Using satellite technology, CSIRO scientists are developing a 'virtual' fence for livestock.
Scientists from the Food Futures Flagship are developing an animal-friendly virtual fencing system for cattle that enables the animals to be confined without using fixed fences.
The challenge
Fencing is a major cost for cattle producers. Successful development of a virtual fence - making physical posts and wire redundant - will:
Current activities
The goal of this project is to develop welfare-friendly systems for virtual fencing through on-animal devices. The virtual boundaries are drawn entirely by global positioning satellite (GPS) and exist only as a line on a computer. There are no wires or fixed transmitters used.
The animals wear collars containing software that identifies where the cows are and emit a sound when the animals approach the boundary. This tells the animal the fence is there, just like a cow can see a conventional electric fence and learn to avoid it.
Fencing is a major cost for livestock producers and successful development of a virtual fencing system would bring many advantages.
Signal timing and duration are based on the behaviour of the cow. Experiments have shown that animals can learn about a virtual fence for the first time in less than an hour and avoid the fence boundary. The cattle learn, by associating the sound signal with their behaviour of approaching the virtual fence boundary which is programmed into the collars.
If an animal decides to continue past the virtual fence line it will receive a small electric shock in a similar fashion to a conventional electric fence.
So far the research team has developed a prototype system and has successfully demonstrated its use on a herd of cattle.
The research, overseen by an independent animal welfare expert, also showed the animals are not unduly stressed by the virtual fence.
Once the boundary is set, the sensor-based system is fully automated and self-sufficient. It also enables farmers to continuously monitor where their cattle are located.
There is further work to be done in areas such as smart-power management before the system will be commercially viable.
Outcomes
The virtual fencing technology can:
- reduce labour by farmers
- allow better use of pasture resources
- protect sensitive environmental zones that may otherwise be difficult to fence off.
It is envisaged that the farm of the future will have the farmer allocating cattle to areas of the farm from the comfort of the homestead.
About the scientists
The virtual fencing project involves researchers at:
- CSIRO Livestock Industries in Armidale, New South Wales, Australia
- the CSIRO Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Centre in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
The research team consists of:
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Dr Andrew Fisher, project leader, CSIRO Livestock Industries
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Ms Heather Brewer, CSIRO Livestock Industries
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Mr Chris Crossman, CSIRO ICT Centre
-
Dr John Henshall, CSIRO Livestock Industries
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Dr Caroline Lee, CSIRO Livestock Industries
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Mr Matt Reed, CSIRO Livestock Industries
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Mr Philip Valencia, CSIRO ICT Centre
-
Dr Tim Wark, CSIRO ICT Centre.
The project has been guided by the underlying principles of animal welfare throughout.
Watch a short video about the project linked through Prototype virtual fence for cattle (Video).
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