Why Install a Farm Generator for Your Business?

In agriculture and business operations, ensuring a consistent and reliable power supply is paramount. Power outages can strike unexpectedly, posing significant challenges to maintaining operations and causing financial losses. To fortify against such uncertainties, an increasing number of farms and businesses are opting to install power generators. In this blog post, we explore the strategic advantages of integrating farm generators into your infrastructure, ranging from ensuring uninterrupted operations to enhancing emergency preparedness.

Benefits of a Farm Generator 

1. Reliability and Backup Power

One of the primary reasons for installing a power generator is to guarantee uninterrupted operations, especially in areas prone to power outages. Farms and businesses that rely on continuous processes, such as manufacturing, processing, or refrigeration, can not afford downtime. A farm generator acts as a reliable backup, stepping in seamlessly during grid failures and ensuring that critical operations proceed without disruption.

2. Emergency Preparedness

In times of emergencies or natural disasters, maintaining critical infrastructure becomes crucial. Farms, for example, often house essential machinery, water pumps, and refrigeration units that require constant power. A power generator acts as a safeguard, ensuring that these vital components continue to function even when the grid falters. This level of emergency preparedness can make a significant difference in minimizing losses and expediting recovery.

Why Install a Farm Generator for Your Business?

3. Cost Savings

Financial losses incurred during power outages can be substantial, particularly for businesses that rely on consistent operations. A power generator becomes a strategic investment, helping to mitigate these losses by keeping operations running, preserving perishable goods, and avoiding disruptions in services. Beyond these immediate benefits, some businesses also leverage generators to take advantage of lower energy costs during off-peak hours or participate in demand response programs, contributing to long-term cost savings.

4. Remote Locations

For farms and businesses situated in remote locations, a reliable power grid may not always be accessible. In such cases, power generators offer a lifeline, providing an independent power source that enables off-grid operations. This autonomy is particularly valuable, allowing these businesses to function regardless of the grid’s availability and contributing to sustainability in remote environments.

Benefits of a Farm Generator

5. Environmental Control

Agricultural operations, especially those involving greenhouses or livestock facilities, often require precise environmental conditions for optimal results. Farm generators play a pivotal role in maintaining these conditions, ensuring that temperature, humidity, and other critical factors remain controlled even during power outages. This capability enhances the efficiency and success of agricultural endeavours by providing a consistent and controlled environment.

6. Customization

The versatility of power generators lies in their ability to be tailored to the specific needs of farms and businesses. With various sizes and types available, businesses can choose a farm generator that aligns precisely with their power requirements. This customization ensures that the generator seamlessly integrates into the existing infrastructure, optimizing its performance and providing a tailored solution for unique operational demands.

The installation of power generators offers a multitude of strategic advantages for farms and businesses. From ensuring uninterrupted operations to enhancing emergency preparedness and achieving cost savings, farm generators emerge as indispensable assets in today’s dynamic operational landscape. Contact Current Group for customized automation solutions for your business. Harness the full potential of power generators to empower your operations and thrive in the face of uncertainties.

As winter approaches, cattle ranchers face the critical challenge of ensuring their herds maintain optimal health and growth despite the harsh conditions. One often overlooked factor is the temperature of drinking water, which plays a significant role in the overall well-being and productivity of range cattle during cold months. In this article, we will explore how water temperature impacts water consumption and growth performance and how Current Group’s Open2O cattle trough heater can make a difference by preventing freezing and ensuring water availability.

The Impact of Access to Water on Cattle Health

Research consistently shows that water availability is critical to cattle’s water intake, especially during winter. Frozen water can drastically reduce consumption, as cattle cannot access the necessary water. This leads to dehydration and increased energy expenditure, as cattle use more energy to maintain their body temperature in the cold. 

This increase in water intake is crucial because it correlates with higher dry matter intake (DMI), which is essential for maintaining body weight and overall health during the cold season.

