Mizzou expands virtual fencing for cattle in Missouri and Nebraska
A $3.7 million grant is helping Mizzou’s Center for Regenerative Agriculture put GPS-enabled collars on the cattle of 200 livestock producers, saving time and labor.
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Virtual fencing
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The University of Missouri is scaling up the use of virtual fencing, a cutting-edge agricultural technology that’s gaining attention among livestock producers and state officials.
Thanks to a $3.7 million grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), Mizzou’s Center for Regenerative Agriculture will help hundreds of livestock producers in Missouri and Nebraska save time and labor with GPS-enabled collars for their cattle.
Virtual fencing collars guide cattle to fresh grazing fields with a variety of cues. Once their cattle are collared with the new technology, producers simply draw their virtual boundaries on a mobile app or computer and activate their interior “fences” with the press of a button. That reduces the time producers need to spend tearing down and rebuilding physical fences to move cattle to different pastures.
“Not only are we giving producers time back in their day by eliminating the time- and labor-intensive process of constantly moving interior fences, but we are also helping them be good stewards of the land by improving the sustainability and profitability of beef production,” Rob Myers, the center’s director, said. “I heard from one producer who is getting nearly double the value from each acre of land after switching to virtual fencing because his cattle are now eating all the cover crops in one field before moving on to the next field. He loves redrawing the boundaries on his phone.”
Beefing up impact
Myers and his team initially tested the technology in partnership with five Missouri producers. The latest grant will allow the center to expand the project by collaring the cattle of 200 livestock producers in Missouri and Nebraska who collectively manage around 150,000 acres. The award is part of $32.8 million in initial grants announced by NFWF as part of the new Grassland Resilience and Conservation Initiative, supported by funding from McDonald’s USA, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and several key McDonald’s USA beef and beverage suppliers.
The grant provides incentive payments directly to producers who adopt the virtual fencing technology, which can also be used to protect streams, rivers and other sensitive landscapes. Additionally, Myers and his team will help producers improve their watering systems and plant native forages, boosting sustainability and profitability.
“The grass in most Missouri pastures is tall fescue, which is not native to the U.S.,” Myers, an extension professor in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, said. “So, by having native plants also be part of livestock grazing, that extends the grazing season, and it’s great for soil health and wildlife.”
Stewards of the land
The center’s goals — to build more integrated approaches to regenerative farming and develop more resilient food systems — are deeply personal to Myers.
He grew up on a farm in Illinois, seeing firsthand the downsides of soil erosion and the benefits cover crops — plants that enrich soil and hold it in place — had on the farm’s corn and soybeans.
“As a boy, I remember seeing the positive impact cover crops had on soil health, which sparked my interest in regenerative agriculture,” Myers said. “That’s something I’ve been passionate about ever since.”
Myers added that the virtual fencing project is an example of Mizzou’s efforts to improve rural communities by prioritizing engagement.
“At Mizzou, we’re not only doing research; we’re helping society directly benefit from the research through our extension, education and community outreach efforts, and that is what a flagship university is all about,” Myers said. “One of the major challenges in agriculture today, particularly in the Midwest, is how to keep the soil as productive and resilient as possible. I’m very motivated to help producers adopt best practices in regenerative agriculture so they and the next generation of producers will be successful in the long run. And we think virtual fencing can play a big role in that.”
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