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Pushing boundaries in livestock farming

eShepherd™ is a solar powered, GPS enabled, livestock neckband that enables you to track, fence and move your livestock around your farm using virtual boundaries or fences. Simply draw your virtual fence anywhere on your property and your cattle are trained to remain within the virtual barrier.

 

Frequently asked questions

  • How does it work?

    A virtual fence is created in the eShepherd software and sent to the animal's neckbands. Animals wearing the eShepherd neckband are trained to understand and stay within virtual boundaries.

    When an animal approaches the fence, the neckband emits an audio cue (beep). If the animal ignores the cue and continues towards the fence, the neckband delivers an aversive, but harmless, pulse. eShepherd cues are automated, predictable and avoidable so animals quickly learn to respond to the audio cue alone.

  • What are the benefits over regular, physical fencing?

    eShepherd has been developed to improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of beef production and offers a solution to track, fence and move animals at anytime, from anywhere.

    With eShepherd, moving and fencing cattle is no longer dependent on where you can get a fence line. An endlessly and instantly adaptable fencing solution allows you to move and contain livestock anywhere on your farm, breaking down those difficult to fence paddocks into smaller grazing cells to run a more efficient and thriving pasture based system. Improve pasture productivity by accessing more dry matter, avoid overgrazing, and optimise pasture utilisation while reducing your dependency of physical fencing resources, such as materials and skilled labour.

    eShepherd also offers a cost-effective solution for environmental compliance, sustainable practices and protection of your land. Excluding cattle from environmentally sensitive areas such as waterways, native habitats, natural disasters, or even migrating predators.

  • Can I set up a virtual fence from anywhere?

    Yes.

    eShepherd software is available on your PC, tablet or mobile phone. As long as you have access to the internet, you'll be able to set up a virtual fence on your farm from anywhere in the world.

  • Did Gallagher develop this technology?

    Virtual fencing was originally developed by Australia's Government research organisation - CSIRO. Agersens, an innovative Melbourne based agri-tech company, further developed this innovation for livestock farmers around the world. Gallagher have since acquired the Agersens business and are committed to bringing this technology to market.

  • How long does it take to train livestock?

    Training takes between 2 and 7 interactions with the fence and depending on the mob size this can take between 48 hours and one week. Smaller mobs are trained more quickly as they all tend to interact with the fence quicker.

  • Is it harmful to the animals?

    No.

    eShepherd has been developed with animal health and wellbeing at the forefront of all design decisions. Aligning with the RSPCA's five domains of animal welfare and working with a number of Animal Ethics Committees and governing agencies to help us ensure the final solution results in a positive outcome for happier and healthier animals.

  • Is it suitable for all breeds?

    The eShepherd system is suitable for all breeds of cattle, but cattle must be over 200kg liveweight.

  • Where can I buy it from and what support will be available?

    Gallagher have a dedicated eShepherd team who will work closely with you to understand what you are looking to achieve and assess your property for suitability of the current eShepherd product. Following the purchase, our team will be available to help with all-year round support through our technical support division.