John Guest manages a beef cattle farm on the edge of the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales.
He recently took part in a successful trial to test new digital agriculture technology, virtual fencing. Virtual fencing is an animal-friendly system that trains livestock to be confined or moved without using actual fences. Cleverly named eShepherdTM, the farmer creates a virtual fence boundary using a smart phone, tablet or computer and the system uses GPS, wireless technologies and sensors to control the location of livestock.
“I can see we would use it on our properties to reduce expensive fencing and keep stock out of areas that are difficult to muster or control. It’s got the potential to make livestock handling simpler, cheaper and more efficient through so many ways,” John said.
The system works by giving audio cues to cattle through solar-powered smart collars as they approach the fence and a small electric pulse if they continue on. Over a short period of time, the cows learn to turn away when they hear the audio. If they do go as far as receiving the pulse, it’s significantly less than the shock of an electric fence. Minimising any stress and ensuring welfare of the animals has been a key part of the research.
The trial involved a herd of Angus cattle in a paddock with full access to a river and its adjoining land.
For the first week the cattle, with collars on, were able to roam freely in the paddock, cross the river and head into the bush. They were monitored and although they were new to the paddock, they got used to drinking at the river each day and grazing alongside it where the pasture is lusher.
eShepherdTM was then turned on, effectively blocking their access. Within a few hours all animals learned the presence of the virtual fence and chose not to enter the waterway zone. Only four cows ‘touched’ the fence – they turned away and thanks to the herd effect, others followed.
John explains.
“I was surprised how quickly the cattle learnt what the collars were about and after only a few zaps, they just turned away when they heard the audio cue. This is even kinder than an electric fence!”
Three days into the trial a few animals pushed through the fence but, unlike an electric fence, the system slowly, within around 40 minutes, ‘shepherded’ them back to where they were meant to be.
Gen Guest, who’s with Murray Local land Services, was also impressed.
“This would prove much more effective than conventional electric fencing on all stock, especially bulls and rogue animals,” Gen said.
After eleven days the virtual fence was removed and the animals rapidly returned to grazing along the waterway.
We started working on virtual fencing in 2005 and over the next five years we became world-leaders, inventing, developing and patenting this world-first, unique system. We teamed up with agritech start-up, Gallagher (formerly Agersens), to help get the technology out to farmers, and they are our exclusive, worldwide licensee and commercial partner in virtual fencing.
Gallagher, was named one of the world’s top disruptive brands of 2017 for trailblazing in the industry, is also collaborating in New Zealand applying eShepherdTM to their conditions.
The aim of this trial was to test the effectiveness of keeping the cattle out of an environmentally sensitive area. However, there are also a multitude of other reasons farmers could use the developing technology.
“With the heifers, I look forward to one day being given an alert when they are in trouble and I won’t have to spend hours checking them during calving time!” John said.
“While its most obvious uses are keeping stock out of creeks or where tree lines are being established, the potential management benefits are endless. From rotational grazing and separating bulls, to being able to graze different mobs on the same crop, or reducing weaning stress by slowly moving calves from their mothers while in the same paddock,” Gen said.
The trial was supported by Murray Local land Services and Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority.
16th January 2020 at 4:27 pm
How far ahead in terms of commercialisation are they at the moment?.I have a place in northern NSW , which I have bought in the last 18 months & am at the stage now where the fencing is about to start.On our previous farm we applied regenerative agricultural methods for about 10 yrs to great sucess & feel that virtual fencing would suit us well.There is not a fence on the place & we are seriously looking at the pros & cons of this compared to solid fencing.In dollar terms it seems very competitive.
I hear it is illegal in NSW , maybe we could be part of a research project in northern NSW? We are in a position to facilitate some type of trial & I would love to talk to someone about it
Gerard Crochon
22nd February 2018 at 7:32 am
I think collars would be ok even if the neck had to be sheared occasionally. It would be better than moving or building fences. It would have so many applications to move sheep
20th January 2018 at 5:28 pm
Hi
How can I get some more information about virtual fencing. I have a website about this subject and would like to add some information about this.
Thanks
9th August 2017 at 9:25 pm
Brilliant idea Would it work for sheep?
18th August 2017 at 8:11 am
Hi Heather,
We passed your question on to our scientist and this was her reply:
“Yes, theoretically it works for sheep too and has been trialed using manual collars. But for sheep it would probably eventually be in the form of an ear tag because of course the wool between the sheep’s skin and the collar grows continually. Therefore sheep are a bit behind cattle in terms of commercialisation. Dr Danila Marini UNE/CSIRO is working on sheep as part of the larger virtual fencing project.”
Cheers,
Ellen
CSIRO Social Media