Rangeland Ecology & Management

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Eastern Washington shrub-steppe

Workshop 2

Exploring the Boundaries of VF: Comparing Vendors & Rancher Insights

Date & Time: November 16, 2023

Where: Santa Rita Ranch, Green Valley, AZ

Workshop Summary:

Virtual fencing (VF) is a hot topic in rangeland management. This emerging precision livestock management technology has the potential to revolutionize grazing systems by allowing dynamic control of livestock distribution and duration while also reducing the cost of wire fence replacement. But, like any new technology, it can be very complicated.

Join us at a free workshop at the Santa Rita Ranch on November 16 to better understand virtual fencing. Participants will learn about VF components and the differences between vendors. Ranchers using VF at the landscape-scale will share their experiences and perspective. We will discuss and demonstrate the art and science of collaring livestock and placing base stations.

Virtual fence is exciting, and has a lot of potential—and risk. We hope this workshop empowers you to effectively evaluate VF for sustainable rangeland management.

Presentations and Handouts

Additional Resources

Base Station Optimization

There are several companies that manufacture hardware and software including eShepherd™ from Gallagher™, Halter™, Nofence™, and Vence™. Virtual fence components from different manufacturers are generally not interoperable or interchangeable. Specific components, GIS data needs, software protocol, software training, frequency and duration of the cues, GPS error, livestock collaring, and livestock training protocols may vary depending on the manufacturer. Follow the manufacturer’s recommendations and guidelines. The University of Arizona and The Rangelands Partnership do not endorse a specific product.

This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award number 2021-38640-34695 through the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program under project number WPDP22-016. USDA is an equal opportunity employer and service provider. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

This work is supported by the AFRI Foundational and Applied Science Program: Inter- Disciplinary Engagement in Animal Systems (IDEAS) [award no. 2022-10726] from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Additional funding for the University of Arizona’s Virtual Fence program was provided by Arizona Experiment Station, the Marley Endowment for Sustainable Rangeland Stewardship, Arizona Cooperative Extension, and The Nature Conservancy.