Farm CCTV installation in Mildenhall and Suffolk

Deciding what to cover

Most farm systems start at the entrances. A camera on the main gate and any field access points records every vehicle coming and going, and number plates are far easier to read when the camera is placed for that job alone rather than trying to cover the whole yard too.

• Yards and hardstanding

  Wide views of working areas, parked machinery and loading points, positioned so floodlights do not blind the camera.

• Barns and machinery stores

  Cameras covering the doors and the inside of sheds where tractors, tools and equipment are kept.

• Fuel tanks and chemical stores

  Close coverage of high-value or hazardous stores that are frequent targets.

• Livestock buildings

  A way to check on animals from the house, particularly useful during lambing or calving.

Linking buildings that are far apart

The biggest challenge on a farm is distance. Running cable between a farmhouse and a grain store several fields away means trenching across tracks and land, which is slow, disruptive and expensive. A point-to-point wireless bridge sends the network through the air instead, from a small antenna on one building to another with a clear line of sight.

Once a building is connected, its cameras join the same system as everything else. Several outlying buildings can be linked in this way, so the whole farm appears in one app rather than on separate recorders in separate sheds.

Where there is a clear view between buildings, a single hop is enough. Where a hill, a tree belt or another barn is in the way, the link can be relayed through an intermediate building that can see both ends.

Alerts that reach you in the field

Recording is useful after the event, but on a farm the real value is knowing something is happening while you can still act. Intrusion detection notifications send an alert to your phone when a camera picks up movement in an area it is watching, such as a person by the fuel store at two in the morning.

Alert zones can be drawn around the parts of the picture that matter, so cattle in the next field or a tractor working the yard during the day do not flood your phone. Two-way audio lets you challenge someone through the camera, and you can review recordings from the cab or the kitchen table.

It is sensible to keep the recorder somewhere secure, such as the farm office or the house, so footage is preserved even if a camera is damaged.

Power, weather and growing the system

Cameras need power, and on a farm that is not always close at hand. Many IP cameras can take power and data through a single network cable, which simplifies runs along building eaves. Where a building has no supply at all, that needs planning early. Equipment outdoors has to cope with rain, frost, dust and wind, so housings, brackets and cable entries are chosen with exposure in mind.

Our systems scale from a single camera on a gate to a complex network across a large agricultural property. Many farms start with the most vulnerable spots and add cameras as buildings change or new risks appear, and the design allows for that from the outset.

Lightning and power surges are another consideration on exposed sites, so we think about where equipment sits and how it is protected.

Vehicles, machinery and the rest of the site

Cameras protect the yard, but tractors, quad bikes and trailers spend much of their time away from it. GPS vehicle tracking shows where they are and can help if one is ever moved without permission.

Intruder alarms on the farmhouse, office or workshop add another layer, and outdoor Wi-Fi can bring a usable connection to the yard for phones and tablets. Maintenance plans keep cameras clean and working through the seasons.

Think about who else needs access. A farm manager, a family member or a neighbour who keeps an eye on things can each be given their own login to the app.

Find out about GPS vehicle tracking