Isle Of Wight Farmer Launches Revolutionary Service To Improve Animal Welfare

Monday, 20 September 2021 06:00

By Iona Stewart-Richardson @IslandIona

An Isle of Wight farmer is launching a revolutionary service that will not only save the farming industry millions of pounds a year but also improve animal welfare.

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Livestock Lookout aims to keep livestock safe and has been developed by Tim Rogers who was inspired by his own first-hand experience.

Tim, of 250-acre Palmers Farm at Wootton (which is nestled in the shadow of Queen Victoria’s former home at Osborne House), came up with an idea whereby you can simply text a central number that then privately alerts the farmer, so they can respond accordingly.

The Isle of Wight National Farming Union is also backing the scheme, which has been trailed successfully on the Island and is now being rolled out nationally.

Tim said he has had a good response from local farmers:

"We trialled it here with well-known farmers and they have found they have been able to whittle out any false incidents and they have been able to respond quickly and efficiently to genuine incidents on their land.

"The farmer remains anonymous because we have a central number now where the walkers can text 'help' and then each board next to the farmer's field has a location number and the walkers are asked to enter that location number too.

"They then text back and ask what the issue is... It could be a rural crime too which is an increasing problem at the moment, the texts will go through to the farmer to give him as much information as possible. If it is an emergency he will get a call from the intelligent technology, telling him there is an incident on his land."

Another benefit of the project is it provides a quick response to dog attacks, which the NFU Mutual estimates cost farmers around £1.3m in 2020.

Livestock Lookout can also help tackle other problems including:

Escaped cattle
Livestock theft
Damage caused by straying animals
Issues with gates and fencing

With more people spending more time in the countryside as a result of changing habits in a post-Covid world, Tim believes his new service is becoming available at just the right time.

Tim added:

“Increased use of the countryside presents both a challenge and an opportunity. It is a challenge because some people will not be familiar with the countryside code, but also an opportunity as they also present a useful and plentiful source of eyes and ears for the farmer.”

The Livestock Lookout concept works by giving farmers 24/7 year-round support to keep an eye on their land and livestock through highly visible signage and intelligent technology.

Tim explained how it all started when a cow escaped from one of his fields:

“The first we knew of it was via a post my wife Danielle came across on Facebook. By then it had become quite a serious incident. The cow had knocked someone over – thankfully they were not hurt too badly – and had damaged a car.

“After that, we put up a sign giving our contact number in case there were any future problems. But all that did was generate unwanted phone calls from people wanting to use our land for anything from metal detecting and camping to motocross.

“It was clear we needed a more effective early warning system that also kept our own personal details anonymous – and that is exactly what Livestock Lookout does.”

Robyn Munt, Chair of the Isle of Wight branch of the NFU added:

“We are very happy to support our member, Tim, with this innovative and positive way of interacting with and utilising the increased numbers of people enjoying the British Countryside.”

Stephen Russell, Policy and advocacy officer for the Ramblers concluded:

“Walkers can play a vital role as the eyes and ears of the countryside. However, it can be very hard for them to know who to turn to to report incidents of concern they come across.

"This service has the potential to bring together the farming community, for whom the countryside is a working environment, and the public, who are keen to get outdoors and connect with nature, to protect and improve rural green spaces for everyone.”

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Isle Of Wight Farmer Launches Revolutionary Service To Improve Animal Welfare

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