New technology is looking to improve grazing management across Washington state. The Department of Fish and Wildlife explains how through virtual fence technology.
“You then use like an online application that allows you to set up a fence system that the base station relays to the collars. So, the cows are getting signals. The collars are getting signals from the base station, so you’re able to, you know, essentially use a quote-unquote virtual fence to either augment a hard fence or create a fence in a location that you don’t have a physical fence. So the way we’re using that is to keep cows in certain portions of a grazing lease or push cows in certain sections of grazing lease that don’t have a cross fence,” according to Chad Edison.
The project is already being implemented in the Columbia Basin Wildlife Area.
Edison says that the new technology is a win-win for everyone with the environment and wildlife benefiting just as much as ranchers.
“I mean in our case, you know, the couple producers know where their cows are. If we have cows get out or if cows are on the wrong part of the lease, we know they’re there. We can go look at them on the screen and know exactly where they’re at. So, keeping track of your cows, you know from like forage usage standpoint, you can pay attention to where the cows are utilizing, whether they need to move,” he adds.
The department says that virtual fencing also allows for real-time cattle monitoring, ultimately helping reduce over-grazing.
Financial assistance from the Bureau of Reclamation is being used to help fund the project.
