Fences have been used to manage livestock for centuries. The fences themselves may have seen a few updates over the years. By and large, however, there have been few advances in the system of livestock management since medieval times. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) believes that\u2019s all about to change.<\/p>\n
The USDA\u2019s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is projecting that virtual fences may be the way of the future for containing cattle and other livestock. They\u2019ve granted exclusive licensing to Krimar of Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia; a Canadian firm that offers a GPS linked virtual fence dubbed as Directional Virtual Fencing (DVF)<\/a>.<\/p>\n What\u2019s the big deal about virtual fences? <\/i>Because they aren\u2019t physical barriers, virtual fences allow an easier rotation of the livestock from one area to another. This is a great way to control feeding grounds and patterns. Livestock can easily be moved from one area of land to another so that the ground can recover from constant grazing before the livestock returns. This goes a long way to help mitigate soil erosion, habitat encroachment, and other \u201cgreen\u201d issues ranchers consistently face.<\/p>\n It also allows easier isolation of one or more members from the larger herd. This is highly useful for breeding or isolating sick livestock so that the entire herd doesn\u2019t become infected.<\/p>\n With fences no longer keeping the cattle within their boundaries, how will GPS devices really provide assistance? How do the devices work?<\/p>\n