Best Equipment for Cricket Farming in 2026: Bins, Sensors, and Tools

The right bin type can reduce per-unit housing cost by up to 40% at scale. That's not a marginal difference. It's the kind of efficiency gap that separates profitable operations from ones that are constantly squeezing to break even.

Most equipment guides for cricket farming mix cricket-specific gear with general insect farming equipment, or lump starter and commercial setups together without distinction. This list is cricket-specific. It also maps each equipment item to its role in a well-run farm workflow, so you know not just what to buy but why it matters.

TL;DR

• The right bin type can reduce per-unit housing cost by up to 40% at scale.
• Around $15-20 per unit, connects to a phone app, and logs temperature and humidity continuously.
• They're structural components of a well-run cricket bin.
• They're cheap ($8-12 each), widely available, and easy to clean.
• At scale up to 50 bins, they remain cost-effective.
• They also require manual modification to add ventilation.

Best for: Starter operations, 5-50 bin setups.

• A 45-gallon tote can house approximately 1.5-2x the adult crickets of a 27-gallon bin while taking up only slightly more floor space.
• You'll need a tub or outdoor space for effective sanitation at this size.

Best for: Operations scaling from 20-100+ bins.

Best for Small Farms: 27-Gallon Sterilite Totes

The standard workhorse of small to mid-size cricket farms.

• They're cheap ($8-12 each), widely available, and easy to clean.
• At scale up to 50 bins, they remain cost-effective.
• A 45-gallon tote can house approximately 1.5-2x the adult crickets of a 27-gallon bin while taking up only slightly more floor space.
• Without logging, you're flying blind.

Best Budget Option: Govee Temperature Humidity Sensor

Around $15-20 per unit, connects to a phone app, and logs temperature and humidity continuously.

• They're structural components of a well-run cricket bin.

Standard Paper Egg Flats (30-count)

The universal standard.

Bins: The Foundation of Your Operation

Your bins determine your stocking density ceiling, your cleaning workflow, and your ability to manage life stages separately. Get this choice right early, because changing it later is expensive.

Best for Small Farms: 27-Gallon Sterilite Totes

The standard workhorse of small to mid-size cricket farms. They're cheap ($8-12 each), widely available, and easy to clean. The lid system allows modification for ventilation mesh. At scale up to 50 bins, they remain cost-effective.

The limitation is that they're not stackable in a way that allows air circulation between bins, so you need shelving. They also require manual modification to add ventilation.

Best for: Starter operations, 5-50 bin setups.

Best for Scaling: Commercial Storage Totes (45-55 gallon)

Larger bins reduce per-cricket housing cost and reduce the number of bins you need to manage. A 45-gallon tote can house approximately 1.5-2x the adult crickets of a 27-gallon bin while taking up only slightly more floor space.

The trade-off is weight when full and more cumbersome cleaning. You'll need a tub or outdoor space for effective sanitation at this size.

Best for: Operations scaling from 20-100+ bins.

Best for Commercial: HDPE Corrugated Plastic Bins

Corrugated plastic panels can be cut and fastened into custom-sized cricket bins. They're lightweight, easy to sanitize, don't absorb odors or bacteria the way porous plastics can, and can be configured to your exact space dimensions. Many commercial operations use this approach because it optimizes floor space in ways that standard totes can't.

Cost is higher per unit than totes, but lifespan is longer and sanitation is easier at scale.

Best for: Commercial operations with dedicated facilities.

Temperature and Humidity Sensors

Temperature is your single most important environmental variable. Without logging, you're flying blind.

Best Budget Option: Govee Temperature Humidity Sensor

Around $15-20 per unit, connects to a phone app, and logs temperature and humidity continuously. At this price point, you can put one in every section of your farm for a full picture of your temperature profile. The app shows historical curves, which is what you actually need to diagnose temperature management problems.

Best for: Starter and growing operations that need affordable coverage.

Best for Multi-Bin Farms: Inkbird IBS-TH2

Similar price point to Govee, but the Inkbird ecosystem works well for multi-sensor setups and can export data to spreadsheets. If you're tracking temperature data alongside bin performance in a spreadsheet or farm management system, exportable data saves a lot of manual logging.

Best for: Operations tracking temperature alongside batch performance data.

Best Commercial Option: Data-Logging Environmental Controllers

Dedicated environmental controllers (Ranco, Inkbird, or similar) allow you to automate heating and cooling responses to temperature readings, not just monitor them. They can trigger space heaters, fans, or cooling units when temperature goes outside your set range. More expensive ($50-150+ per zone), but they turn temperature monitoring into active temperature management.

Best for: Operations with 40+ bins where manual temperature adjustment is impractical.

Hydration Systems

Never use open water in cricket bins. Every hydration system on this list avoids the drowning risk that kills thousands of crickets per week on poorly managed farms.

Water Gel Crystals

The most widely used hydration method for cricket farms. Crystals absorb water and release it slowly, giving crickets a stable surface to drink from without any pool of standing water. Cheap, easy, and effective across all life stages. Replace every 2-3 days to prevent bacterial growth.

Best for: All life stages, especially pinheads and small juveniles.

Fresh Vegetables

Cucumber, zucchini, and sweet potato slices provide hydration and supplemental nutrition. Many farms use vegetables as their primary hydration source, especially in the finishing phase before harvest when gut-loading the crickets for nutrition quality.

