A dairy farmer from Moate, Co Westmeath, is out of pocket by over €3,500 after thieves broke in to his paddocks and stole the field unit of his HerdInsights heat and health monitoring system. The farmer, Aidan Casey, who is based at Horseleap, believes they were targeting the tractor battery and solar panel which power the unit and which were sitting alongside it on the land at Templemacateer.

The field unit tracks the behaviour of his grazing cows, identifying them by their electronic collars, and works in tandem with a second unit stationed in his shed.

It wouldn’t work for any other farmer

The farmer says that there have been thefts of electric fence units in the area and the thieves may have thought the base unit was also a fencer.

“The unit is set up to read the collars of my cows,” he said. “It wouldn’t work for any other farmer and it’s of no use to anyone else.”

Anyone with any information on the item is asked to contact gardaí in Athlone. The matter is being dealt with by Garda Kieran Dempsey.

Aidan Casey advised other farmers to ensure any electric fencer units on land are kept out of view of passers by.