June 22, 2016

Advances in virtual fencing (VF) technology could lead to a commercially viable product being made available to farmers in 2017 using the phone app eShepherd developed by Australian agtech company Agersens. The start-up company has an exclusive license to Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) patents in this area.

The app enables a farmer to use their smartphone or tablet to create any number of wireless fences, potentially move their livestock, or check their health and location. Each animal wears a GPS enabled collar containing software that trains the animal to move or stay within a GPS determined boundary set up remotely by the farmer.

A wireless base station set up on the farm sends instructions to each animal’s neck collar, which are solar trickle charged and battery powered. The collar emits a sound when the animal approaches the wireless boundary and should it continue to the boundary, it receives a small electric shock of about 1,500volts (mild compared to an electric fence). Trials have demonstrated that within two hours, cattle and sheep associated the sound with the VF boundary and did not attempt to cross it.

Agersens Managing Director Ian Reilly says VF technology offers many benefits to farmers including dramatically increasing stocking rates and obvious cost savings in fencing installation and maintenance.

“Beef farmers can automate cell grazing programs to increase their stocking rate while decreasing the risk of overgrazing,” Mr. Reilly said. “Farmers have demonstrated stocking rate increases of up to 100% using the cell grazing technique. Even a 10 to 20% increase will provide a payback within the first year.

“VF will enable rangeland farmers to muster 100% of their stock and provide 24/7 monitoring, which will help reduce stock injuries and save on aircraft and ground crew costs.

“Dairy farmers will be able to automate improved pasture utilization and animal health to increase milk production. Pasture grazing cell size and location can be adjusted for available pasture biomass and seasonal variations while improving the cows’ health and welfare by avoiding muddy laneways and providing fresh feed.”

By detecting significant shifts in behavior, such as a cow lying down for a long period of time, the VF technology will help alert farmers to any health issues, injuries or calving complications. Other benefits include solving environmental degradation issues by excluding animals from riparian zones and sensitive areas.

The estimated cost to set up the technology is AUD$5,000 and then $60-90 per collar and ongoing maintenance.

While currently targeting cattle because they offer a higher value proposition, in the longer term Mr. Reilly predicts the technology will be applied to other livestock industries including sheep and free-range pigs.

Researcher, Zac Economou, who spent the last four years focusing on VF research at the University of New England in northern NSW, says it’s important that longer trials are conducted to examine the long terms effects of the collar’s stimuli on the livestock before the devices are commercialized.

“I have conducted successful controlled animal distribution trials with merino sheep and beef cattle and am confident that VF would give farmers infinite control over where and for how long their livestock grazed, which is a big incentive considering pasture utilization in the grazing industry is currently only about 35%,” Mr. Economou said.

“However, animal behavior and their learning abilities need to be better understood to ensure animal welfare standards are met and the device is effective in all environments before being commercialized.

“Longer 12 month trials would help determine whether animals develop a long term aversion to areas of pasture due to the use of VF. We also need to do more research on determining the right level and type of stimuli, what is humane and effective, and taking into account the varying thickness of hair or wool on the animal.

“The other problem facing VF devices, especially GPS enabled, is the thirst for power. The current systems have mostly used solar panels to supply power but other ideas are possible such as kinetic charges that use motion to generate power as well as proximity chargers that may use a water point of race to charge the device from a distance.

“Once we overcome the problem of power supply, anything is possible and any number of devices such as accelerometers and other monitors can be built in.”

In response, Mr. Reilly says the technology developed by CSIRO specifically addresses animal welfare concerns and Agersens is looking into alternate power management techniques subject to patents. Ultimately, Mr. Reilly predicts that the collar will one day be replaced but a sufficiently powered ear tag.

According to Mr. Reilly, Agersens has received a lot of interest in Australia and globally (USA, UK and New Zealand) from research organizations, natural resource management organizations, farmers and universities keen to carry out application research and farm validation trials. But to conduct meaningful research, Mr. Reilly says these organizations need a reliable working product that can be manufactured in scale. He expects to have a minimum viable product available in the next 12 months.

The eShepherd product has already received funding from Australian Catchment Management Authorities keen to use this system to keep cattle out of rivers and waterways.

In the meantime, Agersens is continuing its capital raising efforts to fund the development program and get the product out to the early adopters and organizations.

—

Melissa Lawrence