More Colorado ranchers are using satellite technology to manage their livestock across vast, rugged landscapes — without having to put up miles of physical fence.
Virtual fencing uses GPS-enabled collars to allow ranchers to guide their cattle and keep them within invisible boundaries, using a mobile phone or computer.
Ranchers who use virtual fencing say it’s relatively cheap and helps them keep tabs on
their herds. And it may help ranchers coexist with wolves and other predators.
So, are ranch hands – and fence posts – endangered in the West?
Tracy Ross of The Colorado Sun interviewed several ranchers about the technology. She talked with Erin O’Toole about how virtual fencing works and why it appeals to ranchers.
