Ag in the News: Virtual Fencing for Cattle Grazing
Electric collars and invisible fences for household pets in residential backyards have become common for years. However, the technology is now being used in the livestock industry for grazing and herd management. Instead of keeping your dog out of the street and away from the neighbors, virtual fences are keeping cattle in the right pasture.
How Does It Work
Farmers that use virtual fencing for their cattle first outfit each cow with its own collar. The collar consists of a battery, a GPS tracker, speaker for audio warning, and prongs for electric cues. The GPS unit pings off of nearby cellphone reception towers which transmit the location data to the farmer’s device. From the device the farmer can see the location of all the cattle with collars, set boundaries for new pastures, and review grazing data and habits. Although the technology has been used primarily for cattle, studies show that it would be effective for sheep and goats as well.
Who Makes It
Several companies have developed technology and products for cattle ranching. One company is Gallagher Animal ManagementTM that specializes in developing new technology for ranching animal management. Their product, eShepherd TM, is a solar-powered, livestock neckband that uses GPS to keep cattle within virtual fences. They also have a software that can schedule pasture rotations and track herd habits.
The Future of Fencing
Fences have been around for hundreds of years, electric fences for dozens of years, and virtual fences for just the past few years. Although the current technology is extraordinary it can be expected that virtual fencing will continue to develop. The development may look like: smaller trackers, longer lasting batteries, lower costs, more sophisticated software, among other upgrades. Overall, labor for cattle management that used to take hours of effort now happens in the click of a button.
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And Another Thing 06 Invisible Fences for Cattle
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