Achieving both profitability and environmental improvements with the use of Nofence virtual fencing technology are Jez and Ali Robinson.

Farming a 4500 estate near Loch Rannoch in Perthshire, with very little in-bye ground, the business model has to be focused on hill grazing.

“Our philosophy has been to establish an extensive system which would be productive but place nature firmly at its heart; continually improving the ground through grazing hardy native breeds suited to the hill whilst employing minimal inputs,” said Jez.

Underpinning this success has been the genetic development of their 75 head herd of pedigree Highland cattle and Highland cross cattle which go to a Whitebred Shorthorn bull, whilst adopting virtual fencing technology from Nofence to improve grazing management on thousands of acres of unfenced upland.

“There is much science to support the benefits of cattle on the hill, but anecdotally, we have seen the benefits from year one,” added Jez.

“The most obvious benefits have been through a very noticeable increase in bio-diversity, wader bird numbers and heather regeneration – the latter often visible on areas previously dominated by Molinia grass.”

Managing a grazing platform with no physical fencing

With the estate’s vast acreage and access to an additional several thousand acres of hill grazing in the summer months from a neighbouring estate, the business has the foundation required to scale cattle herd numbers for increased revenue.

However, most of this land lacks physical fencing infrastructure, which has been the main limiting factor for previous generations that have farmed the family owned estate. To overcome this, the farm acquired its first Nofence collars in the summer of 2021.

Nofence virtual fencing technology relies on cattle using their sense of hearing to detect fencing boundaries instead of their sense of sight. Utilising GPS, farmers can create virtual pastures on the Nofence app.

Once livestock are turned out on the set virtual pasture while wearing a Nofence collar, GPS and a mobile data network track the animal’s location and report back to the app, triggering the collar to cue an audio signal as the animal nears the virtual fence boundary.

If the animal continues to move forward it will receive an electric pulse. Animals can return to pasture without receiving any audio warnings or pulses.

According to Jez, Nofence will continue to be integral to the development of the estate’s upland grazing management.

Using the Nofence app, the couple can map out their land available for grazing and then create individual virtual ‘fields’ that can be customised in size and shape. This allows variables such as stocking density requirements, exclusion of bogs, watercourses and any other potentially dangerous landscape to be taken into account while also providing grazing pattern data and the flexibility to optimise grazing management of hill ground.

“The technology is great at allowing you to dynamically manage the grazing area by creating and adapting the grazing area,” said Jez.

“One of the additional features we use the most is an analysis tool that shows where the concentration of grazing has been. So, if cattle have been concentrated in a particular area of the hill, you can effectively move the fence virtually on your phone to exclude the area to prevent overgrazing and to instead deliver more even grazing across the area.”

Aside from the benefits of being able to put up a virtual fence anywhere, the other main benefit the farm has gained from the technology is the ability to track the live location of animals 24/7 from a phone.

“The cattle with the Nofence collars are sent to a neighbouring estate that is over five miles away from June to January. These cattle have access to thousands of acres and we find they move around quite a bit, so the ability to track their live location saves us hours each day that would be required to find them for daily checks,” she added.

“It also gives us peace of mind. The ability to create exclusion zones in the app means we can virtually fence off any dangerous areas such as ravines and bogs. And if an animal hasn’t moved from its location in a while, the system generates a notification so the animal can be checked.”

Future expansion

With plans to continue to expand the herd, the farm is purchasing additional collars in 2023 to increase capacity. According to Jez, the technology has a firm place in the estate’s future.

“Nofence has the potential to revolutionise the grazing of the Highlands by cattle. This technology has been a game-changer for our system and will remain important for as long as we maintain cattle on the hill,” concluded Jez.