Cattle wearing GPS-enabled, solar-powered smart collars made by Agersens, an Australian agtech... [+] startup. On your next drive through the countryside you may notice a few cows donning colorful, fancy necklaces. New farm fashion? Nope. The GPS-enabled, solar-powered smart collars allow the farmers that own the animals to track their location and regulate where they graze through virtual fencing controlled through the click of an app. Made by Australian agtech startup Agersens, the technology, known as eShepherd, is in pilot mode in the American cattle industry through a series of partnerships between Agersens and select land-grant universities. The research institutions reach a vast network of farm clientele through agricultural extension programming. The technology utilized by eShepherd was patented by Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), the country’s federally-funded national science agency. Rights to the technology have been licensed exclusively to Agersens. “It’s a grazing control tool to improve productivity and profitability in a sustainable way,” Ian Reilly, the CEO of Agersens, says. “The technology fully automates the controlled grazing of livestock 24/7.” “They can be anywhere in the world,” Reilly notes, referencing smart-device-equipped farmers who can keep tabs on their livestock through the company's app. “They can be sipping a latte in London and checking on their cattle in California.” Each animal’s GPS-enabled collar is connected wirelessly to a base station. If an animal reaches one of the virtual fence boundaries established using the app’s mapping technology, the animal will receive an audio cue. If the animal continues to move through the boundary, the animal will receive an electric pulse. Reilly says that the pulse is “small and much less than an electric fence.” Priced per head of cattle rather than per mile of virtual fence, Reilly says that eShepherd enables producers “to add unlimited fencing and move or remove the fence whenever they’d like.” He says that generally, after the first one to two years of use, the investment cost is returned to the producer in farm income. About the sustainability aspect that Reilly mentioned: The company claims that the technology equips producers with a tool to easily apply rotational grazing practices to their operation. In this management method, animals are moved to one section of a farm’s pasture to graze, allowing other parcels to rest in the meantime. While resting, the forage regrows and replenishes lost nutrients, which the cattle consume upon reintroduction to the pasture. In addition to animal welfare and environmental benefits, research has shown economic benefits to the use of rotational grazing. One study in Wisconsin showed that cattle managed by rotational grazing netted more in farm income than those raised in confinement. Conservation agencies in Agersens’ home country of Australia were some of the first clients to express interest in the product, Reilly tells me while calling eShepherd “flood-proof, fire-proof and wildlife-friendly." With fencing near protected waterways sometimes subject to flooding or fires, conservation organizations saw the tool as a way to easily manage cattle on environmentally-sensitive land. Reilly also cites the data generated by his product as an exciting addition to the agtech space. He says the information generated by eShepherd will be valuable to producers and others in the industry. “The real challenge is to not just give data to farmers but to give them decision-making support so they can improve their productivity and operations,” Reilly says. In “The Future of Food 2040” report by the U.K.'s National Farmers Union, the organization declared that virtual fencing technology will become commonplace by 2040. Virtual fencing for goats has already reached the European market. In 2017, Agersens was named one of the world’s top 100 disruptive brands by U.K.-based Marketing Week Magazine. That same year, the company was also named one of Melbourne, Australia's top startups to watch. As of February this year, the agtech startup had raised $10 million for their flagship product.
Australian agtech Agersens is piloting its solar - powered , smart eShepherd cattle collar in the US , after being granted an exclusive patent for the collar from Australia ’s Commonwealth Protection and Industrial Research Organisation . Start - up Agersens said the GPS - enabled devices and accompanying app allow farmers to track and monitor herds remotely , while the collar pays for itself within one to two years , and collects data of possible interest to interested third parties . In addition , Australian conservation agencies said eShepherd helps keep cows away from environmentally sensitive land .