You pour a lot of time and energy into the farm, not to mention the financial investment. Yet it’s impossible to keep watch over your crop or livestock all day, every day. Throughout the years, producers have come up with dozens of ways to monitor their livestock and crop inventory. Today, some use cutting edge, innovative technology. Others use more traditional monitoring methods, often with modernizing updates.

Derek Janzen of Bordercreek Farms in B.C.’s Fraser Valley raises about 100,000 broiler chickens and 21,000 commercial layer hens. Each of his barns is electronically monitored and connected to the computer in his office. Barn temperature, humidity, feed consumption, water consumption, fan speeds, heating and cooling are all tracked. If temperatures rise too high or dip too low, the system’s alarms sound.

And, Janzen says, not only is climate monitored, but it’s also controlled by the computer system. Taking into account outside conditions and the age of the birds, the computer system adjusts the climate accordingly.

“It provides optimal conditions for the birds,” he says.

Janzen has taken monitoring to the next level, too, and can now move monitoring from his farm office to the boardroom. A new software program sends e-mail updates on conditions in the barns.

“Several times a day, information is sent out. With my Blackberry, I’m able to see what’s going on,” he says.

High tech has also made its way to many livestock barns across the country. Chris Sobchuk of Allen Leigh Enterprise sells wireless video monitoring systems, called CowCam, to livestock producers. Used mainly to keep a watchful eye on the barns during calving, the image and audio is wirelessly transmitted to the producer’s television in the house, saving producers frequent trips to the birthing stalls.

With systems like the CowCam, a closed circuit camera is mounted to the wall of the pen with a cable linked to the transmitter box located in a weather-proof casing on the outside of the barn. With 2.4 gigahertz transmission frequency similar to many cordless phones, information is transmitted wirelessly to the producer’s television. Installation inside is simple, Sobchuk says, and involves not much more than plugging in the connectors to the receiver unit and turning on the TV.

Sobchuk says the system is less intrusive to the cow since she usually stands up and moves around when disturbed during labour. Monitoring the birth from afar reduces stress, he says, and after birth the producer can maintain the watch, ensuring the animal is nursing, since the audio picks up the sucking sounds.

Jill Laydon raises cattle east of Innisfail, Alta. She purchased a CowCam from Sobchuk a few years ago and agrees her animals are calmer during birth. With two cameras in the calving barn, Laydon says the systems are invaluable.

“It takes a lot of the stress off us and the cow,” she says. “Before, we would go out and check every couple of hours. Now, the animals don’t get as upset and hyper.”

The monitoring has also helped Laydon save a calf. She was watching the calf’s birth when she saw it emerge with the embryonic sack still over its head. Making a dash for the barn, Laydon was able to safely remove the sack.

Bert Sutherland of Skyway Grain Systems Inc. has helped take high tech monitoring to grain bins.

He sells Opi brand products, including monitoring systems. With this product, a cable hangs down into the centre of the bin. A temperature sensor is located every four feet along the cable, continuously recording grain temperature. If spoilage begins, the temperature of the surrounding grain rises and is detected by the sensor. An alert notifies the producer to take action.

Sutherland says when grain bin monitors first came on the market about 20 years ago, they were analog transmitters, measuring the entire bin temperature at the same time and keeping no record. Now with digital monitoring, temperatures from individual probes are monitored and information is easily reviewed. As well, Sutherland adds multiple bins can be monitored and various temperatures from each recorded. Some customers opt to have a direct link to their fan systems, so temperature variations can trigger the fans.

Monitoring systems may sound expensive but in many cases, there’s something to meet every budget and six bins could be equipped with external monitoring for under $2,500. Sutherland sees the expenditure as insurance.

“It doesn’t take very much to lose $5,000 worth of grain,” he says, especially with niche markets.

Jeff Wilson produces fruits and vegetables about 80 kilometres northwest of Toronto. His air-to-air and humidity-controlled computerized storage systems are in place for his cabbage and potato crops and he views both as maintenance, not enhancement, of a quality product.

“The whole art is to put good cabbage in storage and it comes out just as good,” he says. “In February, we should be packing cabbage that’s pretty close to being at the quality level that it was in October.” It’s also a time management issue. Cabbage deteriorated in storage due to poor environmental controls means more trimming before shipping.

Installation of storage monitoring systems meant a shift in Wilson’s traditional thinking. Vegetable markets, like any other market, demand top quality product year-round and to deliver means investing in technology.

“Before, it was hit or miss. We would put the cabbage in storage and hope for the best. If you made a profit, great. If you didn’t, well, try again next year,” Wilson says. Now, it’s a management tool he counts on.

Whether keeping track of products in storage or monitoring critical parts of the production cycle like calving, there are systems available to help out with the jobs that need monitoring. What's more, the technology is becoming more affordable and reliable. Increasingly, the cost / benefit analysis says the investment is worthwhile.

Weathering the weather

by Allison Finnamore

Mild temperatures, extreme snowfall, minimum snow coverage, heavy rains, drought, wind speed – one topic that’s always of interest to Canadian producers is the weather.

Canadians have experienced some extreme weather conditions over the last few years, much of which could not be anticipated. All of these conditions impact the farm, affecting everything from seed germination and herd health to spray schedules and yield.

As Bruce Burnett, director of weather and crop surveillance at the Canadian Wheat Board puts it, weather can be predictably unpredictable.

“Weather is the one variable farmers have no control over, no matter what crop they’re growing,” Burnett says.

In an attempt to accurately monitor weather conditions and to have specific weather information, an increasing number of producers are seeking their own ways of measuring, monitoring and forecasting the impact of weather on their own fields. They’re using technology to gather site-specific information to make management decisions. Some producers are using data from nearby Environment Canada weather stations, while others are opting to install technology on their own farms. Still others are using value-added services based on regional weather models.

Michael Giles is the business development manager with Growth Stage Consulting, a Calgary-based company that develops weather models for agriculture producers.

He explains that by purchasing weather data from companies like Environment Canada and AccuWeather, Growth Stage creates a model to forecast weed and insect emergence, crop development and disease outbreaks.

“We can predict two weeks in advance when an outbreak is going to occur or when it will be time to harvest,” Giles says.

Updates are e-mailed weekly, arming producers with information to plan when to scout, spray or start harvesting.

“It helps with better decision management. Every farmer is busy – some are working off-farm or if I’ve got 5,000 acres, it’s hard to get to all my acres in a timely manner,” Giles says.

The Canadian Wheat Board ran a series of day-long training sessions earlier this spring, to teach producers how to use their own weather stations, manage information and make it useful to their farm operations. Burnett says having site-specific information is a key management tool. He also notes the importance of weather monitoring in environmental farm plans. All aspects of weather data play a role, such as rainfall intensities to monitor soil erosion losses.

“It makes common sense to have something tailored to your local conditions,” Burnett states.

Site-specific weather information is essential for local management, but the CWB also takes a macro look at weather around the globe, especially in regions where grain is a major commodity. A group of CWB experts collect weather data through remote sensing and satellite imaging to monitor crop conditions around the world. It’s all part of staying informed.

“We are in international markets, so monitoring conditions throughout the globe is one of the things you can do to help in terms of marketing grains internationally. It’s one of these pieces of constant interest and will lead to more or less imports or competition, for example,” Burnett says.

Whether it’s personal weather data collection with your own weather station, forecast models from a service provider or an international peek at growing conditions on the other side of the world, technology is bringing effective management tools close to home and creating an atmosphere that’s helping producers manage the unmanageable.