The Cyber Cow Whisperer and His Virtual Fence - Dean M. Anderson

Agricultural Research, Nov, 2000 by Don Comis

Intermingled Species Graze Safely

Anderson and colleagues have used electric fences on the Jornada to protect sheep from predators. To help eliminate the use of the costly fences, Anderson again turned to innate animal behaviors as management tools. Cattle and sheep won't always stay together if stocked on the same pasture. But if a bond between the two species is formed, the sheep will consistently stay close to the cattle in a configuration termed a "flerd."

Anderson and Clarence V. Hulet, a retired ARS animal scientist, raised lambs with young heifers for 30 to 60 days to get them to bond to cattle. The cattle drive off coyotes and stray dogs.

There is another benefit to intermingling cattle, sheep, and even goats: Bonded livestock species spread themselves more evenly over the pasture during foraging, compared to animals that have not bonded. Furthermore, sheep tend to eat plants passed over by cattle, so more animals could potentially be raised per acre. Anderson and colleagues found that adding two sheep per cow did not damage the range during years with average to above average precipitation. With virtual fencing, sheep and goats could experience the same freedom as the instrumented cows they follow.

Who's the Boss?

"With virtual fencing," says Anderson, "I'm again trying to capitalize on innate animal behavior. I will accomplish my management goals, but on their schedule. It's like doing a job the way you know it should be done, but letting your bosses feel like it was all their idea.

"For example, after a cow has been in a corral for a drink of water, with a few subtle cues as she leaves the corral it should be possible to move her to a new area to graze. A fundamental law of physics is that it's easier to move a body that's already in motion than to start one moving from a dead stop," Anderson says.

"If you let the animals think they're winning and still accomplish your goals, you have a win-win situation--and you don't need a `Berlin Wall' to hold them in. My career has focused on the efficient and humane treatment of animals--from rotational grazing, to weighing animals as they pass through gates to a water trough in a pasture without having to gather them in a barn for manual weighing, to the virtual fence, which allows the animal to move freely but under guidance based on sound ecological practices." Anderson credits USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service, Grazing Lands Technology Institute, for providing financial support for his research.

It's Economical, Too

For large areas of the world, conventional fencing is just not economical, yet animal control is desperately needed to prevent improper resource use.

"Half of the cost of fencing is in the labor, which would go sky-high if you fence high mountain pastures," says Anderson. But with virtual fencing, "you no longer have to fence for human convenience. Virtual fences can go wherever the ecology dictates the cow needs to go. In the past, we've always placed fences based on accessibility--whether by vehicle, horse, donkey, or on foot. Human convenience has always won out, not any theory of range management. But that's not always best for the range or the cow."