Project details
Status: Current
Virtual fencing research
Virtual fencing is transforming the way livestock are managed, offering producers new opportunities to improve grazing management, animal welfare and farm productivity while reducing the need for conventional fencing.
At the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA), Dr Megan Verdon leads research investigating how virtual fencing technology can be applied across a range of farming systems. An animal welfare scientist, Dr Verdon has been leading research on virtual fencing technology for several years, including publishing the world's first evaluation of virtual fencing technology in the dairy industry in 2021.
Working closely with producers, industry and research partners, Dr Verdon's research explores how virtual fencing can support more flexible grazing management, improve pasture utilisation and protect environmentally sensitive areas, while ensuring high standards of animal welfare. This work is helping build the evidence needed for producers to confidently adopt virtual fencing technology on Australian farms.
This page brings together TIA's virtual fencing research projects and resources in one place. Whether you're a producer considering virtual fencing, an industry stakeholder, researcher or student, you'll find the latest information on our work below.
Related projects
This project investigated the potential of virtual fencing to improve equity in pasture access and optimise intake in large, pasture-based dairy herds by strategically staggering access to pasture allocations aligned with the trickle-back of cows from milking.
This project evaluated a behaviour-based grazing system using virtual fencing to improve pasture utilisation, cow health, and milk production while reducing reliance on supplementary feed.
This trial investigated how different electrical stimulus energies influence cow behaviour and welfare.
This project will assess the animal welfare implications of Halter’s virtual fencing and herding technology in commercial dairy systems.
This project studied the welfare and productivity of dairy cattle when managed with Halter virtual fencing technology in Tasmanian conditions. It was the world's longest study of virtual-fencing on lactating dairy cows, and the first to study the application of Halter technology.
This project evaluated the effectiveness of Halter’s virtual fencing and herding technology for managing lactating dairy cows in intensive pasture-based systems.
Resources
Dr Megan Verdon presented on maximising the potential of southern beef through the use of virtual fencing.
Dr Megan Verdon shared an update on virtual fencing research.
Virtual fencing research update from Dr Megan Verdon.