The downside is spoilage. Remove uneaten vegetable pieces within 24 hours to prevent mold and bacterial buildup.

Best for: Finishing phase and adult breeding bins.

Drip Watering Systems

Some commercial farms use small-scale drip irrigation with absorbent substrate beneath. This provides continuous hydration without the labor of daily gel or vegetable replacement. Requires setup and monitoring but cuts daily hydration labor by 60-80% at scale.

Best for: Large commercial operations where labor efficiency matters most.

Egg Flats and Hiding Surfaces

Egg flats are not optional. They're structural components of a well-run cricket bin.

Standard Paper Egg Flats (30-count)

The universal standard. Paper egg flats provide vertical surface area that lets crickets spread out and hide without being forced into physical contact with each other. Stacking three or four vertically in your bin doubles or triples the usable surface area over floor-only housing.

Buy in case quantities (100-200 flats). They're cheap, disposable between batches, and the single best hiding surface option available.

Cost: $40-60 per case of 100.

Cardboard Tubes and Dividers

Toilet paper rolls, paper towel cores, and cut cardboard are a secondary surface area supplement in some operations. They're free if you're collecting them, but inconsistent sizing makes stacking less efficient than egg flats.

Best for: Supplemental use, breeding bins, and operations where egg flat availability is limited.

Harvest Tools

Sifting Screens and Frames

For manual harvesting, a frame-mounted wire mesh screen lets you separate crickets from substrate and frass. Screen mesh size matters: 1/8" mesh for small-medium crickets, 1/4" for adults.

A two-screen system (coarse for frass, fine for substrate debris) speeds up the process. Most small operations build these from hardware cloth and wood frames for under $20 per screen.

Best for: Small operations harvesting under 20 bins per week.

Harvest Funnel and Collection Bags

A harvest funnel attached to a ventilated collection bag makes transferring live crickets from bin to shipping container faster and less stressful for the crickets. Reduces physical handling time and DOA rate compared to scooping with cups.

Best for: Feeder cricket operations where live product quality is paramount.

FAQ

What bins are best for cricket farming?

For small operations under 50 bins, 27-gallon Sterilite storage totes are the most cost-effective option. They're cheap, widely available, and easy to modify for ventilation. For scaling operations, 45-55 gallon commercial totes reduce housing cost per cricket. Commercial operations with dedicated facilities often build custom HDPE corrugated plastic bins that optimize their specific floor space.

What temperature sensors work best for a cricket farm?

For starter and growing farms, Govee or Inkbird Bluetooth temperature and humidity sensors ($15-20 each) provide continuous data logging at an affordable price point per unit. For larger operations where you want automated temperature control responses, dedicated environmental controllers like Ranco or Inkbird controllers can trigger heating and cooling automatically when temperature moves outside your target range.

What tools do I need to harvest crickets efficiently?

Manual harvesting requires sifting screens in two mesh sizes (1/8" and 1/4") for separating crickets from substrate and frass. A harvest funnel with a collection bag reduces stress on live crickets during transfer. For larger operations considering automation, drum separation systems can reduce per-bin harvest time from 45-90 minutes to under 15 minutes, though the equipment cost only pays off at 40+ bins per harvest cycle. For tracking your full operation workflow, cricket farm management tools help connect harvest data to your batch records.

How does CricketOps help track the metrics described in this article?

CricketOps provides bin-level logging for the variables that drive production outcomes -- feed inputs, environmental conditions, mortality events, and harvest results. Rather than maintaining these records in separate spreadsheets, you can view performance trends across bins and over time to identify which operational variables correlate with better outcomes in your specific facility.

Where can I find industry benchmarks to compare my operation's performance?

The North American Coalition for Insect Agriculture (NACIA) publishes periodic industry reports with production benchmarks. University extension programs in agricultural states, including the University of Georgia and University of Florida IFAS, occasionally publish insect farming production data. Industry conferences hosted by the Entomological Society of America and the Insects to Feed the World symposium series are additional sources of peer benchmarking data.

What is the biggest operational mistake cricket farmers make in their first year?

Expanding bin count before achieving consistent FCR and mortality targets in existing bins is the most common and costly first-year mistake. At 5-10 bins, problems are manageable. At 30-50 bins, the same proportional problems represent much larger financial losses. Most experienced cricket farmers recommend holding expansion until you have three consecutive production cycles hitting your FCR and mortality targets.

Sources

• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) -- Edible Insects: Future Prospects for Food and Feed Security
• North American Coalition for Insect Agriculture (NACIA)
• Entomological Society of America
• University of Georgia Cooperative Extension
• Journal of Insects as Food and Feed (Wageningen Academic Publishers)

Match Your Equipment to Your Stage

The biggest equipment mistake new farms make is over-investing in commercial-grade gear before they've validated their basic process. A 50-bin operation run with 27-gallon totes and basic Govee sensors is more profitable than a 50-bin operation with expensive custom bins and commercial controllers if the fundamentals aren't working yet.

Start with what solves your current problem. Add equipment when your data shows you what's holding production back. That's how the equipment investment pays off instead of just adding overhead.

Get Started with CricketOps

The practices covered in this article are easier to apply consistently when they are supported by organized production data. CricketOps gives cricket farmers the tools to track what matters -- by bin, by batch, and over time. Start your next production cycle in CricketOps and see how organized data changes the way you manage your operation.