According to Jon DeClerck, Ph.D., cattle nutritionist with Purina Animal Nutrition, “Water is the most essential nutrient for cattle production,” says “It’s used for regulating body temperature, growth, reproduction, lactation, digestion and many other bodily functions. Water also drives intake for mineral, forage and supplements. And while we typically worry more about water intake in summer, it’s equally as important in cold weather.”

“For fall calving herds, water requirements go up drastically during lactation. Cows hit peak lactation right when water is at risk of freezing up. With spring calving herds, water access is key to avoid stress and long-term performance impacts to both the cow and unborn calf.”

Consequences of Inadequate Water Intake in Winter

When cattle do not have consistent access to water due to freezing conditions, the consequences can be severe. Insufficient water intake leads to dehydration, reduced feed intake (which affects nutrition), and poor growth performance. Instead, energy that should be used for growth is used to maintain body temperature, leading to weight loss and a decline in body condition. Additionally, water shortages can disrupt rumen fermentation, nutrient absorption, and overall cattle health, further compromising productivity.

Ideal Water Temperature and its Effect on Your Herd

Ensuring that water is available to cattle throughout winter is crucial to their hydration and growth. However, a balance needs to be met in terms of your water temperature.

Kate Hornyak, OSU Extension Program Coordinator, Delaware County, says, Keeping the ideal temperature of drinking water for cattle is a balance – it should neither be hot nor frozen.” – “It’s interesting to note that steers with access to cool drinking water have shown to gain an additional 0.3 to 0.4 pounds per day compared to those consuming warmer water. This underscores the importance of regularly checking the temperature of water, especially in waterers equipped with heaters, to avoid what’s known as a “runaway” – a situation where the water gets too warm.”

Cattle Trough Heater Open2O: Preventing Frozen Water

To address the challenges of water freezing during the cold season, Current Group offers the Open2O advanced electric device, an innovative solution designed to monitor water temperature and regulate the power to the heating element. Unlike traditional heating systems that continuously warm water, Open2O ensures that water remains just above freezing, reducing energy consumption and ensuring that cattle always have access to water.

Features of Open2O Water Controller

  • Power Savings: The Cattle Trough Heater Open2O has multiple temperature inputs, which allows it to monitor water temperature every 30 seconds and turn on the heating elements only as needed. This optimized control has been proven to cut substantial power usage, with an estimated minimum of 53% power savings.
  • Real-Time Water Consumption Report: The Cattle Trough Heater Open2O system provides real-time reports on water consumption, which allows cattle operators to monitor water intake per animal. This data helps identify potential issues early on, as it compares water usage across different troughs, signalling if a problem arises with any specific bowl. Accurate water consumption data supports better animal health analysis, ensuring every animal is adequately hydrated.
  • Alarm Options for Consumption and Temperature: The Cattle Trough Heater Open2O has alarm options that alert operators to unusual consumption patterns—whether too high or too low—indicating potential issues like a broken water line. The system also notifies operators if the water temperature drops too close to freezing.
  • Labour and Stress Reduction: With Open2O’s remote monitoring capabilities, feedlot operators no longer need to send staff out in cold temperatures to check water bowls. Instead, they can view the software and confirm that all water sources remain open, reducing labour costs and management stress year-round.

 

With these features, Open2O provides a comprehensive solution to prevent water bowls from freezing, monitor water consumption, and support cattle health through the cold months.

Critical Benefits of Cattle Trough Heater Open2O

  • Prevents Water from Freezing: Open2O ensures that water remains accessible, avoiding water freezing in bowls.
  • Energy Efficiency: By regulating the power to the heating element, Open2O conserves energy, reducing costs while maintaining water availability.
  • Durability and Reliability: Built to withstand harsh winter conditions, Open2O ensures uninterrupted access to water throughout the cold months.
  • Improved Growth Performance: By preventing frozen water, Open2O supports cattle hydration, feed utilization, and overall growth performance.


Providing unfrozen drinking water during winter is more than just a comfort for cattle—it’s essential to maintaining their health and growth. With the Open2O device from Current Group, ranchers can ensure that their cattle have continuous access to water, even in the coldest months. Invest in cattle trough heater Open2O today to secure your herd’s health and boost your bottom line this winter.