Most hogs are raised in barns with as many as several thousand in a barn. More and more farms have advanced ventilation systems to carefully control the conditions in the barn These controllers are basically advanced thermostats that allow you to pump fresh air into the barn, operate heaters, vents and curtains, and ensure that the pigs have a good growing environment. Usually these controllers monitor temperature using several temperature probes and may even record temperature. Common systems include controllers from Cumberland, Maximus, and Automated Production Systems. The most advanced systems are Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC) at their core and can record data and may even be viewed and controlled using a PC or Smartphone.
These systems are great for controlling barns, but have three major limitations. The first is that they usually only control the ventilation. They are great for making sure the temperature in a room is good, but usually will not let you monitor other things. If you want to know the temperature of a separate holding pen that is naturally ventilated or the temperature of a medicine cooler you will have to use a system like Smart Barn. Second, unlike Smart Barn they require internet access to the barn. The third limitation is your ventilation controller does not have a battery backup. Whether new or old, if there is a power outage your ventilation cooler will shut down and you need to know immediately which is a benefit only Smart Barn can offer.
What's the recommended way? Use Smart Barn to monitor temperature, power, and alarm contacts to keep your farm safe and secure.
