Virtual Fence Could Modernize the Old West

Hugh Pickens writes "For more than a century, ranchers in the West have kept cattle in place with fences of barbed wire, split wood and, more recently, electrified wires. Now, animal science researchers with the Department of Agriculture are working on a system that will allow cowboys to herd their cattle remotely via radio by singing commands and whispering into their ears and tracking movements by satellite and computer. A video of Dean Anderson, a researcher at the USDA's Jornada Experimental Range at Las Cruces, NM., shows how he has built radios that attach to an animal's head that allow a person at the other end to issue a range of commands — gentle singing, sharp commands, or a buzz like a bee or snake — to get the cattle to move where one wants them to. Anderson says it would cost $900 today to put a radio device on one head of cattle, but he says costs will fall and the entire herd wouldn't have to be outfitted, just the 'leaders.' Much of the research has focused on how cattlemen can identify which cattle in their herds are the ones that the others follow."

Comments

Re-adapted Tech

[slifox]

"working on a system that will allow cowboys to herd their cattle remotely via radio by singing commands and whispering into their ears and tracking movements by satellite and computer"

Looks like they're finally re-adapting that technology once reserved only for our most esteemed government leaders ;)

The animal trials usually come before the human trials -- but I don't know if I'd consider any of our current heads of state still "human" ...

Re:This sounds laughably impractical

[morgan_greywolf]

Perhaps. But you sound like a whole lot of people whose jobs have since been replaced by automation.

Seriously.

For example, it was once said that vinyl-cutting CAD/CAM systems would never replace the journeyman sign painter (yes, signs used to be painted by hand!). You could NEVER do all the stuff that a guy with a brush and some paint could do.

Yet, today, you pretty much can. There are very few people left who actually know how to layout and paint a sign by hand like an old pro. Most sign companies don't even have a hand lettering person on staff anymore.

This might be in its infancy, but it is possible -- even likely -- that one day, something along these lines might actually be made to work well enough to replace experienced ranch hands.

If a rancher can even eliminate the need for 1 or 2 ranch hands with this technology, in the long-run, he'll save himself a bundle of money.

Re:This sounds laughably impractical

[zappepcs]

Just as a note, the dairyman that I had to deal with wanted to mod the pager for louder beeps and longer battery life. He had enough cows to overwhelm his milking barn and took them in turns from different fields. The pagers made a huge difference for him. We did the mods - encased it in a 'waterproof' project case, ran battery and speaker connections external from the pager, and all was good. He got about 1 month battery life and effective management of the cows at milking time. I extended my trip to watch the cows come in for milking several times. One of the many odd stories I've collected over the years.

Re:Intelligence of cows

[ari_j]

Actually, we breed them to be docile. Extreme docility and stupidity seem to go hand in hand. I would venture that 100% of the delta-stupidity of a cow beyond that of a similar wild animal (perhaps a bison or a wild boar) can be attributed to human preferences.

Re:This sounds laughably impractical

[Deagol]

As someone who's owned family milk cows, I say you're being a tad harsh. Our cows were not only personable, but exhibited downright devious behavior. They learn quickly. They'll follow verbal commands. They recognize specific people and respond to their preferences to those people. Granted, they were both Jersey cows, which have a reputation for being a bit more clever than the average Holstein (and I would assume the typical Angus or Hereford that I see being run around my neck of the Utah open range).

Sure, cows are big clumsy animals, both by nature and due to breeding. But they're certainly not totally devoid of presence and thought, as you seem to imply. I didn't just labor near these animals, but I hand milked them daily. People who have hand-milked animals like cows and goats know there is a bond formed between them and the animal. They know full well that they could kill you in an instant, yet they recognize the give-and-take relationship they're part of.

As for the stairs... cows have little to no depth perception. That's why you can paint cattle guards across a road and it'll be as effective as a real cattle guard. They're not dumb, but self-serving. You of all people should know this. Bovines are known to be more sure-footed than horses, which are skittish creatures bordering on neurotic. They simply won't put their feet down where they're uncertain of the consequences (except when they're in a panic). That's why oxen are preferred as beasts of burden over horses, at least in countries where people aren't too proud to have cattle perform such work.

Still, I think that this idea is rather dumb. People who range cattle here in the West aren't making a killing as it is, and devices like these solve a problem that doesn't exist, in a very expensive way. Cheap radio beacons for tracking down cattle that have been ranging in the wooded mountains for the summer? Maybe. Probably not. But remote controlling cattle is something only a foolish marketing drone would come up with.