[inline_image file=”8b8ea5d7e1235840a3934a50975e2040.jpg” caption=”Vence uses a radio base station that transmits and receives information from the collars and also communicates with the user. Courtesy of Vence.”]
Given the costs and unending labor associated with fencing, nearly every rancher at one time or another has dreamt of a cattle containment solution that doesn’t involve lugging stretchers and post drivers across the landscape. Using recent developments in battery, communication and GPS technologies, at least one company appears to have made that long-held dream a reality. Based in California, a company called Vence has begun offering a GPS-based virtual fencing system capable of not just containing or excluding cattle, but also automatically urging them from one place to another.
According to Todd Parker, director of products and programs at Vence, the system begins with a collar. “The collar is a GPS-enabled device that can be programmed with virtual fence lines,” Parker explained toWLJ. “When an animal approaches the boundary, it will first receive an auditory cue to ask them to turn away. If they continue to encroach on the boundary, they will get a combination of an auditory cue and electrical stimulus.”
Deploying GPS collars
During an initial training period, cattle are taught to turn around when pressure is applied by the collars. “The combination of training and herd draw is a big part of the magic of how this works,” Parker said. Additionally, the virtual fence lines programmed into the collar function as one-way gates, allowing cattle that do transgress the line to come back across without receiving a shock. Each collar, Parker said, is capable of storing up to 16 individual fence lines in its onboard memory.
“Think of it as 16 individual one-way gates, all of which can be set up on a schedule to turn on and off,” he said. “And so with combinations of multiple virtual fences and scheduling, you can set up a fully automated rotational grazing program.”
In order to communicate with the collars, Vence relies on radio base stations, capable of both transmitting and receiving information from the collars, as well as communicating with the user via a cellular internet connection. According to Parker, base stations currently on ranches have regularly communicated with collars as far as 15 miles away.
Although they do require line-of-sight contact to communicate, Parker is quick to point out the collars do not need to be regularly “seen” by a base station in order to function. “We realize that coverage into every canyon and draw is never going to be perfect,” he said. “The collars are fully self contained. Once they are programmed with the virtual fences, they will continue to do their job on their own.”
When the collars are in contact with a base station, producers are able to interact with them via a web interface. “They log into a web page, much like you would log into your bank account,” Parker said. “They get to see the data for their property and their animals only. From there, they can visualize what’s going on. They can program in new fences, look at the results of the fencing activities they’ve already done or even get location data on their cattle.”
Multipurpose uses
Beyond simply containing cattle within a boundary, Parker indicates that the technology lends itself to myriad uses. “Rotational grazing is kind of where we started,” he said. “As we get out into the field, we’re looking at a variety of use cases.” Examples include targeted grazing, invasive species management, fire mitigation, exclusion from riparian areas and a host of other uses. Even the location data can prove beneficial, helping to identify sick animals or cases of predation.
“We’ve had conversations with producers about wolves,” Parker said. “We provide what we call a ‘no movement alert’ when a collar has stopped moving, meaning either that it has fallen off or the animal has died.In the case of predation, we’re able to direct the producer to that carcass, so they can collect whatever evidence they need.”
Like most new technologies, the Vence system does come with a significant price tag. The collars are provided on an annual lease program for $35 per collar per year, batteries not included. The batteries, which cost an additional $10, last anywhere from four months to two years, depending on how rigorously the collars are used. “Most producers are looking at $45 to $55 per year per animal for collars,” Parker said.
The lease system, he said, is in place both to ensure a positive return for the rancher as quickly as possible and to ensure that they have the latest technology. “We’re very sensitive to not putting our ranchers in the position of owning obsolete technology,” Parker said. “You’re paying for functionality, and you’re going to get the latest and greatest.”
[inline_image file=”21cdd3473ef31445743a624d3c2a8321.jpg” caption=”Animals wear a collar that will produce an auditory cue and then an electrical stimulus when the animals approach a boundary. Courtesy of Vence.”]
