Hi all! My friend Lincoln from Momentum Ag is exploring trialing virtual fencing with a small group of producers in MA. See below, and please reach out to Lincoln if you’re interested in learning more. He can be reached at: [email protected] or at 413-320-8535 (call or text). This current grant opportunity is specifically for producers in MA (ideally Western MA) but if you’re interested and somewhere else, reach out anyhow for potential inclusion in future expansions of this trial.
Momentum Ag funds on-farm trials of innovative techniques that promise to deliver both ecosystem services and make farms more profitable. So far, we’ve just been working with annual crops, but we’ve had these virtual fencing trials in mind for quite a while, and we’ve found a promising grant to make it happen.
Here’s what we have in mind for the virtual fencing trial.
Goal: Determine the profitability and management benefits/barriers of virtual fencing vs. electric fence in New England (they’ve mostly looked at this out West, where conditions are totally different). Use wetland and environmentally sensitive mapping data to exclude animals from those areas with virtual fencing. Give 2-3 producers free collars and track management data.
Eligibility: Producers with <20 dairy or beef animals (we need to buy collars for each animal). You could have >20 total, but you’d need to have a grazing group of <20, separate from the others, all season long. So if you graze some dry cows separate from the milkers, for example, that could work. You can already be practicing rotational grazing or not. (At the moment, the collars we’d be most likely to use are for cows only, but there’s a possibility we could get goat/sheep collars – not sure yet – so let me know if you’re interested.) Also, your fields need to have reasonable cell service. 1 bar can work, but 2 or more is preferable.
We would work together to estimate baselines on hours spent in your current system on fencing/moving animals, etc., and weight gains or milk production. Then we would track labor and weight or milk with virtual collars to compare the systems. We’d also do a few interviews to capture qualitative data about the benefits and frustrations from producers’ perspective.
Compensation: TBD based on conversations with folks who are interested. The collars are $300 each, so if you like them and keep them, that’s plenty of compensation. If you decide you don’t like them, we should figure out a payment amount that feels fair to compensate you for your time.
I think this could be sweet for people interested in virtual collars to get into it without financial stress, and with lots of support from the other farmers trying it, plus Momentum’s staff and other technical assistance we can pull in.
The grant is due at the end of the month (it’s Massachusetts money, so it’s safe). If you’re interested, let me know ASAP! We’d have a bunch of talking to do to make sure the grant proposal is in line with what’s practical for you.
You can respond to this email or call/text 413-320-8535.
Lincoln