The commercial use of virtual fencing is currently prohibited in SA but research about to get underway at Struan Research Centre could open the gate for regulatory change.
At the recent Best Practice Demonstration Farm Field Day held at Struan, SARDI senior research officer Megan Willis outlined the project that will see SARDI working with Gallagher and Vence who have with technology available in Australia- to trial virtual fencing in both cattle and sheep.
Both companies technology involves collars which are fitted around the animal's neck. They have inbuilt GPS trackers so if the animal wanders close to the perimeter a sound warns them to not go any further. If the animal strays outside the perimeter the collars emit a weak electrical pulse.
"The capability of virtual fencing to exclude livestock from particular areas is well established from previous research but the rotational grazing capability still needs further research and development so that is where our research will focus," Ms Willis said.
"We will also be quantifying animal well being and investigating the various commercial applications in SA production systems."
Virtual fencing is currently prohibited in SA, as it is in other states with the exception of Tas, Qld and WA.
The Animal Welfare Act 1995 prohibits the use of devices in SA that impart an electric shock on an animal, unless animal ethics approval has been sought for research purposes
But Ms Willis hopes SARDI's field work and partnering with the University of Adelaide's Centre for Nanoscale BioPhotonics on innovative pain and wellbeing measures will assist in the commercialisation in SA.
"Based on this scientific research as well as demonstrating the commercial applications along with an industry push we want to be able to say this is needed," she said.
A similar trial has also just commenced on the Eyre Peninsula.
Ms Willis says virtual fencing could have multiple benefits for producers from big labour and infrastructure savings by allowing the passive movement of stock, to selective grazing across a paddock.
"Without setting up physical temporary fences you could exclude sheep and cattle from sandhills within paddocks or areas susceptible to erosion and graze out certain parts of a crop or pasture if it has been affected by insects or frost," she said.
It will also increase resilience during and after natural disasters such as bushfires and floods.
"Rebuilding fences is a huge cost and a huge job after a natural disaster so taking away that immediate pressure to put up new fences is a real driver," she said.
"Additionally during a fire or flood the collars could be switched off and the GPS tracking will continue for up to 10 kilometres so you could potentially allow animals to get away from fire or get on high ground during a flood and still know where they are to retrieve them."
A field day is planned for early 2023 at Struan to update producers on the project which runs until June 2023.
