Cattle producers and researchers are navigating novel ways to use Global Positioning System (GPS), a technology that assists in finding precise locations of cattle in various settings, to make ranch operations efficient and provide precision decision management tools to sustain Nebraska’s beef industry. 

Precision decision management tools, such as GPS collars and virtual fencing, are currently collecting data at the Gudmundsen Sandhills Laboratory and private ranches. 

Yijie Xiong, assistant professor in the Departments of Animal Science and Biological Systems Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, works with colleague Travis Mulliniks, associate professor in the Department of Animal Science, to further research the usability of the technology.

Jack Keating, founder of Corral Technologies, created a virtual fencing system to improve ranch profitability and efficiency.

GPS collars and virtual fencing has the merit of solving the complex problem of increasing input prices and flatlined outputs, as well as improves soil and rangeland health. Specifically, the technology decreases the input costs of labor, fencing, and provides enhanced information for nutrition management and increases the outputs through predictability of grazing patterns, health, and more.

“Technology may look different for every rancher, but technology will assist in moving forward in the next 20-30 years through increasing ranchers’ ability to be sustainable,” Mulliniks said.

New Technology Enters the Ranch

A GPS collar system using Internet of Things (IoT) technology is one example of technology actively used on ranches across Nebraska.

For example, each cow wears a IoT-GPS collar with sensor technology either on one side or both sides of the neck. This sensor communicates the cow’s current location and movement patterns in real-time through a wireless connection to a phone or a laptop, Xiong said.

This wireless connection that tracks location creates another opportunity for the ranch – virtual fencing.

A virtual fence can be created through adding designated coordinates via a software interface on a computer that function as the fence. Xiong said that once the cows begin to exit the coordinates, an alarm sounds on the collar. As the cow exits further, another alarm sounds. Assuming the cow is persistent and exits further, the system would deliver a gentle shock to keep them from leaving the designated area.

“The newer GPS collars can visualize the data or the location of the cattle in real-time, making it a lot easier to access the data, download the data, and see where cattle are located,” Xiong said.

This data is used to better understand grazing patterns and the needs for the cattle. Through simple data visualization, producers and researchers can see heat maps of where cattle graze the most. From this, they can better adjust their virtual fence coordinates for precise pasture management to fit the cattle feed needs.

Virtual fencing also allows ranchers to choose the exact coordinates to contain their cattle without having to add physical fence, saving the rancher time, money, resources, and potentially increasing grazing capacity.

Sustaining Resources Long-Term

The implementation of practices to protect and enhance forage, water, and soil is vital for long-term sustainability in grazing for cattle. Healthier soils that are more drought and flood resistant grow more nutrient dense forage eaten by cattle. With high grazing costs, nutrient dense forage is a need for producers.

“Grazing costs in Nebraska are not cheap – they are one of the highest in the United States,” Mulliniks said.

Precision ranch management creates long-lasting resources to help decrease the state’s grazing costs, Xiong said. 

Benefits from GPS collars and virtual fencing include increased grassland management through grazing distribution and increased nutrient density of forage, according to Keating. Profits rise from increasing carrying capacities, healthier animals, and a reduction in fencing supplies.

“Utilizing the forage resources more precisely can have many benefits for the long-term sustainability of the forage and pasture quality condition,” Xiong said.

Pinpointing Production, and Efficiency

Cattle production outputs such as weaning weight and reproduction have flatlined over the last 30 years, but inputs have risen. Mulliniks said technology can provide an opportunity to decrease production costs while increasing production outputs.

To combat this issue, Xiong said virtual fencing can be used to efficiently manage the cattle to  graze evenly, increasing the number of cattle per acre and decreasing supplemental feed prices. Based on the data collected, Mulliniks and Xiong will soon be able to determine the number of cattle per acre needed for profitability to increase.

“From a cattle management standpoint, about 65% of the annual cow-calf operation cost comes from nutrition,” Mulliniks said.

By increasing grazing distribution or grazing pastures more evenly, the opportunity is created to decrease grazing costs by decreasing the need for additional harvested forages or the ability to increase the number of cattle grazing those acres, Mulliniks said.

“The goal is to increase weaning weights for calves by up to 20 pounds because those calves can graze outside of the virtual boundaries cattle are contained to,” Keating said.

The GPS technology and virtual fencing allows them to graze a wider area than they typically would, based on current grazing patterns. 

Connecting to the Future

Technology must continue to be advanced for general consumers to adopt it. One advancement is providing a data-driven decision aid, according to Xiong.

“Heat detection, calving alerts, and genetic differences based on grazing are the focus of the future to make sure ranchers have the tools to be successful on their operation,” Keating said.

However, limited signal in rural areas and short battery life reduces consumers’ willingness to utilize GPS collars. Fixing this may increase consumer demand, which would lower the cost.

The efforts of researchers, ranchers, and analysts to make GPS collar and virtual fencing data useful will be pivotal for sustaining Nebraska’s resources and increasing output costs long-term.

For more information, please visit beef.unl.edu or contact a local Nebraska Extension agent by visiting epd.unl.edu.

Key Takeaways:

1. GPS technology and newer connectivity infrastructure, such as IoT-GPS collars and virtual fencing, are now more commonly available for rancher to use on cattle with the opportunity to increase profitability in the long-term.

2. Virtual fencing can be used to distribute cattle across rangelands to graze evenly and timely, increasing profitability and decreasing supplemental feed costs. 

3. By managing forage, water, and soil more efficiently, healthier soils will be more nutrient dense, making them more drought and flood resistant.

4. To combat the issue of limited connectivity in rural areas, focus is placed on the connectivity infrastructure and use of solar-powered batteries to increase consumer demand and lower costs. 

5. For more information, please visit beef.unl.edu or contact a local Nebraska Extension agent by visiting epd.unl.edu.