Virtual fencing to control cattle for improved ecosystem services
Resource managers have been encouraging landowners to implement rotational grazing and riparian zone exclusion to improve vegetation health and water quality. However, materials, labor costs, and inflexibility of traditional fencing have prevented adoption.
Virtual fencing offers a unique solution to overcome these barriers. The technology works by using GPS enables collars on cattle to influence their movement throughout a pasture without the need of physical barriers. This can be used to implement critical area protection and/or rotational grazing. Movable boundaries are programmed such that cattle are managed by providing an auditory and physical stimulus when an animal approaches a restricted area. Improved grazing management and decreasing the time cattle spend in and near streams can result in significant water quality improvements.
This study addresses 1) The effectiveness of virtual fencing for managing cattle in rotational grazing systems and implementing riparian buffers and 2) The impacts of these practices on riparian health and water quality. Researchers are comparing these impacts between Oklahoma State University research ranges where cattle have continuous access to the entire pasture and pastures where rotational grazing and riparian buffers are implemented using virtual fencing technology.
Partners
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station, Range Research Station
- Oklahoma Conservation Commission
- Oklahoma State University, Department of Animal and Food Sciences
- Oklahoma State University, Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering
- Oklahoma State University, Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management