Jaclyn De Candio
Not too long ago, virtual fencing was a pie-in-the-sky idea with few practical applications and little proven value. Today, this technology has found a home in Western Canada and is rapidly reshaping livestock and grazing management.
With several companies developing GPS-enabled cow collars and software that go hand in hand to create invisible boundaries, this method is gaining favour among producers and researchers alike. British Columbia and Alberta lead the charge in Canadian trials, proving its ability to reduce labour while better utilizing grazing. The technology replaces physical fences with audio cues and mild electric stimuli, and as creatures of habit, cattle have shown rapid adaptation to these systems.
How Virtual Fencing Works
Producers use mobile apps or web-based platforms to draw virtual paddocks, adjusting them in real-time to suit grazing needs. When cattle approach a boundary, they hear a series of beeps followed by a mild electric shock if they persist.
Brianna Elliot, project lead at the Technology Access Centre for Livestock Production at Olds College, describes the process.
“The cattle approach the virtual line,” she explains. “They do three audio cues, and then three small shocks … most of the cattle we found have responded within four days and strictly go off the audio cues.” This rapid adaptation allows cattle to learn boundaries with minimal stress, relying primarily on sound.
The system depends on connectivity, with options including cellular networks, LoRaWAN via base stations or emerging satellite solutions.
Chris Foster, chief technology officer at Two Story Robot, a Canadian tech firm partnering with the BC Cattlemen’s Association to develop a region-specific system, describes advances in this part of the system. “The big change is companies like Starlink deploying satellites at closer orbits,” he says. “You’re getting much better latency [and] throughput … comparable or better than … wired internet.”
Innovations like Starlink’s cellular-over-satellite services could transform connectivity in remote areas, reducing reliance on inconsistent cell towers and enabling seamless monitoring through user-friendly apps.
Foster’s team, for instance, has developed a web application that lets ranchers track their cattle’s locations and manage fences in real time.
“Our goal is to make this very usable directly for ranchers,” he adds, “to make sure it feels intuitive and useful.”
Equipment needs are minimal but critical. Collars, often solar- or battery-powered, must be lightweight yet durable enough to withstand harsh conditions.
“Cattle are extremely hard on electronics,” says Foster. “They’re out in the rain, heat and cold, and cattle love to rub their necks up against things.”
Data plans for connectivity and access to a mobile device or computer complete the setup, making virtual fencing a lean alternative to traditional infrastructure.
Early Adoption and Canadian Trials
At Olds College Smart Farm in Alberta, Elliot’s team has been testing virtual fencing since 2022, starting with Nofence collars and scaling up to 100 eShepherd (Gallagher) collars in 2024. Of these, 80 were used in a 2025 internal project, while the remainder were deployed in the Results Driven Agriculture Research (RDAR)-funded Nanton project for an economic analysis.
These studies focus on usability, connectivity and animal behaviour, alongside an economic analysis comparing virtual fencing to poly wire in adaptive multi-paddock grazing systems. In British Columbia, Two Story Robot collaborates with the BC Cattlemen’s Association to develop collars tailored for grazing on vast Crown land, addressing unique challenges like long-range connectivity and durability.
Other providers, such as Vence (Merck Animal Health Canada), are also entering the Canadian market, with Elliot noting that eShepherd arrived only within the last few years and another system called Halter is expected in late 2025.
Early lessons highlight both promise and hurdles. Setup is straightforward, significantly reducing the need for costly physical fences, especially on leased or public land.
“Fencing is extraordinarily expensive,” says Foster. “The cattle collars allow much more cost-effective, granular control.”
Elliot notes that base station-dependent systems can be “restricted in really rough terrain,” though improvements are ongoing.
Producer and industry enthusiasm is palpable. Foster recalls one rancher offering to take a set of 1,000 collars as soon as his system was up and running.
Elliot echoes this sentiment, receiving “calls non-stop” and predicting widespread adoption within years.
Impacts on Labour and Land Use
Hands down, virtual fencing delivers significant labour savings. By eliminating much of the time spent on fence maintenance and manual herd movement, producers can focus on other tasks. It is also a potential solution for labour shortages, notes Elliot.
Another major benefit in this same vein is remote monitoring.
“You can actually see where your cattle are … which helps with knowing where all of your cattle have ended up,” says Foster.
On the land management front, virtual fencing enables precise rotational grazing, optimizing pasture utilization and soil health.
Elliot sees it as a cornerstone for adaptive, multi-paddock grazing systems and better use of pastures. This allows more producers to tailor grazing patterns to forage availability or seasonal conditions with minimal labour inputs and added costs of fencing.
The technology also protects sensitive areas like wetlands or riparian zones by setting exclusion zones, and it facilitates grazing on marginal or hard-to-fence land, such as B.C.’s Crown land or Alberta’s hilltops.
The absence of physical fences also reduces wildlife disruption as an additional plus, seamlessly integrating sustainable grazing into the ecosystem.
Where the Technology Fits Best
Operations seeking precise grazing control for sustainability or regulatory compliance, or those aiming to cut fencing costs on leased land, are ideal candidates. The technology integrates seamlessly with smart farm tools like mapping, herd health monitoring and data analytics. Elliot envisions future features like “biomass measurements to better plan those paddocks out in advance.”
However, limitations exist. Connectivity remains a hurdle in remote areas, though Foster is optimistic about satellite solutions like Starlink. Initial costs for collars and training can deter smaller operations, but Elliot highlights funding support.
“There is a lot of funding available now through programs like OFCAF (On-Farm Climate Action Fund).”
Hardware issues, such as larger collars swinging under fly pressure, also pose challenges.
Future Outlook
The future of virtual fencing is bright, with ongoing research tackling current limitations. Improvements in battery life, artificial intelligence-driven movement prediction and multi-species adaptation are on the horizon.
A diverse competitive landscape exists, according to Foster.
“There is a big spectrum of different technology choices … some focused towards researchers, others towards producers.”
Variations in range, battery life and connectivity create niche solutions, suggesting no immediate one-size-fits-all product.
Beyond the immediate savings in time and material costs, virtual fencing also has implications for the bottom line over the long term. By extending grazing into areas that were once impractical or too costly to fence, ranchers may be able to increase carrying capacity without investing in additional land.
Improved pasture rotation and rest periods also support healthier forage stands, reducing supplemental feed costs during the grazing season.
Producers are also seeing opportunities to layer virtual fencing with other digital tools. When paired with satellite imagery, GPS mapping or livestock monitoring sensors, the collars provide a new level of precision management. While this vision is still emerging, the building blocks are already visible, and Canadian research hubs are positioning themselves at the forefront.