The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

It seems that the latest technology for ranchers who calf this time of year is a camera or two which saves much stress on getting up during the night several times, putting on warm clothing and checking cows ready to calf.

Down the Judith road toward the mighty Missouri, at the Darlington ranch, there are two of these cameras in operation and even though it is too early for Dana and Lisa to know all the pros and cons about having those cameras, so far nothing but good is happening with the cameras, and life certainly is easier each day of calving.

Allan Merrill, who ranches just past Darlingtons and who drives by their ranch each morning when he goes to Great Falls said, "I knew there was something different at Darlingtons. Usually this time of year they would have lots of yard lights all night long because of calving. Now it is dark there every morning when I drive by."

Dana Darlington said that they installed two infra red cameras. One is in the barn where cows go when ready to give birth. The other is outside where the heifers give birth.

"With the infra red capability, I can see 300 feet of bright light without ever turning on an outside light," Dana added. I think the cost of them will be offset by much lower power bills this time of year."

Dana says that eventually he might add to the cameras but for now the two of them are getting the job done.

When Dana and Lisa were in "The Mountaineer" office they got a picture happening right then on Dana's I Phone. That picture showed a stall in the barn and a cow and calf. The cow had just recently given birth.

Even better, they can get a much more uninterrupted sleep because they have a lap top and their I phones by the bed and can just flip on to the cameras and see what is going on without getting up.

"The Mountaineer" reporter suggested they get a big screen for the end of their bed and play soft music and drink wine while watching for action in the barn or out with the heifers.

That did not seem to go over so big but what was huge for Dana is the way he can handle his spooky heifers when they are giving birth. It used to be that he had to go outside and see if a calf had been born. Chances are the cow would run the other way leaving the calf to fend for itself temporarily at any rate. Now he can aim his outside camera under the heifer and see that something is sucking and then aim the camera at the other side of the heifer and see a new calf without ever having the heifer know that someone is looking her way.

The systems are costly. Dana and Lisa Darlington paid around thirty thousand dollars for what is a small system but like Dana said, that should be well offset by not having all those yard lights on for several months a year.

And, as Dana repeated, "We can add on to the system easily when we think it is necessary."

The amazing thing about the technology is that in "The Mountaineer" offices we could watch Darlington's operation while talking about the system.

That technology has been around a long time. It started with security cameras for buildings and homes. It is that just now someone has adapted it for an agriculture related industry and it is going gang busters in this part of Montana anyway.

Probably the operation of calving will not ever be the most popular ranching job but with the use of cameras, it went from intolerable the more there were giving birth to being manageable now for ranchers who use the cameras.

People who have huge numbers to calve said often that they were numb and in shock by the time they got through that calving project. Not anymore. With cameras, ranchers have gotten a life back these early and cold months of calving.