Precision Ranching?

Will Virtual Fences Take Over the West?

Whether to keep cattle in or to keep them off the neighbor’s animals, wire fencing has long been used to protect land intended for livestock feed. How frequently and how long animals graze on a given area of grass has always been key to generating a profit when it comes to livestock. Proper management keeps the land and the animals in top shape .?

Over-graze the land and you risk losing vegetation resulting in soil erosion; and increase the potential for invasive species to gain a foothold. Under graze a pasture and you risk grassland decay or a less nutritional pasture next year. Fences afford ranchers control and it’s hard to envision the west without them.? Estimations suggest that wire livestock fencing in the United States could stretch over 620,000 miles.?

But precision technology is moving into the ranching sector much as it has in the farming industry offering real time data and the potential to almost instantly re-stretch your fence and move your livestock off of one area and onto another. Well, as long as that fence is a virtual one. How feasible is precision ranching and what does it really take to make the transition?

The Pros and Cons of Virtual Fencing

Precision ranching comes with its own set of benefits and obstacles.? Investing in things like virtual fencing is more than just purchasing a new tool; it’s a commitment to trial and error, to training your herd of animals, and to developing new workflow methods on your property. It’s not a quick decision for any rancher.

Pros:?

The concept of a virtual fence was meant to help ranchers increase profits . Leveraging technology in grazing decisions has the potential to use time more effectively. Real time analysis of pasture health and the ability to set a new boundary fence in minutes could save days' worth of work.? In theory, a rancher can let a herd graze a small area of pasture for hours and then change the fence line remotely.

Investing now would save money down the road. Fewer employees mean less money spent on salaries, health insurance, housing and other benefits most ranchers offer their hands. Barring any equipment failure yearly maintenance would decrease over time by doing away with wire and wood fencing supplies. And of course, if monitored consistently, disappearing grass species should make a strong comeback.? Fewer inputs and higher quality outputs is a win for everyone.

Cons:

Cows are quick to learn the virtual system.? The main obstacles have come from lost or snagged animal collars ?and difficulty mapping fence lines on geographically tough terrain. The technology certainly favors flat grassland over some of the large and diverse pastures of the west.? A rolling hills ranch in Iowa stringing together 160-acre plots for pasture is certainly different from a 7,000-acre pasture in what was once considered the uninhabitable high desert of Colorado.

And, while you may not need cowboys on horses to move a herd of animals, virtual fencing still requires human beings to monitor data and adjust fences. Current collars are dependent on solar energy meaning that it may prove to be an incredibly effective tool in frequently sunny areas of the U.S. but difficult to implement effectively in other parts.

Are Virtual Fences the Future of Ranching?

Deciding factors for ranchers is goal dependent. Ranchers looking to lower their operational costs have not been quick to jump on the virtual fencing trend. While in the long run the technology has the potential to save money, the upfront cost is still significant. Transitioning to virtual fencing comes with a price tag somewhere between $229 and $329 per collar plus regular subscription fees that are based on the size of the herd and ranch.? A midsized ranch running 1000 cows in the mountains would be looking at a minimum of a $350,000 up front investment and could be more depending on the acreage being fenced.? It might take several years to see a return on this investment for ranchers who typically only need to maintain existing fences.

If the goal is land reclamation and a better feeding system for livestock, the investment could yield profitable results quicker. Many ranches across the U.S. have seen high protein grasses decrease and the real time data available through precision ranching could tip the scales in the opposite direction. Grazing animals more frequently but for less time has proven to change the quality of grass feed and also benefit the entire ecosystem. More grass grows, cows need less grass because it is more nutritionally dense, and ranches become more profitable. Noticeable changes in land health can be seen season by season.

Even though virtual fencing has been around since the 1980s it is really only the beginning of technology with a lot of potential to impact the environment as well as the overall income and expense balance for ranches across America.