I will accomplish my management goals, but on their schedule. It's like doing a job the way you know it should be done, but letting your bosses feel like it was all their idea. For example, after a cow has been in a corral for a drink of water, with a few subtle cues as she leaves the corral it should be possible to move her to a new area to graze. Anderson credits USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service, Grazing Lands Technology Institute, for providing financial support for his research. Too For large areas of the world, conventional fencing is just not economical, yet animal control is desperately needed to prevent improper resource use.
Virtual fences can go wherever the ecology dictates the cow needs to go.
Human convenience has always won out, not any theory of range management. But that's not always best for the range or the cow. Anderson believes that technological advances will eventually make the virtual fence more affordable. But Anderson thinks cost won't be as big a barrier to adopting virtual fencing as the ability to think differently about cattle management. Since cows follow leaders, and bonded sheep and goats follow cows, Anderson envisions needing the virtual fence device only on the leaders.