Monitor Archives - American Cattlemen

Article by Maura Keller

When Jeff Vogel, president of RWV Land & Livestock in Jackson, New Jersey, first considered incorporating security and surveillance cameras on his farm, he was focused on addressing a few key issues – namely, monitoring the health and wellbeing of his livestock, streamlining the process of well checks for cows in labor, and ensuring the security of his buildings and farm assets.

Vogel also wanted to make sure those concerns were met with a high-end solution, but without a complicated user interface found in some of today’s security solutions. That’s why he turned to Dave Fickenscher, founder of Riverwind Surveillance Supply, to formulate a security camera solution that would enable Vogel and his team at RWV Land & Livestock to effectively monitor his farm’s activities.

“Dave has helped us out in so many ways,” Vogel says. “We currently have six Riverwind camera systems on our farm. The first camera we had installed saved my horse’s life when he got trapped in his stall and couldn’t get up. And when we have a mom cow that’s going into labor, it allows us to monitor her status without having to leave our house in the middle of the night. It’s definitely well worth the money.”

With 65 head of cattle, Vogel has worked extensively with the Riverwind team on the best placement of the camera systems throughout his operations. In addition to monitoring the camera images via the internet wherever he may be, Vogel has created a “sports bar” in the lower level of his home, with multiple television screens showcasing the surveillance system’s images simultaneously.

“It’s just a fun way to monitor everything going on our property and with our animals,” Vogel says.

For Fickenscher, learning how his company’s security solutions continuously help cattle producers, farmers, and ranchers streamline their operations, while maintaining the health and welfare of their animals, is what it’s all about.

“The idea for barn security and monitoring systems all started when I was an undercover police officer working in narcotics,” Fickenscher says. This was 1994, and Fickenscher experienced the loss of a horse he owned as a result of the mare going into an early, difficult labor, resulting in the loss of the mare and her foal.

When Fickenscher’s next mare was due, he borrowed the wireless video transmitter that the undercover narcotics unit used to monitor the mare’s condition remotely, as consumer-grade wireless video transmitters were not readily available to purchase, and those that were came with a hefty price tag.

“Using this camera system saved this mare’s life because I was able to intervene during her labor,” Fickenscher says.

In 1997, Fickenscher decided to launch his company and its website, selling barn camera systems based on the equipment used by law enforcement. Building his company, as he simultaneously worked in law enforcement, resulted in him recognizing some of the unique monitoring and security needs of the agricultural industry. Retiring from law enforcement in 2013, Fickenscher now leads the helm of Riverwind Surveillance Supply, growing it into a multi-million dollar company that has proven its worth among producers, both small and large.

“We are a family-operated company that offers solutions for farmers and cattlemen with anywhere from one to three horses, up to 500 head of cattle,” Fickenscher say. “For places with colder climates like Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota, our camera systems have proven to be so valuable when it’s too cold outside to have to go out and monitor an animal in labor. Instead of walking out to the barns, they can watch and monitor the well-being of an animal throughout the night from their house. Rather than spot-checking periodically, when you’re watching a cow in labor on video, you can see patterns develop and you can see changes in her behavior and her progress.”

Because the layout of every farm or ranch is different, as are the security and monitoring needs, Fickenscher and his team work closely with each producer to determine the best placement of cameras and to develop the ideal solutions for their needs.

“We’ll jump on an aerial map and determine what exactly the view of the placement of each camera,” Fickenscher says. “There are different ways that we can set up systems, based on the location of barns and if they have line sight of the house, etc. We will sit down and design a proposed monitoring and security plan that will provide the big picture for security purposes.”

In addition to providing camera monitoring systems for the exterior and interior of barns for the purpose of managing animal wellbeing, Riverwind also provides security systems to help producers keep tabs on the security of their property, buildings, machinery, and homestead.

For more information about Riverwind Surveillance Supply, visit www.BarnWatcher.com

Barn Owl: Monitoring for Security & Operational Efficiency

By Maura Keller

With a long-standing history in the U.S. Air Force, serving 20 years as a fighter pilot and test pilot in the F-22, Josh Phifer understands the importance of safety and security in our insecure world. Combining that experience with his extensive ranching background, Phifer developed Barn Owl, a security monitoring solution that meets ranchers’ and remote business owners’ needs.

