VIRTUAL FENCING FOR INCREASED LIVESTOCK MANAGEMENT FLEXIBILITY ON NEVADA RANGELANDS

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: HATCH
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1022929
• Project Start Date: May 18, 2020
• Project End Date: Jun 30, 2022
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA
(N/A)
RENO,NV 89557

Performing Department
Ag Vet and Range Sciences

Non Technical Summary
Virtual fencing systems (VF) hold considerable promise as tools to help land and livestock managers achieve desired livestock distribution on rangelands contributing to sustainable rangeland management. Virtual and conventional fences are similar in that both serve as barriers or boundaries to animal movement. The main difference is that while conventional fences rely on physical objects such as posts and wire to control animals, VF establish virtual boundaries based some combination of audio warning signals, and electrical stimulation as a negative consequence for animals that get too close to the boundary. Reducing reliance on static boundaries (conventional fence) and increasing use of moveable boundaries (VF) provides increased management flexibility and provides an additional tool that land and livestock managers can use to manage animal distribution.The increased management flexibility afforded by VF provides the potential to address a number of contemporary challenges for livestock grazing management on rangelands. These challenges include grazing management and plant community recovery following wildfires or to maintain/improve riparian and wetland conditions, wildlife and fisheries habitat. Disease transmission between livestock and wildlife is a growing concern. Because VF systems have shown promising potential for managing the distribution of both cattle and sheep and also provide information on animal locations, the potential exists for these systems to improve ability of animal managers to minimize wildlife - livestock encounters and disease transmission. Managing livestock distribution and avoid some of the conflicts associated with conventional fences is another benefit of VFTaking advantage of the increased management flexibility afforded by VF will require land and livestock managers to change the way they think about fences. Instead of treating them as fixed boundaries, managers will need to think more about using moveable boundaries - similar to herding animals with a fencing system. This change of approach will require having livestock producers directly involved in ranch-scale applied research on VF systems. Additionally, VF companies are understandably very interested in being actively involved in the projects as well. Thus, a team approach involving researchers, ranchers and VF company representatives is most appropriate. Further, all partners should be involved in all parts of the research endeavor.The overall objective of this project is to initiate ranch-scale applied research on VF systems used for cattle grazing rangelands in northeastern Nevada. Increasing livestock grazing management flexibility is expected to contribute to the improved abilities of livestock and land managers to address animal nutrition and health needs; to respond to climate variability and change; and to improve livestock grazing management in wetlands and riparian areas (water).

Animal Health Component

90%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

(N/A)

Applied

90%

Developmental

10%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
121	0799	3100	100%

Knowledge Area
121 - Management of Range Resources;

Subject Of Investigation
0799 - Rangelands and grasslands, general;

Field Of Science
3100 - Management;

Keywords

virtual fence

invisible fence

rangeland beef cattle

grazing management

Goals / Objectives
The overall goal of this project is to initiate ranch-scale applied research on VF systems used for cattle grazing rangelands in northeastern Nevada. The team will conduct this project following the intent of "usable science" with involvement ofranchers, VF company representatives and University researchers in all phases of the project. In order to achieve this, overall goal, the project leaders will identify the VF companies that are most interested in ranch-scale research on their systems; have equipment available for ranch-scale trials; and are interested in participating in the studies. Project leaders have identified 2 producers who are interested in trials involving VF on their ranches and are interested in and willing to participate in the project throughout.This project is being proposed to address the following questions:What are the major challenges and information needs for ranch-scale application of VF systems in rangelands of northeastern NevadaWhat are the major information needs of ranchers?What are the major information needs of VF companies?Which of these questions can be effectively addressed in ranch-scale usable science on VF in northeastern Nevada and how can studies be designed to best address those questions?Additional, more specific research questions will be formulated by the team after the project begins. However, because we are proposing a usable science approach, in which the end users will be involved in choosing and formulating questions, the specific questions to be addressed have not yet been identified. That being said, the PI has had multiple discussions with a variety of individuals interested in VF (ranchers, other researchers, VF company representatives) to develop a list of candidate questions. So, while the specific questions we will address cannot be identified at this time, the list of candidate questions below should provide an indication of possible directions.VF systems have been described as "leaky boundaries" which are not as effective as conventional fences at containing animals.Does the leaky boundary problem diminish as the number of instrumented animals in a herd increases (does it go away if all animals are instrumented)?Does the leaky boundary problem diminish as time since introduction of VF increases?Is there a relationship between the area inside a virtual perimeter (VP) and the leaky boundary problem; if so, is it positive or negative?Is herding + VF more effective than VF alone? In other words, can herding help turn a leaky boundary into a less leaky boundary? If so, by how much? Can other management inputs increase the effectiveness of VF (by reducing the leaky boundary problem)?How frequently can the VP be moved? Does animal respect for the VP and VF system increase with frequency of encounter?Do large groups of young animals learn to respect VF systems faster than large groups of mature animals?Can VF systems be used to effectively move a herd of animals? If so, how?

Project Methods
The questions to be addressed in the proposed work will be pursued using an approach to research that involves the primary end users of the information generated by the project throughout the process of discovery. Because of the user-driven nature of this approach, the most important first step is to identify livestock producer and VF company "end users" to be included on the project team. The PD has identified and contacted a number of potential partners from both groups. Partner ranches will be those who are interested in being involved in large-scale trials using VF on their ranches and participating in the usable science approach taken in this proposal. At this point, our preference is to work with 2 partner ranches and 1 partner VF company.Once the ranching partners have been identified, the PD will work with them start identifying priorities that will help determine which VF system will best suit their operations and interests. Rancher partners will be asked to summarize their interests in VF; if they have already looked into the variety of VF systems available; and if they have identified ones that seem to fit their needs and interests. If necessary, a summary of available VF systems most likely to be suited to the team's interests will be provided. This information will be used to identify potential VF systems to be used and VF company partners. VF companies will be contacted to determine which one is best suited to this project. This process will also determine if there are other partners who should be included on the team (e.g. state or federal agencies).At this point, the usable science team can be established and the broad study areas (2 ranches) will be identified. Efforts will then focus on identifying specific objectives that will form the basis of the ranch-scale trials and studies. The team will work together to brainstorm information needs that capture questions from both the ranchers and VF companies. These questions will be prioritized and then expressed in terms of specific objectives that will be used to design the studies. If equipment can be shared between the 2 ranches, studies might not be concurrent.

