Cameras can improve winter calving

Glacier FarmMedia – Winter is in full force and freezing temperatures, large dumps of snow and short days can make winter calving a challenge for seed stock producers.

However, technologies such as calving cameras can help make it much easier by saving time and labour. For many, it has become a necessary tool on their operations.

Kevin Wirsta runs his operation, K-Cow Ranch, near Elk Point, Alta., a little more than two hours northeast of Edmonton. He raises purebred Herefords, Charolais and Black Angus.

He calves out around 300 head and is slowly working to expand the herd. Wirsta focuses on moderate frame, thickness and milk production.

Ninety per cent of the Canadian population lives within 250 kilometres of the U.S. border, but Wirsta’s ranch is far north of that line.

It means things that affect all Canadian producers who calve in the winter, such as the weather and the cold, are big considerations for Wirsta.

K-Cow’s main herd calves between January and March. Because the operation has been doing this for around 30 years, Wirsta has settled into a routine. In the fall, he starts to bring his cattle from pasture closer to home so it is easier to monitor them. The cattle stay out in the field until they show signs of labour.

Wirsta sorts cattle once a week. He moves those that look close to giving birth into one of three pens, depending on how close they are to labour.

Once the calves are born, they will stay in those pens with their mothers for three days. If the weather holds up, Wirsta will turn them out to a bigger pen with shelter for three more days.

“If they’re good from there, then they head for the fields, back out to the paddocks,” he says.

The biggest challenge with his location is the cattle are usually on feed for longer, which is why he tries to keep them on pasture for as long as possible.

“A lot of times, birth weights can increase as you go north. Being on feed longer, the more you can keep your cows out on pasture, grazing and supplementing them out there, by far you’re going to have way easier calving.”

He says he makes sure to have a good barn for the livestock and tries to keep a close eye on them — especially at night.

“If there’s something that’s calving, then certainly, we do go and we put her in (the barn). When it’s -30 C, we do check hourly. And if it’s warmer than that, generally it’s every few hours.”

Wistra also has some technological backup to managing his calving season in the depths of winter: calving cameras.

The Beef Cattle Research Council’s website says producers who are winter calving must ensure they have the proper resources available to prevent hypothermia. Technology can help.

Wirsta says without calving cameras, he doesn’t know how he would get through winter calving.

On not-too-cold nights, he can just check his cattle on the cameras instead of getting up to check every hour. When he is checking hourly, he still uses the cameras first and then goes out to make sure he didn’t miss anything.

Calving cameras are also helpful because sometimes cows do not want to calve in front of a person. Cameras allow producers to monitor their progress without disturbing them.

Not only do the cameras save time but they also save sleep — something that is important for producers during those long calving months. It also helps to give peace of mind when Wirsta must leave the farm for something.

“When I was going to meetings, I phoned my neighbour to come over and check cows every hour or every two hours,” he says.

“Now I just call them to come and put the cow in the barn because she’s calving. So it makes a big difference. They know they’re coming over for a reason.”

Wirsta says he started using cameras 20 years ago, and the upgrades to the technology have been very helpful.

The biggest challenge for Wirsta was learning how to use them. He says a thorough understanding of the technology helps when trying to implement it.

“I truly believe there should be schooling on them so that we can understand how to use them.… Most times, everybody says, ‘oh, they’re just a plug and play.’ Well, yes, I agree, but there’s some technology to it that if you have a better understanding of it, it certainly works better.”

There are different brands Canadian producers can look into, depending on their budget and what they want their cameras to do. For example, OneCup AI has a couple of packages, ranging from $2,400 to $2,500, that come with cameras, a wi-fi package and subscriptions to a couple of programs. Cameras from Precision Cam can range from $200 to more than $2,000.

Wirsta says the cameras aren’t just beneficial in the winter — they are useful year-round on the ranch.

“I think once you have a camera, you’ll think, ‘why didn’t I get it 10 years ago?’ They are certainly a lifesaver. As far as even checking your water bowls to see if they’re thawed, you can zoom right in and see the water.”

“They’re the biggest asset to the whole operation.”