University of Idaho study uses virtual fencing to reduce conflict between cattle and recreationists

Cattle and recreationists have similar tastes when choosing their favorite spots on public land — flat, shady ground along lush streambanks.

For people seeking to connect with nature, the experience may be diminished when cows wander through a favorite primitive campsite. From a rancher’s perspective, recreationists who forget to close cattle gates can be a persistent headache.

A new University of Idaho grazing study aims to help cattle ranchers and outdoor enthusiasts coexist in better harmony on public lands while also benefiting the environment. They are using virtual fencing technology to guide the grazing of cattle.

U of I rangeland scientists are partnering on the study with a rancher who uses a federal grazing allotment in the Pahsimeroi Valley south of Salmon, seeking to improve grazing management and conserve riparian areas. The research team, led by Melinda Ellison, an Extension range livestock specialist, has fitted 550 of the rancher’s mother cows, each of which has a calf, with radio collars that emit a warning sound followed by an electric pulse as the cow draws nearer to a previously programmed GPS boundary. The noise and pulse are meant to act as a deterrent for the cattle from entering the space.

The signal is transmitted from a portable cellular base station, and grazing boundaries can be easily adjusted.

“We’re going to try to manage cattle away from those recreational areas and see if we have a lower rate of muti-use challenges,” Ellison said. “We’re also interested in the best way to manage vegetation in the areas where we exclude cattle. We’ll also be looking at how animals utilize the landscape as a whole when they are wearing a collar.”

The participating rancher will make management decisions, such as where to allow cattle to graze and which recreational areas to exclude. Cattle grazing maps will also be adjusted for rangeland health considerations.

Researchers hope the project will provide a case study demonstrating that much of the permanent interior fencing could be removed from federal grazing allotments and be effectively replaced with virtual fencing.

The first season of the planned two-year study started in mid-April and will conclude in October. The Foundation for America’s Public Lands funded the project with a $235,000 grant.

Furthermore, the ability to track livestock movements via the collars will provide the team with insights into other research questions. The researchers want to use data from their collared cattle to better understand important animal traits and to assess different management approaches.

“We’ve seen that where cattle spend the most time is not where they’re doing most of their grazing,” Ellison said. “We’re starting to learn little things like that by evaluating the data we’ve collected so far.”

The research team also includes K. Scott Jensen, an area Extension educator specializing in rangeland management and livestock grazing; Hadley Dotts, a research associate; and three graduate students — Henning Krúger and Maxine Walas, master’s students in animal science, and Abigail McClaflin, who is pursuing a master’s in water resources.

Ellison began research using virtual fencing in 2023, when she started a project on federal grazing allotments through which a wildfire had burned the previous grazing season, and in subsequent years, combined targeted grazing with collared cattle and aerial herbicide spraying to control cheatgrass. The team also used the collars to keep cattle away from critical fish habitat during the spawning season.

Ellison is also the lead on a separate, $181,000 grant from the Foundation for America’s Public Lands also involving virtual fencing. The project, scheduled to begin in March 2027, will entail grazing collared cattle in strips along roadways to establish wildfire fuel breaks.