Cows wearing electronic tags? Pull the udder one!
IT may seem like an age-old countryside scene: a herd of Highland cows contentedly grazing their pasture.
Yet these particular animals are at the cutting edge of 21st Century agricultural technology.
They are among the first cattle in Scotland to be fitted with specialist electronic tags that remove the need for traditional fences.
Instead of being kept in their field by a standard hedge or wire fence, these beasts are ‘geo-fenced’ – meaning their whereabouts are monitored and controlled by the satellite-tracked tags around their necks. When the animals approach the boundaries of their permitted grazing area, the tags – which resemble an old-fashioned cow bell – emit an ever-louder series of warning beeps.
And should the cows threaten to wander beyond their boundaries, the tags deliver a small electric shock.
The technology makes it easy to track the animals and also reduces the need to erect expensive fencing.
Crofter Donald Macsween has become one of the first farmers in Scotland to adopt the tags for his herd of eight Highland cows.
The 38-year-old introduced geofencing at his An Lot croft at North Dell on Lewis.
Mr Macsween said that fencing just
‘I can watch them on my phone over 500 acres’
one area where he grazes his herd would cost £3,000.
He said the results had been ‘staggering’, adding: ‘The cows learnt quick about where they were not allowed to go. I can watch them on my phone, even grazing over 500 acres on the moor. I don’t even have to leave my bed to see where they are.’
Mr Macsween used the Scottish Government’s crofting agricultural grant scheme to buy the cattle collars from Nofence Grazing Technology, based in Norway. The grant covered half the total cost of around £2,000.
The crofter said: ‘The first thing I do every morning is to check where the cows are on my phone.
‘Most crofters who have kept cows know that you’re always getting the call saying “your cows are out”, but I’ve had these collars since October and they’ve pretty much ended any cattle-escape incidents overnight.
‘I don’t think they will ever fully replace physical fencing but they will reduce the need for as much.’
The technology consists of a solarpowered GPS collar for each cow, which communicates with a web portal and app via the mobile network.
The electric charge the cattle receive is a short pulse at a maximum 3,000 volts – much less than a standard electric fence.
Animal charity the SSPCA said it had no specific welfare issues. Its chief superintendent Mike Flynn said: ‘Our main concern would be that in the case of an app or GPS failure there is nothing physical as an added safety measure, which could lead to livestock encroaching on roads.’