By Addison DeHaven
It's a mild early spring morning at the historic Cottonwood Field Station in western South Dakota, and a herd of 150 Angus steers are scheduled to move to a new pasture rotation. Moving cattle can be tricky and often requires some extra help, electrical fencing and quite a bit of time. But today, there are no extra ranchers, no gates swinging open and no temporary fences in place.
Instead, South Dakota State University assistant professor Hector Menendez is sitting comfortably in his office, miles away from the pasture, looking at a satellite image of Cottonwood's 2,500 or so acres of rangeland. While sipping on his morning coffee, he draws the boundaries for a new pasture on his phone. By the end of the day, the herd of cattle will have arrived at their new location.
"It's a pretty easy application to use," Menendez said. "The technology will guide the animals to their new pasture."
This is the virtual fencing technology that has become the "hot topic" at livestock management conferences, meetings and workshops the last few years. Producers, faced with rising input costs, increasing labor needs and mounting environmental pressures, are eager to learn about an emerging technology that has the potential to address some of the industry's biggest challenges.
At ranches and fields across South Dakota, SDSU researchers are actively developing and investigating how virtual fencing and a wave of other technologies, including remote weighing, artificial intelligence and drones, can support the state's producers and reshape modern agriculture.
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