Early success means trialling a bigger herd
A virtual fencing trial underway in the Burdekin is yielding promising results.
The aim of the Virtually Fencing Free project is to determine whether virtual fencing can be effective on vast expanses of land where traditional fencing is expensive, help facilitate the adoption of drought resilient grazing systems, and to protect areas of land in vulnerable condition.
The trial is a five-year research partnership between NQ Dry Tropics, the Department of Primary
Industries (DPI), the Centre of Applied Climate Science, Gully Savannah NRM, and graziers.
Following the success of investigating the function of a virtual fencing system with a small herd of 50 cattle, within small 20 to 60ha holding paddocks, training with larger herds is now underway.
A herd of 450 droughtmasters has now been fitted with eShepherd neckbands and introduced into the trial paddocks.
The initial trial showed cattle were able to learn the virtual fencing system within a day, providing confidence the trial could be effectively scaled up.
The cattle adapted to the system quickly and learnt to respond to the sound cue.
Animals are given an audio warning when they approach the perimeter and feel an electric pulse if they continue — far less of a shock than if they touched an electric fence. Very quickly, cattle learnt to turn away when they heard the audio cue.
Minimising any stress and ensuring welfare of the animals, is a key part of the trial.
Fitting the collars…
To fit the eShepherd neckband, an animal is restrained in a crush and it is fitted around the neck of the animal.
Personnel fitting the bands were trained by Gallagher Animal Management staff. Gallagher designed the eShepherd solar-powered, GPS-enabled livestock neckband.
NQ Dry Tropics Grazing Officer Callum Olver said the process was straightforward.
“The process of fitting the collars is no different to tagging,” Callum said.
“You’ve got to be pretty aware of the animal’s temperament but if you’ve got some cattle smarts and the animal is properly in the headbail, you can get the job done easily.
“It took about 90 seconds to two minutes to fit each animal and once the collars were on and they were out of the crush they settled down pretty quickly — within a couple of minutes.”
A mobile app allows the project team to monitor the location of the herd and individual cattle in near real time.
How the virtual fence works …
Two additional base station transmitters have been installed, bringing the total number to four to provide uniform and consistent coverage across the 4000ha trial site at Spyglass Beef research station.
Technical experts suggested two transmitters would suffice for the trial area, however field testing had shown that to achieve the standard required to maintain scientific validity, four transmitters were needed for consistent coverage and regular status updates.
The trial site presents challenging topography, including dense vegetation areas and hilly terrain, which tests the limits of virtual fencing’s functionality.
The eShepherd virtual system works best when there’s a reasonably consistent line of sight between the cattle and the transmitters projecting the virtual fence lines of the paddock to the herd.
Ensuring a reliable dialogue between the collars and the operating system is key to providing accurate results and to determine behavioural and pasture use patterns within the herd.
The fine scale pasture monitoring conducted as part of this trial is right down to a one metre patch level so gaps in data would lead to questions remaining unanswered.
The technicians said in most instances, producers would not require four transmitters.
Choosing the trial paddocks …
There are two trial paddocks which are replicates. Each trial paddock is divided in two by a physical fence to ensure both sides of the fence are as similar as possible in terms of land and soil characteristics.
On one side of the fence, cattle are managed using virtual fencing, on the other (the control paddock), standard best practice cattle management is implemented, including wet season spelling. Cattle are able to move wherever they like in this paddock.
The trial paddocks were selected because they contain a diverse range of major land types and soil types found across northern Australia including, Ranges, Loamy Alluvials, Narrow-leaved Ironbark on shallower soils, and on deeper soils, and Box, among others.
They also boast a wide range of pasture species commonly grazed by cattle.
Having an accurate and fine-scale baseline of pasture composition will help to determine the impact various grazing strategies can have on improving pasture composition and productivity.
Monitoring these variables will produce results with greater reach and relevance to a wider range of producers across northern Australia.
What’s monitored… and why
The trial is being monitored to ensure the technology and practices are effective in improving drought resilience capacity, and to ensure the design and demonstration of the trial is responsive and applicable to graziers.
A range of tools and strategies are being adopted including walkover weighing systems, faecal NIRS testing, genetic barcoding and land condition monitoring, to determine the most drought-resilient grazing systems and pasture varieties to maximise production and welfare, while reducing landscape vulnerability.
The collars’ inbuilt accelerometers and telemetry will also provide non-invasive and remote monitoring of livestock including animal behaviour, activity and energy expenditure on an individual level.
Telemetric data for individual cattle, in conjunction with faecal NIRS, weigh-ins and land condition assessments, will determine how preferential grazing patterns under various conditions impact cattle health and weight.
This will better inform graziers on the needs of various cattle classes, and the best time to rotate cattle to minimise potential for condition loss.
Townsville-based Campbell Scientific installed a weather station within the trial area so the impact that climatic conditions will have on cattle grazing behaviour will help complete the monitoring picture.
Practical application for graziers
A key outcome of the trial is to be able to share scientifically sound results and practical information with the broader grazing community.
A Producer Advisory group will guide the design of the trial to ensure the project is focused on solving issues faced by graziers.
For example, the trial is hoping to determine how the technology can be used to optimise the way cattle utilise pasture.
Large areas within properties are often underutilised by cattle, limiting the effective grazing area.
Left to their own devices, cattle preferentially graze particular pasture species in certain areas within paddocks and this can lead to over-utilisation which contributes to land condition decline, leading to lower long term carrying capacities.
The trial managers hope the technology used in this trial will be able to encourage evenness of grazing across a property, bringing underutilised areas back into production and spelling other areas so they can bounce back quickly.
Knowing what cattle are grazing, what is being left behind, and how this relates to performance is key to understanding herd management and improving a grazing business’ production.
The Virtually Fence Free project is being conducted at the DPI’s Spyglass Beef Research Station and is funded by the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund.
