It’s a sight we’ve all likely seen from behind the safety of our cellphone screens, but for some ranchers, the heartbreak is all too real. Bright flashes of orange and red leap across the rangeland, flames bolting across the landscape with little to no pullback to slow their spread. Billows of black and gray smoke rise to the sky, and the immense threat the myriad of colors portray to the frontier’s inhabitants casts an ominous silhouette against the dark landscape. Cattlemen watching both within the confines of safety and out in the open air of danger, think about the well-being of livestock in the path of the burning flames. 

In the aftermath of a wildfire, some Angus producers have turned to innovative technology to intensively manage the scorched ranchland.

“Necessity is the mother of invention,” says Donnell “Donald” Brown, owner and manager of R.A. Brown Ranch in Throckmorton, Texas. “In January 2023, we had a wildfire come through the ranch, and it burned a portion of several pastures. Each pasture had usable acres to graze, but the only way to separate the cattle from the burned portions that needed resting was to build an unbelievably expensive amount of temporary or permanent fence, or use a virtual fence — and that’s how we got started.” 

Donald Brown and his wife, Kelli, along with their two sons, incorporated Vence virtual fence into their ranch beginning in July 2023. Aside from the cost effectiveness of virtual fencing, the new technology contributes to regenerative land management and erosion prevention by simplifying rotational grazing with intensity monitoring and decreased labor costs. 

For producers who have spent a great portion of their lives looking for cattle on open range, virtual fencing lends a hand in strategically moving and locating cattle on vast landscapes. 

“Virtual fence provides not only the ability to fence cattle in an area without physical fencing, but also the ability to fence cattle out of areas, which I believe is equally important,” says Andrew Cox, New Mexico State University Chihuahuan Desert Rangeland Research Center ranch manager. “It provides real-time tracking of cattle, which is a game changer when it comes to increasing operational efficiencies.”

Measurements and management

On the 64,000-acre college ranch, Cox and his research team incorporate virtual fencing to locate cattle, measure activity level and move animals throughout the desolate rangeland located in the southern portion of the Jornada plain. Virtual fencing has been researched in the Jornada since the 1980s, beginning first on the neighboring Jornada Experimental Range before making its way into the “college ranch” system, Cox says. 

Grazing management and time efficiency are optimized through virtual fencing measures, he adds. Within minutes, producers can easily alter their fencing preferences with good cellphone service, satellite reception and a quick drop of GPS coordinates from a smart device.

Virtual fencing innovation can be used as a cost- and time-saving mechanism to replace interior fences and teach cattle to respect strategically placed boundaries, explains Krista Ehlert, assistant professor and Extension range specialist at South Dakota State University. Auditory and electric cues are used to teach cattle to adhere to the virtual fence.

Brown says not only is he able to improve the health and well-being of his property and cattle, but he is also able to produce more pounds of beef per acre. That’s a part of the equation he says can’t be ignored.

These positive attributes, along with many others, have been echoed by other Angus producers adopting virtual fence.

“I’m doing a better job of managing what I have,” adds Barb Downey, owner of Downey Ranch, Inc., in the Flint Hills of Kansas. 

At her operation, labor availability, input cost, time management and carrying capacity are other factors that incentivize virtual fence usage on their 8,000 acres of owned and leased land. Though the technology is a new implement for Downey, she says a major benefit is the ability to quickly build and change virtual fence coordinates with a fraction of the time and cost requirements of a temporary or permanent fence. 

The initial input cost is expensive, but she says the option to innovatively manage cattle with regenerative grazing in mind truly makes the investment worthwhile. 

There’s another component that comes into play for her family’s outfit, too.

“An operation that stays progressive, vibrant, and is open to new ideas and new ways of thinking and new technology is one that is more attractive either for a progressive employee or a child coming back to the operation,” Downey says.

The appeal of new technology in agriculture is a factor that just might incentivize young producers to return to their family’s operation, Ehlert adds.

Virtual fencing isn’t for everyone, however. Brown urges producers to consider their grazing systems and scope. For cattlemen with smaller traps where cattle would frequently push the boundaries, constant interaction with the boundary line could more quickly drain the mechanism’s battery. Battery life and durability, along with having to change the fit and size of the collars, are other challenges producers face with this new technology. 

“I don’t think it’s the silver bullet for every operation or every rancher,” Ehlert says. 

She urges producers to consider if virtual fencing will truly help them meet their management goals before taking the leap. There’s interesting comparison between “physical labor and cognitive labor” that producers will have to face when making the switch.

Brown, Cox and Downey all echo the same sentiment: producers should consider gate and water locations when determining virtual fence boundaries, and then give the cattle a large berth around these areas. Smart technology is good, but some inaccuracies in geospatial targeting could mean the difference in accessibility for cattle.

Determining an appropriate containment rate, along with your facility’s compatibility with collar and smart technology access, are two factors Ehlert says producers should consider if planning to mesh virtual fencing into their protocol. 

“I’m adamant about the fact that virtual fencing does not replace common livestock knowledge,” Cox says. “It does not replace common animal husbandry knowledge. It does not replace knowledge in ranch management or livestock management. It’s simply a tool to help us better manage.” 

Editor’s note: Sarah Harris-Christian is a freelance writer from Centralia, Okla.