Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Virtual Fence Could Modernize the Old West

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the too-strange-for-a-topic-icon dept.

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."

21 of 216 comments (clear)

  1. Re-adapted Tech by slifox · · Score: 5, Interesting

    "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" ...

  2. This sounds laughably impractical by elrous0 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I used to work with cattle on my uncle's farm when I was a kid. They are dumb animals. They do dumb things. Anytime you try to move them, they do all kinds of stupid shit. I've seen them get "trapped" in fencing, in ditches, even in bushes and trees. So, here we have a system, which costs $900 for every cow it's put on (and that "just put it on the leaders" line sounds like wishful thinking to me). If it has some sort of mechanical malfunction or loses signal in some mountain pass, you could lose a lot of cattle. If you move the cattle and some of them get trapped in a ditch/underbursh/etc., you could lose a lot of cattle (since no actual person will be there to see it and help them). And if the cows simply ignore or get confused by the signal you're sending them, you could lose a lot of cattle. And every cow lost is a lot of money lost.

    Basically, this seems to me like a very high tech, expensive way to so something that's much more effectively and economically done the old-fashioned way. Ranch-hands are relatively cheap, smart, and effective. And handful of good cowboys can move a surprisingly large herd.

    This new system, by contrast, sounds unreliable, dumb, and VERY expensive. When you're talking huge herds, $900 a head is a LOT of money. Even $900 a "leader" is a LOT of money. Certainly, its tracking function would be useful to keep an eye on the herd (but I think they already have those sorts of systems already). But the idea that you can move cattle remotely with the push of a button, with no actual cowboys on hand, seems to me like the dream of someone who has never actually worked with the smelly, stupid things.

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    1. Re:This sounds laughably impractical by magarity · · Score: 5, Funny

      You've taken it way too seriously - in reality, the whole 'cattle herd' thing is an allegory for political parties. Read it again and it'll make sense this time.

    2. Re:This sounds laughably impractical by eldavojohn · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Uh, as someone forced to labor around these animals, I second your dubiousness. I have stared into the void that is the eye of a bovine creature and the void also stared back.

      From trying to help one get untangled from a barbed wire fence to watching one fry itself on an electrified fence to watching one stare confoundedly as a vehicle killed it at 55 mph to ... did I mention you can't lead them down a set of stairs?

      Well, now stealing the cattle is not only going to be easier but there's going to be bonus cattle where not only do you get the $800-$1000 a head but you also get a $900 device!

      --
      My work here is dung.
    3. Re:This sounds laughably impractical by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 5, Interesting

      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.

      --
      My blog
    4. Re:This sounds laughably impractical by elrous0 · · Score: 4, Informative

      I'm not saying it's impossible for a system to one day replace cowboys, just that *this* almost certainly isn't that system. Some things are not only hard to automate, but largely impractical (which is why farmers still hire humans for such tasks as fruit-picking, harvesting lettuce, etc. even though it should be theoretically possible to automate the process).

      And if you think ranch-hands make a huge "bundle of money" compared to what it would cost to outfit and maintain a herd full of transmitters at $900 a head, you are WAY out of touch with how much ranch-hands make.

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    5. Re:This sounds laughably impractical by cayenne8 · · Score: 5, Funny
      Great...so now..instead of cattle rustlers, you're gonna have cattle hackers???

      Man..that is seriously going to fuck with good western movies from now on. How do you string up the rustler/hacker when the bad guy is in Russia, and you're in TX somewhere?

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    6. Re:This sounds laughably impractical by zappepcs · · Score: 4, Insightful

      While your reasoning seems sound, it fails in real life. I have worked in the telcomms industry for some time and have personally witnessed the use of pagers in waterproof wrappings, taped to a collar around a couple of cows, for the express purpose of telling them when it is milking time. Inside of 2 weeks the cows were reliably answering the pager call. Given the right motivation, even dumb cows can be convinced to do the 'right thing' most of the time. Using some technology to reduce the amount of manpower required to convince them is nothing but good.

      Pagers, BTW, would not cost $900 per cow, and empirical evidence suggests that only the lead cows really need the pager around their necks.

      --
      Support NYCountryLawyer RIAA vs People
    7. Re:This sounds laughably impractical by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I have stared into the void that is the eye of a bovine creature and the void also stared back.

