Cameras at the yard entrance and the fuel and chemical storage, plate reading at the gate, and alerts to your phone. Long cable runs and wireless links between buildings are usually the biggest part of the cost.
What does a farm yard look like from a security point of view?
Think of a grain and equipment yard near Carman. There is a house, a machine shed, a shop, a row of bins, a fuel tank and a chemical shed. One or two lanes come in off the road, and the closest neighbour is a long way off.
That spread is the whole problem. Nobody sees the far end of the yard from the house, and a truck can come and go at night without anyone hearing it.
Where should the cameras go first?
Start with what is expensive, easy to move, or dangerous in the wrong hands.
- The yard entrance. One camera set up to read licence plates, plus a wider view of the lane. Many farms have only one or two ways in for a vehicle, which makes this the most useful camera on the property.
- The fuel tanks. Fuel is easy to take and hard to trace. A camera here shows the vehicle and the time.
- The chemical shed. Crop inputs are costly, and some commercial policies ask for proof of cameras.
- The machine shed and shop doors. Tools, GPS units and parts go missing from here.
Bins and open fields usually come later, if at all. A camera can't cover a quarter section, so we put it where people and vehicles actually go.
Why are farms harder to wire than a shop?
Distance. On a farm the buildings can be far apart, and a standard network cable run has a length limit.
There are three ways to cover the gap, each with a trade-off:
- Buried or overhead cable. The most reliable link. It costs more up front, and trenching depends on the ground and the season.
- Fibre between buildings. Handles long distances well. It needs a small network box at each end.
- A wireless link. A point-to-point radio between two buildings. It saves trenching, but it needs a clear line of sight. Bins, trees and new buildings can block it later.
Power matters too. A camera at a far gate needs power. If there is no outlet nearby, that means running power to the gate or using a solar panel and battery, which has its own limits in a Manitoba winter. We go over the options on the site walk.
How do alerts work when nobody is in the yard?
The cameras tell a person or a vehicle from an animal. After hours, a vehicle at the lane or a person at the fuel tank sends an alert to your phone. Deer and coyotes don't.
You can also send the alert to more than one person in order, so a hired hand or a family member down the road can check if you are away. Footage is typically kept two to four weeks on site, so you can look back when you notice fuel is low.
What does a farm setup cost?
Most farm and multi-building sites are priced on the site walk. The cameras are a smaller share than you'd expect. The cable runs, wireless links and power to far buildings are what move the number. See all starting prices and what moves them.
We quote it after the site walk, which is free and takes about an hour. Our technicians do the install, including on farms out past Morden and Altona.