your machine shed, and you can set them to show missing objects,” Shepard said. “So, if something’s missing in like fifteen minutes or an hour or whatever, you can be notified that way too.”

He said the cameras run on a Wi-Fi connection that can extend up to three miles from a house to a barn.

Brownfield interviewed Shepard at the KIIC Farm show and Cow Calf Conference in Ottumwa, Iowa.