Halter Allows Northwest Ranches To Become A Blank Canvas

As technology continues to change how farms operate, ranchers have more options and tools at their disposal.  One such option is Halter, a virtual fence, via smart collar and app.

Theo Beaumont, with Halter North America, calls it is a tool enabling producers to easily make changes to their grazing management.

“Often how it's described to us, from our customers, is their ranch essentially becomes a blank canvas," Beaumont noted.  "Now they have an unlimited fencing budget in order to achieve X.  And X for them might be better rotational grazing, trying to utilize as much feed as possible.  It might be, you know, reducing a bunch of capital spend they had set aside for physical infrastructure.  It might be removing some cross fences that always get ripped down by elk.”

Ranchers Can Move One Cow Or The Whole Herd

Because of that flexibility, and custom options, Beaumont noted they’ve seen a great uptick in interest across the western U.S., adding in less than two years, about 60,000 cows have been fitted with Halter.  Beaumont noted their collars use GPS, which allows producers to not only know where each cow is at any given time, but move individual animals, or the herd whenever needed.

He added Halter can help address ag labor struggles as well as allow producers to use their acres more efficiently.

“And whether that's driving more revenue, cutting input costs, whatever it might be, that's what I would really want to focus on," Beaumont said.  "The whole idea of an unlimited fencing budget is a really cool concept to work through.  So, that's what I'd encourage everyone to do is have a think about what would you do if that was an option you had.”

This Is The Kind Of Technology The Next Generation Of Ranchers Want

Halter recently surveyed U.S. ranchers and found a generational shift in how younger operators view technology; 73% of respondents under 40 say their operations could benefit from new technology and 87% says technology will be critical to ranching success over the next 5-10 years.

Click Here to learn more about Halter.

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