VIRTUAL fencing has come a long way in the past decade, and further technology and legislation developments will allow SA farmers to benefit, according to CSIRO farming systems scientist Rick Llewellyn.
Dr Llewellyn was a guest speaker at a recent SPAA Expo in Lameroo, where he presented trial results and outlined how Mallee farmers could potentially profit from the innovative technology.
“There has been a lot of positive work done in the Mallee in the past 10 years on using variable rate to manage different soil zones, but there could also be an opportunity to apply the same type of soil-specific management to grazing,” he said.
“You could use paddock maps to create areas where livestock can either be deterred from grazing or kept within without needing physical fences.”
Livestock could wear eShepherd collars developed by Australian new technology startup company Agersens using animal management technology developed by CSIRO.
Agersens expects to release the collars, valued at about $100 an animal, by the end of the year.
The software within the collars enables farmers to set GPS-based electric lines, or ‘virtual fences’, so when the animal approaches the lines, it learns to respond to an audio cue to deter it from grazing further.
Dr Llewellyn said most initial virtual fencing research conducted by the CSIRO involved cattle.
“But we have started looking at the technology’s potential with sheep, particularly in areas where there is extremely high variability in soil type and pasture production,” he said.
“There are also larger paddocks due to the expansion of cropping enterprises.
“The technology could help those who want to manage grazing and have a major cropping enterprise.”
Dr Llewellyn said a recent Mallee Sustainable Farming study tracking sheep movements in a typical Mallee paddock highlighted that sheep spent 50 per cent of the time grazing only 25pc of the paddock.
“In one paddock alone, grazing inefficiency losses equated to about $4000,” he said.
“Virtual fencing would give you the ability to better utilise the whole paddock, while reducing the grazing pressure on erodible soils.”
Dr Llewellyn said the technology could also allow more selective grazing of crops.
“You can target stubble grazing where it can be supported, or it can help with weed control,” he said.
“Studies from a few years ago showed that by subdividing a large paddock, you can basically double the grazing days and our latest whole farm economic analysis shows that it could substantially boost profit and the role of sheep in mixed farming, while allowing for reduced grazing pressure on erodible sandy soils.”
Virtual fencing sheep trials conducted so far in NSW have shown that sheep responding relatively quickly to the audio cues, but the adaptation of the technology to sheep overall would still require further development.
“Because of the insulating effect of wool and the smaller size of sheep, eartag-based technology may be a better option than the collars,” Dr Llewellyn said.
“We are planning to run some preliminary trials in the NSW Mallee in May.”
Longer term, Dr Llewellyn said the CSIRO would like to conduct trials in SA, but legislation, which does not extend beyond pet collar devices, limited what work could be done in this state.
Alisha Fogden
Journalist at Australian Community Media newspapers since 2007.
Journalist at Australian Community Media newspapers since 2007.
