A South Dakota news station has broadcast live from inside a calving barn. Learn more about it on today’s blog.

Amanda Radke

February 20, 2017

2 Min Read
Local news channel shares live Cow Cam with viewers
Amanda Radke

Calving season is in full swing at our house, and we’ve been blessed with unseasonably warm temperatures this February. Although snow is expected to sweep our area in the next week, we are taking full advantage of the sunshine, and we sleep a little easier at night knowing the newborn calves will be just fine if they are born outside in this weather.

In my opinion, this time of year is one of the best times for ranchers to share their agricultural stories with consumers on social media. Calving season offers cattlemen the opportunity to talk about how they make sure these newborn calves get off to a good start, and photos of cute babies never hurts either.

I always love sharing this BEEF gallery titled “101 reader-submitted baby calf photos” which is a stunning collection of images from this time of the year.

In addition, I’m always looking for new ways to showcase calving season, and last week, our local new station did a great job of doing just that.

KELOLAND News (a station based out of Sioux Falls, S.D.) recently teamed up with a local cow-calf producer and On Sight 24/7 cameras to live stream a “Cow Cam” of calving cows in a barn for their viewers to watch.

Spacious pens, fresh bedding, gentle cows and the anticipation of watching a live birth brought viewers in by the thousands. With more than 111,000 views, 818 “likes” and 310 “shares,” this viral video brought rural America to the living room of urban viewers.

In a KELOLAND News report about the Cow Cam, cow-calf producer Dan Lehrman talked about why he opened up his calving facility for area viewers to see.

Lehrman told reporters, “You know a lot of kids in the city don't experience this. It's amazing how some of them don't even know where milk comes from in the big city other than the store.”

You can read about the Cow Cam here and maybe even see a newborn calf or two born live while you’re at it. Check it out, and if you feel so inclined, share this with your local news station to see if they, too, would be willing to set up a live stream from a calving barn for their viewers to watch.

The opinions of Amanda Radke are not necessarily those of beefmagazine.com or Penton Agriculture.

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