The base stations, which must be purchased at $10,000 each, also represent a significant cost. As with the collars, the number of stations required depends on the goals of the producer. However, given a station’s large range and its ability to read any collar it can see, Parker says that multiple producers can collaborate on an antenna system that will cover more than one ranch.
Additionally, he said, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Forest Service, conservation districts and other nongovernmental organizations have shown willingness to purchase the stations in order to put the system to use on various allotments. “Last summer, we deployed six base stations in Eagle County, CO, covering 360,000 acres of land for the BLM,” Parker said. “We started with one producer. Now we’ve got eight producers and 2,800 collars up and running.”
Critically, Parker said, all of the data obtained, even on public land, belongs to the rancher. “The technology is agnostic,” Parker said. “The base station will listen to any collar in the area, but once the data is in the cloud, it is secured.You only get to see your cows. The producer owns the data, and they choose who to share it with,” he added. “Whether or not that data is made available to the BLM is a conversation for the rancher and the range con.”
Management from miles away
Although the Vence product officially launched earlier this year, the company is actually in its third year of deploying virtual fence systems and working with ranchers all over the West. According to rancher Jere Hamel, calling the technology impressive is an understatement. Hamel, who operates the Six Shooter Ranch near Mitchell, OR, said that he began last year with approximately 40 collars to see if the system would work in central Oregon’s steep canyon country. “We saw the results, and we decided we were going to move full steam ahead with every single cow,” he toldWLJ. “It’s almost unlimited what you can do with it.
“As far as cattle containment, it’s been wonderful,” Hamel continued. “We’re dealing with 100-year-old fence out here, the elk are plentiful and we’ve got some feral buffalo that can create absolute havoc for us. This works great.” Hamel utilizes four base stations to cover the entirety of his 37,000-acre ranch, a cost that he compares to standard fencing, which currently can be as much as $5,000 per mile in materials alone.
[inline_image file=”bfaff9cc02a0a94321c6627497dadba1.png” caption=”A screenshot of the virtual boundary lines on a user’s Vence map.”]
Because of the difficult terrain, Hamel does admit that not all cows are within range of a base station at all times. However, because it’s only necessary to communicate with the collars if changes need to be made, he circumvents this problem by simply moving the base station to a more advantageous location. “You can program a whole year into those collars,” he said. “But say we ran out of water somewhere or needed to move a fence, so we have to talk to those cows. If we’re lacking in communication, we just move the station.”
According to Hamel, two people are able to load a base station into a vehicle for easy transport. While it does need a cellular connection to communicate with the rancher, Hamel said it doesn’t need much. “You may not be able to make a phone call,” he said. “But if you can get one bar on your cell phone, it’s going to work.”
According to Hamel, programming the collars is also a simple procedure. It essentially involves drawing the pasture lines on a map, setting up a calendar and transmitting that data to the collars. Even with his glowing recommendation, Hamel does admit that he still gets stray cattle from time to time.
“It’s not a 100 percent deal,” he said. “Some cows are stubborn.” If a cow is outside the line long enough, he said, the system stops shocking her, necessitating that collar to be turned back on manually.
Parker said 100 percent containment will likely never be achieved.“Some cows will never learn to respect it,” he said. “Just as some cows never learn to respect a traditional fence.It’s not a joystick for your cattle, and you don’t have total control over what every cow does,” he added. “But it is a tool that allows you to use your cows to achieve your land management goals.”
For Hamel, who maintains a primary home in Wisconsin, identifying the benefits has not been difficult. “Much of the time, I live 1,800 miles from the ranch,” he explains. “But I can log onto my computer, see if there’s cattle out. Then, I can give the cowboys a pretty darn good location on where they are. Every time I’ve done it so far, they’ve been able to go right to them,” he added. “If you don’t think that’s cool, I don’t know what else to tell you.”