Progress 05/18/20 to 09/30/20

Outputs
Target Audience:Information from this project has been communicated to individuals in two main groups. The first group includes the audiences at state and local professional meetings, the participating ranchers and those who attend field days, presentations, tours and demonstrations. This includes scientists, graduate and undergraduate students, natural resource specialists (agency), consultants (private), livestock producers and land managers. The second group includes undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in classes taught by colleagues of the PD and students who worked on the project. Changes/Problems:We experienced delays getting necessary approvals to place VF Gateways on public lands used by one of the partner ranches, but were able to make do with one gateway installed on private land to get started. We also experienced some problems with VF collar fit on the study animals which resulted in a significant number of animals not being managed by the system. The VF company expects to have the next version of collars available for this study early in 2021 which should eliminate the issues we experienced with poor collar fit. We are optimistic about improved collar fit and function, but this will be our first experience with the new version of the collars. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project has provided the opportunity for a graduate student to gain experience in field data collection, database manipulation/management, data entry, data analysis and presentation of results to ranchers, agency personell, industry partners, faculty members and students at other universities. In addition, training and professional development has occurred as a result of presentations made throughout Nevada as part of the Nevada Cattlemen's Update, meetings of the Stewardship Alliance of Northeast Elko, and meetings hosted by a collaborative groupe called Results Oriented Grazing for Ecological Resilience. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Presentations made throughout Nevada (Nevada Cattlemen's Update, Stewardship Alliance of Northeast Elko, and a collaborative group called Results Oriented Grazing for Ecological Resilience) have reached communities of interest. In addition, results and information about our project has reached communities of interest through a television news story (Fox5 News, Las Vegas; viewership of 25,384) and 3 newspaper articles. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In the next reporting period, we plan to: Collar larger groups of cattle at both ranches Continue trials using the virtual fence to subdivide larger pastures into smaller subunits and evaluate virtual fence effectiveness Identify specific objectives related to stock density (number of animals/acre), remaining forage and the effectiveness of virtual fence Develop and pilot test an approach to quantify the extent to which cattle can predict consequences of moving into the virutal fence boundary and control the stimuli they receive from the virtual fence system Plan and initiate a field study at one ranch to evaluate the effects of stock density and remaining forage on virtual fence effectiveness, predictability and controllability.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Members of the project team experienced a change in knowledge regarding the use of VF. All project team members who are not from the virtual fence company have increased awareness of the operation, capabilities and major limitations of the VF system. For example, a UNR faculty member, graduate student and personnel from one of the cooperating ranches leaned how to install VF gateways (towers), collar animals, and use the computer interface to create and move virtual fencelines. Our partner from the virtual fence company has increased awareness of rangeland livestock operations on mixed public/private land in NE Nevada and the challenges that go along with implementing virtual fencing there. On a broader scale, many Nevadans have experienced a change in knowledge about VF through increased awareness about the basic operation and potential capabilities of VF systems in rangeland applications. Together, one television news story, 3 newspaper articles, and 9 presentations about our virtual fencing project reached over 25,000 Nevadans. Changes in action have been initiated for members of the project team. Project partners from both ranches and UNR have applied knowledge gained about the operation of VF systems to operate VF systems and monitor animals. This includes but is not limited to: Establishing virtual boundaries for specific periods of time; moving virtual boundaries from one position on the landscape to another; and monitoring animal locations and interactions with the virtual boundaries. Importantly, the 2 ranches partnering on this project are the 6th and 7th ranches in the United States and the 12th and 13th ranches in the world using this particular VF system. There are other VF systems, but it is clear that our partner Nevada Ranches are members of a very small and elite group of producers testing this novel technology! In order to do this, we obtained Animal Care and Use approval through UNR for the project. We selected a graduate student (M.S.) to work on the project and that individual started at UNR in January 2020. We finalized arrangements with 2 partner ranches to be full participants in this usable science project on virtual fencing. We worked closely with partner ranches, a virtual fence company and multiple land and natural resource management agencies to select ~135 head of cattle at each of the 2 ranches to be used in the first year of the study along with pastures/portions of the ranch to pilot the VF system. We completed site analysis of 2 participating ranches in order to identify appropriate tower (gateway) locations to provide maximum VF signal coverage for appropriate portions of the participating ranches. We then installed the 2 gateways needed at one ranch, and 1 of the 5 gateways needed at the other ranch to provide initial coverage while permits are being sought to install the remaining 4 gateways. We collared 135 head of yearling heifers at one ranch and a mixed group of cows, bulls and yearling heifers (~135 total) at the other ranch in July 2020. The VF system was piloted on 135 head July - early September at both ranches, although collars remained on some animals at one of the ranches until mid-November. The pilot run at the 2 ranches began with successful, 3-day training periods for the collared animals. Following the training period, several different VF configurations and applications were implemented to enable the project team to better understand the operation and capabilities of the VF system. The project team collected preliminary data on fence effectiveness from various configurations piloted and has started preliminary analysis of these data. Preliminary analyses will be used by the project team to identify specific objectives to be addressed in the next phase of the study and related study plans.

Publications