5. Research into virtual fencing

Study 1: Cow training and cue analysis (how effectively dairy cows can be trained to Halter’s virtual fencing and virtual herding system).

In this study, TIA assessed the effectiveness of Halter’s technology to manage lactating dairy cows. This represents the most comprehensive study of virtual fencing on lactating dairy cows, and the first to study the Halter system. 

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Key takeaways:

• Halter can effectively contain lactating dairy cows in an intensive grazing system, and virtually herd animals to the milking parlor.
• The number of pulses delivered per day, and the pulse:sound cue ratio was lower in this study than previously reported virtual fencing technologies.
• Cows took less than a day to start responding to the sound cues delivered while held on a pasture allocation (virtual fencing) and were moving to the milking shed without human intervention by day 4 of training (virtual herding).

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Training period and management period

• During the 10-day training period, a typical cow received less than three low-energy pulses per day. 
• During the 4-week management period, most cows received less than three pulses a week, and that number continued to decline each week. 
• Once trained, the guidance cues that a typical cow receives each day are almost entirely sound and vibration. 

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Study 2: Assessing the animal welfare experience of cows managed with Halter’s virtual fencing and virtual herding system

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This study compared cows managed with Halter's virtual fencing and virtual herding (VF group), to cows managed conventionally with electric fencing and stockpeople on quad bikes (EF group). All the animals had been previously trained to and managed by conventional electric fencing.

It assessed measures of animal welfare in cows, including their milk stress cortisol levels (stress hormones in milk are a prime indicator of stress), Body Condition Score, milk production volume and others.

The preliminary conclusions are:

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• There was no evidence of stress responses in cows using Halter. Milk cortisol levels were not elevated in either the Virtually Fenced (VF) mobs or the Electric Fenced (EF) mobs either during the VF training period, or in the next 4 weeks after training. 
• There were no differences in rumination time, pasture consumption, milk production, live weight, and Body Condition Score between the two management systems.

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This research will soon go through a peer review process and will be published in the Journal of Dairy Science. Click here to read a summary fact-sheet of the findings.

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Of particular note is that even in the initial 10-day training period, the secondary cue (low energy pulse), did not trigger a stress response. This shows that even while cows are learning virtual fencing there is no evidence of an increase in stress or harm to their welfare. 

Halter is pleased but not surprised by these results, given it aligns with our internal data and the years of feedback from hundreds of customers who say that their cows are healthier and more content with Halter.

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Further research study with the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture focused on Halter’s technology

TIA is leading a longitudinal (multi-year) study that quantifies the benefits of Halter for pasture production, labour requirements and animal performance. This study has been established to build an in-depth and long-term understanding of the impacts of Halter’s technology. The study has been undertaken in partnership between TIA, Halter and Tasmanian farmers, with support from the Tasmanian Government’s Agricultural Development and Agricultural Innovation Funds. This study commenced in 2024.

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General research on animal welfare and virtual fencing technology

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Halter implements best practice from the scientific literature on animal welfare and virtual fencing technology, specifically from:

• Published academic research on virtual fencing technology, for example, by Dr Megan Verdon, Research Fellow at the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA), and by Dr Caroline Lee, who leads the Animal Behaviour and Welfare Team at CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) - both leading researchers in the fields of animal welfare and virtual fencing technology.

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• The Five Domains Model - developed by Professor David Mellor and Dr Cam Reid. This is the leading standard for categorising the assessment of animal welfare into the domains of nutrition, physical environment, health, behavioural interactions, and mental domain.

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• Published opinions of regulators based on detailed literature reviews:
  
  • The New Zealand Animal Welfare Advisory Committee’s Code of Welfare Evaluation Report Dairy Cattle, Ministry of Primary Industries (2022).
  • The UK’s Animal Welfare Committee opinion on the welfare implications of using virtual fencing systems to contain, move and monitor livestock (2022)
  • The Opinion of the Panel on Animal Health and Welfare of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment: A review on the use of electric devices to modify animal behaviour and the impact on animal welfare. Mejdell CM, Basic D and Bøe KE. (2017).
  • Report to the [Australian] Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. An independent scientific literature review on animal welfare considerations for virtual fencing. Fisher A & Cornish A (December 2022 updated November 2023)

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