From the football field to the pasture, the University of Missouri is exploring a different kind of game changer this fall. Researchers are using virtual fencing to move cattle, manage forage and potentially put more acres to work, all from a phone.
At the Mizzou Beef Research Farm near Columbia, Missouri, the technology is helping researchers answer a bigger question: Can virtual fencing change the economics of grazing and create new opportunities for cattle producers?
For Emma Bauer, a second-year master’s student in beef cattle nutrition from St. Charles, Missouri, virtual fencing is central to her research on grazing cattle on annual cover crops.
“I’m looking at how we can graze cattle on different annual cover crops,” Bauer says.
Her research focuses on determining when and how heavily to stock cattle on crops such as sunn hemp and sunflowers. Virtual fencing allows her to strip-graze cattle without repeatedly moving physical fence.
“These collars are really helping me answer some questions in my research,” Bauer says. “We’re really trying to figure out when and how heavy to stock animals on specifically sunn hemp and sunflowers. And so the collars are allowing me to strip graze without having to come out and move polywire every single week, spend hours throughout the project doing that.”
The result is greater efficiency and the ability to study grazing strategies that might otherwise require significant additional labor.
How Virtual Fencing Works
The collars are being used on all 60 head of heifers at the Mizzou research farm. Each collar includes a geolocation chip that allows researchers to monitor where cattle are located. The technology also uses audio cues to help guide cattle away from virtual boundaries. As an animal approaches a boundary, the collar begins beeping to steer it back into the designated grazing area.
Bauer says the system has worked well, and she’s been impressed by how quickly the cattle have adapted.
“I’m honestly surprised at how well these collars worked and how quickly they adapt to them and just how precise I can graze out here,” she says.
For researchers, that precision opens the door to more than simply replacing traditional fencing. It creates an opportunity to study how cattle can be matched more closely with available forage and land resources.
Virtual Fencing Aims to Improve Grazing Efficiency
Derek Brake, an associate professor in the University of Missouri’s Division of Animal Sciences who specializes in cattle nutrition and management, says the goal is to improve the bottom line for cattle producers. With cattle producers looking for ways to expand the herd, Brake sees virtual fencing as a potential tool to make better use of existing grazing acres while also expanding the amount of land available for cattle.
Researchers aren’t simply trying to determine whether the technology works. They’re exploring how it can help producers rethink traditional grazing practices.
“We want to go to the next step,” Brake says. “We want to figure out how can we now apply this technology to maybe rethink some really strong-held beliefs and traditions when it comes to cattle grazing.”
Brake describes that next step as precision grazing, moving cattle in ways that better align animal needs with available forage. Virtual fencing could also help overcome one of the biggest barriers to more intensive grazing management: labor.
“What virtual fencing does is it provides a tool not only perhaps to improve efficiencies, but it provides the real-world application where we’ve known certain ways to manage grazing for some time, but oftentimes the labor requirements are a little bit overbearing,” Brake says.
Instead of physically moving fence, producers can adjust grazing boundaries remotely. Brake says he can schedule cattle movements in advance, allowing him to plan several grazing breaks without having to be physically present for each move.
That flexibility could make intensive grazing management more practical for producers who want to move cattle regularly but struggle to find the time and labor to do it.
Can Virtual Fencing Pay for Itself?
For producers considering the investment, the economics are a critical part of the equation.
Brake says the value of gain for a stocker calf is about $1.70 per pound under the market conditions discussed during the interview. Using a conservative estimate of 2 pounds of average daily gain over a two-month grazing period, researchers see the potential for meaningful revenue per acre.
“We typically can see if we stock at about two animals per acre, we can see a gross revenue of about $340 per acre,” Brake explains.
That figure is before accounting for costs, including the expenses associated with establishing and managing the grazing system. Still, Brake says spring grazing can often cover most of those costs, while additional grazing opportunities during summer and fall can further improve returns.
The economics will vary by operation, forage availability, stocking rate and management practices. But the potential to generate additional value from land that might otherwise go unused is part of what makes the technology appealing.
Research Expands Beyond One University Farm
Mizzou’s virtual fencing work extends beyond the beef research farm. Rob Myers, director of the University of Missouri’s Center for Regenerative Agriculture, says the university is now more than a year into its virtual fencing research.
The projects are evaluating whether the technology makes economic sense for farmers and ranchers, how much labor it can save and how effectively it supports grazing management. The initial work included five private farms and five university farms. Myers says producers who have used the technology have been pleased with the results.
“It’s not perfect, it continues to rapidly improve, but it’s really a great labor savings and a great management tool,” Myers says.
Through the “Heartland Virtual Fencing Project,” the university’s virtual fencing projects have received more than $5 million in funding, supporting research into cover-crop grazing and improved grassland management.
“Our newest project, what we call the Heartland Virtual Fence Project, is designed to help farmers and ranchers in Missouri and Nebraska be able to adopt the technology. So we’re actually providing an incentive, $100 per collar, to try it. And we’ve had really high interest and demand for that among producers,” Myers says.
Myers says the goal is to determine where the technology can deliver practical benefits for producers, including opportunities to integrate livestock into cropping systems. The broader research is also examining how grazing can support soil health and how livestock might be incorporated into cropland management.
Could Virtual Fencing Open the Door For Row-crop Farmers?
One potential opportunity is grazing cattle on acres traditionally used for row crops.
For farmers already growing cover crops, virtual fencing could make it easier to incorporate livestock without investing as much time in moving physical fence. That could create another way to generate revenue from existing acres while supporting more flexible grazing systems.
Brake says changing market conditions can also prompt producers to reconsider how they use their land.
“We can deliver the ability to graze cattle onto some of our row crop acres, but I think sometimes we’re going to notice that the value of gain that we put on with cattle in those same acres might be what’s absolutely generating the most revenue,” he says.
Is Virtual Fencing Right for Every Operation?
Despite its potential, virtual fencing isn’t necessarily a fit for every cattle producer. Myers says the technology is best suited for producers who actively manage grazing and move cattle regularly.
“If we have a producer that’s just putting some animals out in a pasture and leaving them there from season on end and not really moving them around at all, that’s probably not where this is gonna pay for itself,” Myers says. “It’s really designed for that producer that’s willing to move the animals regularly, which is now very easy with this technology because again, you’re doing it right from your phone.”
But Brake points out virtual fencing could make intensive grazing management more practical by reducing the labor required to move cattle.
“What virtual fencing does is it provides a tool not only perhaps to improve efficiencies, but it provides the real-world application where we’ve known certain ways to manage grazing for some time, but oftentimes the labor requirements are a little bit overbearing,” Brake says.
For Brake, the potential goes beyond labor savings. When asked whether he believes virtual fencing is the future of cattle grazing, his answer is direct.
“Absolutely,” Brake says.
