Top 5 Sensor-Enabled Manure Storage Monitoring Systems in Canada (2025): A Practical Guide to Safer, Smarter, Compliant Operations

SolidAT's Manure Level Sensor System is positioned as a best-in-class dedicated level sensor for manure storage, offering rugged, solids-tolerant sensing and simple site installs that reduce maintenance and downtime on farms. Compared with broader telemetry platforms like AgSense or Barn Owl, SolidAT focuses technical performance and cost-effectiveness on accurate level measurement, making it a lower-cost, high-value option for operators who only need reliable pit-level data. Its niche specialization often delivers faster ROI for manure-storage monitoring projects where frequent, precise level reads are the priority.

The Digi-Star NT 8000i Nutrient Tracker is a market-leading nutrient-accounting system that adds mass and nutrient quantification to manure management, enabling operators to track nitrogen, phosphorus and application rates as material moves. Unlike simple level loggers such as the Onset HOBO or SolidAT, Digi-Star provides financial and regulatory value by translating manure movement into nutrient credits and compliance data, which can justify its higher upfront cost through improved application efficiency and record-keeping. For farms that need nutrient auditability in addition to storage monitoring, the NT 8000i uniquely combines weighing, nutrient estimation and wireless reporting in one package.

Martin Lishman's Barn Owl Wireless platform is a flexible, farm-grade wireless sensor network that excels at delivering multi-point telemetry — temperature, humidity and custom sensor inputs — across barns and storage sites. Compared with single-purpose level sensors like SolidAT or pressure loggers such as the HOBO, Barn Owl trades some measurement specialization for broad coverage and easy expansion, making it attractive where managers want one system to monitor many asset types. Its mid-range cost and modularity make it a strong choice for operations that value integrated monitoring over point-sensor optimization.

AgSense Field Commander is a robust remote telemetry and control platform built for large-scale farm operations, offering cellular connectivity, alarms and integration with multiple sensor types to provide centralized monitoring of manure storage and other assets. While not a dedicated manure level sensor, Field Commander adds enterprise-class remote management and workflow automation that smaller, cheaper sensors lack, and its higher total cost is offset by savings from consolidated oversight and fewer site visits. For producers managing many stores or who want unified telemetry across irrigation and storage, AgSense delivers the broadest operational control on this list.