From a distance, the cattle grazing at the Land of the Swamp White Oak Preserve in southeastern Iowa look like they’re wearing cowbells. But instead of metal domes and clappers, these accessories are outfitted with global positioning system (GPS) chips.
Staff with The Nature Conservancy, the organization that owns and manages the 4,000-acre preserve, can track the locations of the collared cattle from a smartphone app. They can also draw and adjust virtual fences to graze cattle in certain areas with invasive weeds – and keep them out of ecologically-sensitive wetlands and floodplains.
When a collared cow moves toward a virtual fence, it hears a tone, which gets louder and eventually releases an electrical stimulus on the back of its neck…