No-fence grazing systems are improving, and costs are going down — it may be a good example of ag tech can lead to better land stewardship
No-fence grazing is an exciting concept. The idea of using technology to not only track cattle but to also save time — while enhancing cattle movement across the landscape — is compelling. These systems offer a glimpse into the future of grazing operations, with the potential to revolutionize how we manage herds worldwide.
I’ve been thinking about this technology in relation to the principle that both John Kempf and Mark Shepard articulate in this issue of Acres U.S.A.: that we should embrace technology only when it helps us get closer to the natural world. There’s an argument to be made either way here. Could electronic cattle fencing pull grazers farther from the land? One of my favorite aspects of cattle management is walking through the pastures, opening each paddock by hand, feeling connected to every inch of earth. The observations I make during these walks are critical to how we manage the system.
Yet there’s another side to the argument. In particular, technology like GPS collars could provide insights we just don’t have today. When is the herd feeding? How much are they moving? Is an animal becoming less active? Are individual animals not visiting the water source as much as others? Are cows showing signs of being in heat, or of going into labor? Did we get uniform impact across the paddock? Data collected from GPS tracking every step could offer new insights into both the animals and the land. While graziers using this technology will likely end up not seeing cattle as much with their eyes, they will be able to observe much more total activity of the herd — nearly 24 hours a day compared to just a few minutes.
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