Regardless of the size of a ranching operation, there are a myriad of monitoring and security concerns – from evaluating the well-being of livestock to monitoring water tank levels to ensuring fences and equipment are secure. Traditionally, this type of monitoring activity requires ranchers and their staff to spend hours each day driving around, ensuring the safety and security of their operations.

Thanks to Barn Owl’s off-grid cameras and smart alerts, now ranchers can keep tabs on critical assets throughout their land and address issues or threats, all without having to spend countless hours behind the wheel.

While Phifer’s original idea for Barn Owl revolved around using drones to monitor activity and issues on ranches, he quickly realized that, while innovative, it did not make good business sense – for Barn Owl or the ranches they serve – due the complexity and costs involved.

So Phifer and his team turned their attention to developing camera sensing systems for critical resources on ranches, particularly in the area of water.

“We actually developed a remote water sensing system for farms and ranches, including stock water, fuel tanks, and fertilizer tanks, allowing ranchers to see their liquid levels all over the ranch,” Phifer says. “And we developed that product and tested it with a number of farmers and ranchers in Wyoming, and they said, ‘We like it. We’d rather just have cameras out there.’ So we pivoted into the cellular camera system at the end of 2017 and that’s really what we’ve been focused on since.”

Indeed, one of the key uses is asset monitoring on ranches, both in warmer months and in warmer locales, is typically water tank levels. Is the water tank full? Is the windmill pumping?

“But we also certainly have a growing use case based on security,” Phifer explains. “People put Barn Owl cameras on their front gates or on the long driveway to their house, to be alerted when somebody is driving down the road.”

Barn Owl monitoring systems are appropriate for any size ranch or farm, but large-scale ranches will undoubtedly benefit from a time-saving perspective. Ranch owners and their staff no longer have to drive to multiple water tanks locations to check on water levels.

“We do have smaller scale customers that may have one camera here and one camera there, as well as customers with dozens of cameras covering large areas,” Phifer says. “Our software is built to manage large camera counts very well.”

Brent, a U.S.-based rancher uses Barn Own daily to check livestock water in remote areas. “It saves me lots of miles and time each year,” he said. “Barn Owl is easy to set up and their customer service are some of the best around. They stand behind their products. I have been so impressed. I will be ordering more of these for remote monitoring.”

Likewise, Brandon, a rancher in New Mexico uses Barn Owl cameras to monitor water levels in hard to get places. “It saves me a lot of time and worry. It gives me peace of mind knowing that my cattle have water.”

Barn Owl’s strong customer support team can help make recommendations for proper placement of cameras and identify critical assets that need monitoring.

And because the environment of many ranches can be challenging with strong winds, damaging rain, and destructive animals, Barn Owl’s cameras are manufactured to be durable and withstand harsh conditions.

As Phifer explains, customers with a prepaid subscription receive access to a lifetime warranty, which includes lifetime replacements and upgrades for a low fee.

“When they do purchase the hardware up front, they have the peace of mind that no matter what happens to the camera, that will be covered and replaced,” Phifer says. In addition, for larger ranches with multiple employees, Barn Owl offers multi-user options that allow monitoring and alerts for more than one person.

“Having grown up driving around for four hours a day on a ranch, looking at the levels of water tanks, I understand the relief of simply pulling up your phone and seeing all your water tanks with the most recent photo from an hour ago,” Phifer says. “This is why the ranching community loves us.”

The Barn Owl system can also be used for security purposes, ensuring high-value equipment and buildings are secure.

“It’s our mission to help ranchers and remote business owners be more secure and more efficient,” Phifer says. “Having my extensive background in the military, security is really important to me. People have the need to secure themselves and feel safe and have peace of mind when they go to bed at night, both due to the efficiency of their operations, but also just knowing what’s out there and what’s happening. And so our vision is to make remote business owners more efficient, more secure, and to evoke awareness through this remote deployment of simple and affordable technology.”

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Protecting Your Assets

Barn Owl: Monitoring for Security & Operational Efficiency