VF on Forested Rangeland

California rangelands are characterized by their annual grasses, which grow from late fall through spring, seed, and then die. This cyclical growth presents unique challenges compared to regions with perennial grasses that thrive year-round. In summer and fall, the dried grass loses nutritional value, necessitating either supplemental feeding or relocation of livestock to greener pastures. Ranchers often manage this by securing grazing allotments on vast tracts of federal, state, or private land, such as timberland. While this approach offers benefits like cooler temperatures, more reliable water sources, and more nutritious feed, it also involves significant logistical and maintenance challenges. Transporting an entire herd is costly and complex, and managing extensive barbed-wire fences that are prone to damage from fallen trees, wildlife, snow, and human activity, adds further difficulty. Additionally, the size of these allotments are often thousands of acres so ranchers may not see all of the livestock in their herd for months.

Virtual fencing (VF) addresses several of these challenges by providing real-time tracking of each animal, which proves invaluable when animals stray from designated areas. VF collars can alert ranchers if an animal is stationary for an extended period, indicating potential issues like collar loss or animal distress that may go unnoticed otherwise. Although perimeter fences remain necessary, VF systems reduce dependency on them and offer greater precision in managing grazing areas.

VF's functionality was tested after the catastrophic Caldor wildfire that burned over 221,000 acres in El Dorado and Amador Counties in 2021. Mount Echo Ranch lost the northern third of their 7,000-acre grazing allotment, destroying 7 miles of fencing. The cost to replace the fencing was more than $300,000. Instead of replacing it, they leased 100 VF collars and collaborated with the United States Forest Service to test the technology. This allowed them to resume grazing the following summer without the need for extensive fence repairs. The VF system effectively contained the cattle within their designated range nearly 100% of the time and kept them out of the burned section 89.3% of the time. The time required for the end-of-season roundup was reduced from 10 days to 4 days due to real-time animal tracking. While animals may on occasion escape from the desired area, knowing their locations makes it much easier to locate them.

Using VF to exclude livestock from meadows has also been proven to be effective. At the end of the grazing season, livestock are often gathered into meadows. Prior to VF, animals would invade the meadows throughout the summer, crossing the barbwire fence, but a VF exclusion has been an effective deterrent. Now the meadow can be preserved until the end of the season where it acts as an enticing forage to attract cattle to the corrals.