Published Feb 10, 2016

Thermal Camera Project: Clarion Sage Farm

By Nick Ohde
Clarion Sage Thermal Cam

Thermal image of the high tunnel at Clarion Sage Farm.

The next stop for the PFI thermal camera was Clarion Sage Farm near Waukee, owned and operated by Jennifer Miller and Cody Kilgore. Jennifer wanted to locate leaks in the farm’s newly constructed high tunnel, to see if it actually held its heat. She also used the camera to look at some areas of concern around the house and to take some cool pictures of the compost pile. As a result, she was able to tighten up a few areas in the high tunnel. Check out a few of the photos below.

Although Jennifer doesn’t own livestock, she thinks it might be a useful tool for those that do: “I thought of how my parents and other livestock farmers could use it–during cold or hot spells my parents construct temporary structures and it would be nice to know how well they work at actually keeping a small area cooler or warmer, respectively.” She says she’s considering a large piece of shade cloth for the high tunnel and it might be interesting to see how effective that is in the summer months.

If you’d like to use the thermal camera, send me an email – nick@practicalfarmers.org. There’s still time to identify some leaks around your house or farm before the end of winter!