Virtual Fences: A Promising Tool for Conservation and Ranching

Over the summer, the Property and Environment Research Center and the Beyond Yellowstone Living Lab cohosted the largest virtual fencing workshop of its kind in Bozeman, Montana. The event united experts in technology, agriculture and conservation to explore this emerging tool’s potential to support conservation and agriculture.

The revolutionary technology establishes a virtual fence network through a series of signal towers and GPS collars worn by cattle. The collars produce auditory and physical feedback to the cows as they approach geo-fenced areas, effectively managing their movement and keeping them out of certain areas like riparian habitats or wildlife corridors. According to representatives from the Property and Environment Research Center, a nonprofit conservation organization based in Bozeman, the technology is proving to hold countless benefits for ranchers and wildlife conservation.

PERC is currently partnering with McFarland White Ranch in the Crazy Mountains on a virtual fencing project, an initiative that includes outfitting the ranch’s 2,000 cows with GPS collars, setting up six solar-powered signal towers, and replacing 16 miles of the ranch’s traditional barbed wire fencing with virtual fencing.

Barbed wire fences are a key barrier to wildlife migration throughout the West, and this particular property in the Crazies is part of a pronghorn migration route.

Travis Brammer, director of conservation at PERC, told Mountain Journal how the project began with an interest in the potential for new technology to solve some of the challenges presented by more conventional methods. “The rancher came to us interested in virtual fencing when a fire burned down some of her traditional fencing a couple years ago,” Brammer said.

In addition to the high cost of replacing the burned fencing—Montana barbed-wire fences can cost between $15,000 and $20,000 per mile—Brammer said the rancher was interested in virtual fencing to open up the migration corridor on the property. 

The MacFarland project is about a year old, and Brammer explained that the technology is still emerging. While the project has hit a few snags along the way, he said it has been successful and has demonstrated great potential overall. 

While other pilot projects are exploring virtual fencing in the region, this one is particularly noteworthy for its explicit focus on migratory wildlife conservation and its impact on agricultural productivity, including economic impact, range management and livestock benefits.

“This project is pretty unique to the region,” Brammer said. “It’s one of the only virtual fencing projects where the priority is to remove barbed wire fences.”

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