GPS collars create 'virtual fence' for cows

Chris Watt with one of his herd of Red Poll cattle, wearing its new collar

A new high-tech "virtual fencing system" is being successfully trialled at a farm near Bath.

Somer Valley Farms is based at Peasedown St John and specialises in traditional rare breeds such as Red Poll and British White.

The farm has been experimenting with special GPS enabled cow collars, which control the movement of cattle within a paddock without the use of expensive physical fences.

Not only does the system cut costs, but it also allows newly born calves - which do not have the collars fitted - to wander freely and find the freshest new growth.

The Red Poll cattle have taken well to the new technology

Owner Chris Watts says the solar-powered collars save both time and money.

"If you want to do rotational grazing, you end up moving lots of electric fences around all over the place and that uses a lot of labour and is quite hard to operate," he said.

"With the new system, you set a field on an app for where you want the cattle to graze, and that gets downloaded into the collars.

"As the cattle move around, when they get close to the fence, they'll hear a 'beep' sound and if they carry on going past the fence, they'll get a small electric shock - like they would from an electric fence."

'Quite relaxed'

"We basically did it in three moves - you start with an actual fence and you put the virtual fence in the same place as the actual fence so the cows associate the beeping sound with a barrier. Then you gradually remove elements so you're left with just the virtual fence.

"They learned very quickly how the system works, and they now turn away when they start hearing the noise."

The collars cannot be fitted to calves – which means they can happily leave the "virtual field" and forage fresh clover while the adult cows watch on.

"If the cows want to go with the calf, they'll have to cross the boundary and they'll get a shock," says Mr Watts. "And we've discovered that, as they've learned the system, they've got quite relaxed about it, as long as they can see the calves."

The farm's Red Poll cattle are a traditional British rare breed

The system has worked so well that the farm plans to expand it and will be investing in more collars. For Mr Watts, it's been a real success and means he can stay in touch with his herd.

"From home, before I go to bed, I can have a quick look at the app and I can see where all of the cows are. I can see that they're where they're supposed to be, and actually it makes you much more relaxed."