      That sounds like my last trip to McDonalds. It's bovines serving bovines to bovines. Bovines all the way down.

    8. Re:This sounds laughably impractical by mysticgoat · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Please re-read the the posts you are responding to and pay attention to the content.

      Persons with expertise on the ground in handling cattle are saying that moving the herd is only one component of the job, and one of the less difficult components, at that. Protecting the animals from external threats and from their internal inabilities to cope with common environmental traps are economic necessities.

      Until there is a remote way of intervening when a cow worth several hundred dollars gets itself crosswise to a barbed wire fence, being able to remotely direct the herd offers no benefits. These parts of the job will require a sophisticated all terrain robot capable of identifying a cow in trouble, immobilizing the large animal without hurting it, cutting and repairing barbed wire, delivering an antitetanus jab, and so on. And then you might as well save a bunch of money on the cowhead radio receivers by just putting a loudspeaker system in the robot.

      Yeah, at some point technology might replace the cowboy and his horse, but radiohead cows are not going to do it. And robotics has a long ways to go before a person who knows how to safely immobilize a ton of living hamburger with a few feet of rope is in danger of losing his job.

      To put this in perspective: a little before Fulton figured out how to make a steam engine small enough to fit inside a boat, there were some persons that history has forgotten who were experimenting with steam powered bicycles. Radiohead cows sound an awful lot like steam powered bicycles. The developers might be shooting their arrows more or less in the right direction, but unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any actual target anywhere near where their arrows are going.

    9. Re:This sounds laughably impractical by dilvish_the_damned · · Score: 4, Funny

      did I mention you can't lead them down a set of stairs?

      If I had a dime for every time I hid a cow in my bedroom...

      --
      I think you underestimate just how much I just dont care.
    10. Re:This sounds laughably impractical by zappepcs · · Score: 4, Interesting

      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.

      --
      Support NYCountryLawyer RIAA vs People
    11. Re:This sounds laughably impractical by kat_skan · · Score: 4, Funny

      Personally I think it's worth sacrificing that old trope in exchange for the possibility that any mall anywhere in America could spontaneously be invaded by radio-controlled cows.

    12. Re:This sounds laughably impractical by Deagol · · Score: 4, Interesting
      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.

      --
      Method of processing duck feet
  3. Suddenly by Technopaladin · · Score: 5, Funny

    All these Bluetooth wearing peoples existence becomes clear...they were the prototype for Cattle management. Truly the work has flipped upside down. I would love to see Rattlesnake, Bee, growling pumped into those things while people cruised around.

  4. Intelligence of cows by Ed+Avis · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How much bovine stupidity can be attributed to human preferences? Have we bred cattle to make them more stupid? I'm sure wild bison and buffaloes are a lot sharper. I expect it's our fault; when did you last send back a steak in a restaurant because it wasn't intelligent enough?

    --
    -- Ed Avis ed@membled.com
    1. Re:Intelligence of cows by superbondbond · · Score: 5, Informative
      I'm not so sure wild bison were any smarter. Read about the historic buffalo jumps that the native Americans used in hunting...

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_jump

    2. Re:Intelligence of cows by Arthur+B. · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I don't even think they were bred for stupidity, it's just that they were bred with no preference for stupidity or intelligence, it's irrelevant to reproductive success. The rest is just natural genetic drift.

      I'm looking at you, humanity.

      --
      \u262D = \u5350
    3. Re:Intelligence of cows by ari_j · · Score: 4, Interesting

      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.

  5. Screw Halo 3... by PinkyDead · · Score: 4, Funny

    I wanna play World of Warcow.

    --
    Genesis 1:32 And God typed :wq!
  6. No! by Camaro · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I work with cattle for a living, both my own and helping neighbors. I see it over and over. There are definitely leaders in a herd but there are also cattle that will not follow unless you get behind them and get them moving in the right direction. Maybe there's a slow one who stepped in a hole yesterday. Maybe the calf has picked that moment to get a snack and the mother stops for it to suck. Or it's the nervous cow that heads for the hills at the first sign of a roundup. Hell, there's even leader cows who decide to go different directions. Cattle like routine and if they don't usually go a certain direction they don't really feel like going there. Many times I've had a herd approach an open gate and stop. After a few minutes of trying to get them to go through they scatter. But often the first place they head when I start trying to round them up is where they go to drink water because it's what they do every day.