Beep, Beep, Buzz: A New Breed of Livestock Fencing

With your Southeast Regional Ag News, I am Haylie Shipp. This is the Ag Information Network.

Virtual fencing is a new technology that combines a cattle collar and a computer. With the Nature Conservancy in Kansas, Tony Capizzo is leading a study on the idea...

“What we’re doing is applying collars to livestock, we’re working with cattle, primarily cow/calf pairs. Those collars are interacting with radio towers and our ranching partner who has a computer app that he’s using to draw lines on a map. You can draw boxes to keep livestock in or draw boxes to keep livestock out. And then those instructions are sent from his computer through the radio tower to the collars. And then as the collar approaches those boundaries, the cattle hear a beep. And then when they contact the boundary, there’s a beep and a small shock.”

Each collar has a GPS inside of it…

“You know, it’s a little bit sensitive with topography and there can be some shadow effects just like radio in your car, but in general that radio signal is able to get to the collar and get them instructions.”

Virtual fencing can be used in areas where it is not feasible to put in a hard fence. The research includes partners such as Kansas State University. Capizzo is in the second year of a five-year study.