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Beef grazing specialist excited for “fencing of the future”

An electronic fencing system for cattle commercially available in Australia will be tested in the US.

University of Illinois Dudley Smith Research Farm coordinator Ed Ballard says a technology called eShepherd from the company Agersens could be the fencing of the future for beef producers.

“To me it is something I get really excited about, I think it could really revolutionize what we are doing in the grazing industry.”

eShepherd is a smart collar system that trains livestock to stay withing certain boundaries, enabling cattle producers to create “virtual fences” and use their smart device to remotely fence, move and monitor their livestock.

“Without having any fences, you can set up your grazing paddocks, how many days you want the animals to graze and how large of a paddock. It also monitors where the cattle are at all times 24 hours a day.”

Ballard says it would be a valuable asset for grazing systems, especially in the Midwest.

“I think we would be able to do a much better job of utilizing our acres here in Illinois and utilizing a much higher percentage of our forages.”

Ballard says he expects farmers will be hearing more about the technology in the next couple of years.

The Ohio State University, Kansas State University and the University of Idaho signed memorandums of understanding in 2018 and 2019 to participate in the research. The fence company Gallagher is also a founding investor.

Brownfield interviewed Ballard at the Dudley Smith Farm Winter Meeting in Taylorville, Illinois.