nofence electric collars, fenceless grazing system

[Ffermer Bach]

Anyone using them? What does everyone think?

Nofence - World’s first virtual fence for livestock

World’s first virtual fence for livestock - Nofence

www.nofence.no

 

[Formatted]

Seen them in person and they work well, think they are £240 a collar though?

 

[AGN76]

There's some being trialled in Vale of Clwyd

 

[Top Tip.]

The Cadzows on Luing are also trialling it fairly successfully according to their fb page.

 

[Ffermer Bach]

There's some being trialled in Vale of Clwyd

so, are they going to be grant aided then I wonder?

 

[Macsky]

I’ve got a chunk of overgrown hill ground with some particularly dodgy areas full of bogs and ditches, I’ll be keeping an eye on this technology for sure. To be able to keep cattle away from the bad bits and to keep them on certain areas until they have cleaned it up a bit would be great, the thought of fencing any of it doesn’t fill me with excitement!

Does anyone have any idea of cost?

 

[Post Driver]

Keep Britain Fencing

 

[Poorbuthappy]

@TINTIN

 

[Ffermer Bach]

I’ve got a chunk of overgrown hill ground with some particularly dodgy areas full of bogs and ditches, I’ll be keeping an eye on this technology for sure. To be able to keep cattle away from the bad bits and to keep them on certain areas until they have cleaned it up a bit would be great, the thought of fencing any of it doesn’t fill me with excitement!

Does anyone have any idea of cost?

I think it is about £300 a collar for the cattle, or a little bit below, that's why I was wondering if it could be grant aided, mind you fences soon add up, watching this farming life, talking about Scottish farms of 3000 acres, with the stocking rate of a 250 acre farm here, I am guessing the fencing cost per animal would be extremely high if rotational grazing were to be undertaken.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

A neighbour was involved in the early stages of the Halter system, but went back to geared reels and pigtails after a year

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

A neighbour was involved in the early stages of the Halter system, but went back to geared reels and pigtails after a year

Did he say why? Cost?

I suppose the biggest thing they are missing is how to move the water with them when the moves are virtual. Cows don't yet survive on virtual water (unless you are playing Farmville)

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Did he say why? Cost?

I suppose the biggest thing they are missing is how to move the water with them when the moves are virtual. Cows don't yet survive on virtual water (unless you are playing Farmville)

"Just no real advantage to the farm" as he put it. It's a dairy farm, all the laneways are fenced and then reels ran off those (for silaging, fodder crops etc) so one method uses gear they own, the other method costs quite a lot to do exactly the same thing (no permanent fences but rotational grazing is made easy).

The main 'problems' he reported was that bulls just went where they felt like, and some cows would sleep through the collar and he'd have to ride out to fetch them - and without the herd, they'd panic and not have a fence to follow to the gateway.
This meant he basically had to put the fences back up and when the next large invoice came from Halter, he just sent all the collars back to them

 

[JohnGalway]

I think it is about £300 a collar for the cattle, or a little bit below, that's why I was wondering if it could be grant aided, mind you fences soon add up, watching this farming life, talking about Scottish farms of 3000 acres, with the stocking rate of a 250 acre farm here, I am guessing the fencing cost per animal would be extremely high if rotational grazing were to be undertaken.

There's also a subscription fee which is worked out based on how many collars you have and how many months of the year you use them. They'd be of benefit on this farm for sure. It's more of a time cost than money cost here, I'm not saying this tech is cheap, it certainly isn't, relative to the enterprises that might consider using it.

 

[unlacedgecko]

I saw an example at groundswell. I was totally underwhelmed by the stories of the personnel on the stand. One had a badge the days head of sales, but wasn't interested in talking. Not impressed.

 

[Suffolksucklers]

A question I have is how to you get them to leave the field, i.e. cross a boundary they previously couldn't. We have real issues with ours sometimes getting them through where an electric fence has previously been even if it's been removed completely. Maybe you still have to hang a random gate so they know where to go

 

[Bowland Bob]

I use the collars and they're working well. I move the boundary whilst I'm with the cows so I can make a judgement on how big an area to give them. Cows tend to move themselves as they like a clean bite.

 

[Frank-the-Wool]

We have some on Conservation grazing but the batteries tend to need quite often.

 

[Bowland Bob]

We have some on Conservation grazing but the batteries tend to need quite often.

Our batteries have kept topped all through spring/summer on an open hillside, how long they last through the winter months I'll have to wait and see.

 

[JohnGalway]

Battery life is something I'll follow with interest from the users here if they remember this thread

 

[JohnGalway]

Bit from Groundswell