Ranchers have long used wood and metal fences to graze cattle in certain areas, but that makes it hard for big game to migrate. The organizers of the Wyoming Virtual Fence Symposium in Cody say virtual fencing could be a win for ranchers and conservationists.
Similar to an invisible fence for dogs, cows wear a collar. The collar shares location info to a tower that’s then shared to the rancher's cell phone. If cattle go into an area they aren’t supposed to, the cows hear a beeping sound or there’s a vibration.
Justin Wells works for a New Zealand-based company called Halter that makes solar powered collars. Halter was one of the featured companies at the symposium.
“ I really believe just as smart watches are now pretty much synonymous with a lot of users today, this is in a couple years going to be kind of what you see in pastures as you drive across the country,” he said.
Wells said technology has been taking off in recent years. In the last year alone, their customers laid enough virtual fencing to stretch the globe five times.
Some ranchers expressed skepticism over the cost of virtual fencing setups. Panelists said that while the initial startup costs can be large, some operations can experience savings in labor over time and other efficiencies.
One of the attendees asked whether data could be obtained by federal agencies, like the Bureau of Land Management [BLM] or Forest Service, where cattle often graze. Panelist John Abizaid with the virtual fence company Vence responded.
“ That's one of the main questions that has come up over the past three years, and we've worked a lot with Forest Service and BLM, and from our perspective, the person who puts the collars on the animals and owns the animals and signs the service level agreement owns the data,” he said.
This concern over data sharing has come up in the Wyoming Legislature this session. SF 64 opposes a recent federal mandate to put electronic identification (EID) ear tags on cattle to help with disease traceability, saying the existing metal tags used by some ranchers in Wyoming is sufficient.
Several groups have filed a lawsuit challenging the federal rule. U.S. Rep. Harriet Hagemen (R-Wyoming) is also seeking to overturn it. The ear tag is a separate technology to virtual fencing.
Nonprofits and researchers are hoping more ranchers get on board with virtual fencing. They say getting rid of physical fences will make it easier for wildlife to migrate, among other benefits.
The Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) has a $250,000 fund for ranchers, landowner and conservation owners who want to install virtual fences.
Panelist Travis Brammer, PERC’s director of conservation, said applications for the fund will be ranked based on future conservation benefits to the landscape.
In an interview with Wyoming Public Radio, Brammer shared some of the conservation gains associated with virtual fencing.
“There's reduced hard fences on the landscape. There's excluding cattle from sensitive areas like riparian zones or larkspur blooms. There's including cattle or bunching cattle to try and reduce predator conflict,” he said.
“And then there's the timing of rotations, so allowing cattle to drift up in the spring and then drift back down in the fall,” Brammer added. “And that avoids conflict with predators and conflict with migrating ungulates.”
Brammer said the deadline for applying for the virtual fencing funds is extended to Feb. 7 for attendees of the symposium.
A recording of the symposium will soon be posted the East Yellowstone Collaborative's website.
