Trial to explore efficacy and use of virtual fencing collars
NQ Dry Tropics has been awarded a grant through the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund (FDF) Long-term Trials of Drought Resilient Farming Practices (LTT) Program to conduct a trial into testing the efficacy of drought resilient grazing strategies in the Burdekin region.
The five-year trial will take place at DAF’s Spyglass Beef Research Facility, in the Upper Burdekin north of Charters Towers.
The only Northern Australian trial, it will test the viability of virtual fencing systems in remote rangeland environments. The results will help shape and promote wider adoption.
It will build upon the trial of the Gallagher eShepherd Virtual Fencing System, pioneered by CSIRO.
Gallagher and CSIRO have conducted research and development in evaluating prototypes, optimising livestock behavioural responses, minimising welfare impacts and developing on-farm applications for the technology.
The LTT Program funds projects that contribute to improved drought resilience through investigations that explore innovative approaches to farm productivity and how rangeland environments are sustainably managed.
Marc McConnell “Drought is a fact of life for Australian graziers. The potential virtual fencing has to enable fine-scale, adaptive grazing management has incredibly exciting implications for how producers can take back control in preparing for, and bouncing back from, the droughts that do come.”
Cattle in the trial wearing the Gallagher eShepherd collars.
The tracking for one individual shows how quickly the animal learns the meaning of warning sound emitted as it approaches the virtual fencing. This animal received two small pulses, after which it paid attention to the alarm on seven occasions.
More to read on virtual fencing
Testing the virtual fence
A virtual fence is an invisible line in the landscape that can be created on a digital map using GPS technology.
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What’s monitored
The trial will be monitored to ensure the technology and practices are effective and to ensure the trial is responsive and applicable to graziers.
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Connecting the fence
There is no mobile connectivity at Spyglass, so this will test whether Starlink broadband internet can support adoption of agtech in remote areas..
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