Virtual Fencing Emerging as a Conservation Tool

Thinking Outside the Fence

One of the technologies, virtual fencing, is fast emerging as a high-potential tool in the regenerative ranching toolbox. Virtual fences enable ranchers and land managers to remotely monitor and control the timing, location and intensity of grazing activities.

Here’s how it works: The herd is outfitted with battery-operated, GPS-enabled collars that use radio signals to communicate with a base station or cell phone towers. The operator is able to create virtual grazing boundaries on a computer or smart device and upload that data to the collars. When a cow approaches the virtual boundary, the collar emits a sound signaling it to turn around. If the cow proceeds to the boundary, it receives a momentary benign shock, indicating that it’s gone too far. Research shows that the cows are trained in as little as four days to respond to the auditory cues alone.

A Win for Ranchers Is a Win for Nature

Virtual fences have the potential to be an effective, efficient way for ranchers to optimize grazing on grasslands, as they reduce the need for physical fences that require significant time and expense to maintain or replace (often more than $15,000 per mile). Wildlife benefits, too, as their movement is no longer hindered by the physical barrier of a traditional fence.

Land managers can more easily adjust grazing boundaries to adapt to seasonal changes in vegetation and exclude cattle from ecologically sensitive areas due to the flexibility and precision offered by virtual fences.

“At scale, we believe virtual fencing can help land managers better implement management practices that regenerate land health, help address climate change and biodiversity loss, and improve economic outcomes for ranchers,” says William Burnidge, deputy director of TNC’s North America Regenerative Grazing Lands Strategy.

Testing, Researching and Knowledge Sharing

Implementing a virtual fence system can be a complex and costly endeavor, especially for ranchers and land managers unfamiliar with the technology and equipment required. Recognizing these challenges, TNC is collaborating with public and private partners to research, test and implement virtual fence technology. By sharing findings, experiences and practical guidance, TNC is striving to make this innovative ranching solution more accessible, less daunting and highly effective.

Collaborative Research Pilots

In 2022, TNC and partners launched three 5-year pilot projects at working ranches in Kansas, New Mexico and Colorado. Each has its own unique set of partners and research goals. At the end of the pilots, the collective body of research will provide quantifiable evidence of whether virtual fencing can help ranchers better implement regenerative grazing practices that contribute to conservation and economic goals. Learn more about these projects:

Embracing Innovation for Conservation

With a grant from the Wright Foundation for Sustainability and Innovation, TNC launched a 3-year pilot project at the Iowa preserve in the spring of 2023.

“This technology is relatively new but can have a tremendous impact on private and working lands in Iowa and beyond,” says Amy Crouch, Little Sioux project director for TNC in Iowa.

The pilot is among the first in the United States focused on relatively small grazing areas, as opposed to other pilots in the western United States that are larger. The potential impact is significant: virtual fencing could become a vital herd management tool across diverse landscapes, helping to improve biodiversity, soil health, water quality and producer profitability.

“Thousands of acres in Iowa have been identified for potential grazing, so the success of this project could have far-reaching impacts,” says Crouch.

The Pilot Project: Testing the Fence

During the first two years of the pilot, TNC staff tested and compared two different virtual fence systems. Initially, 51 cows, each outfitted with a GPS-enabled collar, were released into a small training field on the preserve, where they quickly learned how to interact with the virtual boundary. When a cow got too close to the boundary line, the collar emitted an audio tone that increased in pitch and volume as the cow moved closer and then a carefully regulated benign shock as the cow moved closer to the line.

After a week, the cattle were moved to a larger area containing virtual exclusion zones surrounding sensitive wetlands that could be damaged by overgrazing and hoof action. The exclusion zones kept the sensitive wetland vegetation robust and the water clear.

Benefits and Challenges: Learning from Experience

“As with anything new, we expected to see benefits and experience challenges,” says Crouch.

One of the systems had a particularly useful phone app that the staff used to track the movement of individual cows and monitor a cow expecting a calf. It was also easy to move select cattle from one area to another by selecting specific collars on the app and designating them to a new virtual pasture. Heat maps, a feature of the app, showed where the whole herd spent most of its time in a designated grazing area. Cows occasionally escaped the virtual boundary but could cross back and rejoin the herd without experiencing any stimuli. Once within the virtual boundary, they resume receiving the audio signals and benign shocks.

In terms of challenges, as collars from both systems failed or fell off, a “rogue herd” would form, grazing outside the virtual boundary.

The TNC team is sharing results and experiences with conservation partners and private producers. They’ve also held field days, giving participants an opportunity to see virtual fences at work first-hand.

“Virtual fencing looks to be the next great tool to facilitate conservation grazing on a larger more efficient scale, and TNC in Iowa has been a leader in the use of this technology, graciously disseminating their knowledge to conservation partners for potential use on their projects,” said Lucas Straw, natural resource biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

In Montana’s High Divide Headwaters region, TNC is working with ranchers through the Southwest Montana Sagebrush Partnership to add a variety of high-tech tools to their traditional tool bag. Those tools include solar-powered wells and holding basins, which collect and store snowmelt to enable ranchers to spread their herds across more remote pastures, easing grazing pressure on the more accessible areas. They also include GPS ear tags enable ranchers and range riders to monitor their herd’s location without having to get on a horse or in a truck to track down the animals. And they include virtual fencing’s system of electronic collars that direct cattle towards underutilized areas while excluding sensitive areas—all without a physical fence. Virtual fences also help wildlife whose movement can be thwarted by wire fences.

Third-generation rancher Colt High of the Broksle Ranch is a fan. “We’re trying to cut costs and always improve the efficiency, so having this technology helps us better use our pastures and forage,” explains High. “And it cuts down on the labor and really opens up the possibilities of what we can do from a grazing perspective.”

As these new tools show promise, ranchers may become their greatest ambassadors. Through workshops and word of mouth, early adopters are bringing others on board. To date, eight ranches encompassing more than 250,000 acres have embraced some form of technology.

TNC's scientists, along with partners within the Southwest Montana Sagebrush Partnership, are measuring effects of the various tools, both environmentally and economically, so we can quantify their benefits. Those hard numbers, along with straight-shooting testimonials from respected ranchers who have put the technology to the test, will help encourage others to give the tools a try.