“Invisible Fence” For Pastured Livestock

“Invisible Fence” For Pastured Livestock FENCING Techniques With the new Nofence virtual fencing system you can “build” a fence simply by drawing a boundary on a computer screen and then turn animals loose Solar-powered collars around their necks warn them when they’re near the “fence” and shock them if they try to cross over “It takes a matter of days for animals to learn how Nofence works ” says Christer Baltzeren Nofence AS As the animal wanders close to the virtual boundary an increasingly loud clicking is heard As they get even closer a harmless electric shock is delivered to the animal’s neck via chains on the collars According to Baltzeren the animals soon respond quickly to the shock and then the clicking noise “You can see them learn as you observe their interaction with the virtual boundary ” says Baltzeren Nofence has been in development in Norway for more than 20 years A research pilot project with 850 goats started in 2016 with expanded pilots with sheep goats and cattle in 2019 With commercial introduction in Norway and a few other countries use has grown to 27 000 animals and 2 400 customers Both satellite and GSM provide location data the former using triangulation from at least 3 or 4 satellites As an animal moves toward the boundary it will receive 3 audio alerts and if it continues 3 successive electric pulses The owner is notified with the first pulse and again if it crosses the boundary At that point it is classified as an escape and it is tracked electronically If it crosses back it receives no pulse Experience with the collar has shown animals typically go back on their own Nofence offers a larger collar designed for cattle and a smaller one for goats and sheep The cattle collar with its 20Ah battery weighs just over 3 lbs The sheep and goat collars with 10Ah batteries weigh in at just over 1 lb Solar panels on both sides of the collars recharge the batteries However the smaller sheep and goat collars limit the size of the solar panels and the batteries They may need to be replaced monthly for recharging The larger cow collar batteries are expected to last the grazing season Other features include a motion sensor that detects acceleration and grazing exclusion areas Up to 9 exclusion areas can be defined within a designated boundary Corridors for animals moving between grazing areas can also be designated Nofence was introduced to the United Kingdom UK earlier this year Plans are underway to expand to the North American market in the near future says Baltzeren “In the UK we offer a $12 per month per collar rental agreement ” says Baltzeren Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Nofence AS Evjevegen 8 6631 Batnfjordsøra Norway ph 47 48 38 64 88; sales@nofence no; www nofence no

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