Through a carefully designed training process, Nofence, the world’s first commercial virtual fencing system, ensures that animals adapt quickly and stress-free.
Livestock management has traditionally relied on physical fencing for controlled grazing, requiring farmers to invest considerable time and effort into building, maintaining, and repairing barriers. While effective infrastructure is key to managing grazing, physical fencing imposes significant environmental and logistical challenges — such as restricting natural movement, increasing the risk of injury, and adding unnecessary stress to farmers and animals alike. Now, a groundbreaking innovation is transforming livestock management with animal welfare at its core.
Developed by farmers for farmers, Nofence’s virtual fencing technology offers a revolutionary and animal-friendly solution that replaces physical barriers, streamlining operations and improving productivity. By connecting GPS collars worn by livestock to an intuitive app, farmers can create, adjust, or remove grazing areas in real-time. This reduces labour, allows animals to graze more freely, and minimises stress, all of which promotes better animal health and wellbeing.
Helping animals transition smoothly to virtual boundaries
To ensure the highest level of animal welfare, Nofence has developed a system that enables animals to recognise and respect virtual boundaries. When approaching a defined boundary, instead of an immediate correction, the system uses a series of audio cues that increase in pitch as the animal gets closer, allowing it to respond proactively before receiving a mild electric pulse – half the intensity of those emitted by traditional electric fences — which occurs only as a last resort. Over time, the need for corrective pulses diminishes, leading to a more relaxed grazing environment and reducing stress levels.
A smooth and stress-free transition from traditional fencing to virtual fencing relies on proper training. Nofence has designed a low-stress learning process that helps animals gradually familiarise themselves with virtual boundaries. The training phase introduces animals to the system step by step, helping them associate the audio cues with the need to change direction. The process usually takes up to a week, depending on various factors like age and breed. Most animals adapt quickly to this system and rarely receive the electric pulse after the initial training phase – with the acoustic warning versus the electric pulse ratio being 96%.
Moreover, Nofence closely follows both farmers and their livestock throughout the training process and beyond, providing comprehensive support – including videos, manuals, data-driven insights, and direct assistance. This hands-on approach ensures that animals adapt smoothly while giving farmers the tools and guidance needed to prioritise animal welfare at all times.
Training as a key role in ensuring the animals’ wellbeing
The training begins by introducing animals to the collars, allowing them to wear the device without activation. This ensures they become accustomed to the sensation before engaging with virtual boundaries.
Once comfortable with the collars, farmers bring the animals to a training pasture, carefully designed to facilitate a gradual and controlled learning process. The animals are initially placed in an area that is fully enclosed by physical fences, ensuring a familiar and secure environment. The area is then adjusted so it is enclosed by physical fencing on three sides, with the fourth side marked by a virtual boundary.
This approach allows animals to interact with the system in a structured manner. As they explore their surroundings, they gradually encounter the virtual boundary, experiencing the audio cues as they approach it. By maintaining three physical barriers, animals are naturally guided toward engaging with the virtual fence in a controlled, predictable setting, reducing the likelihood of confusion or distress.
To ensure an effective training experience, the size of the training pasture must be carefully considered. It should be small enough for the animals to encounter the virtual boundary and have repeated opportunities to learn from the audio cues. However, it must also be spacious enough to allow for free movement, ensuring that the learning process remains natural and stress-free.
Once the collars are activated via the Nofence app, the animals begin learning through repeated interactions. Over time, animals become familiar with the pattern, learning to associate the rising pitch and frequency of the audio cues with the boundary’s proximity. The predictable sequence allows the animals to react calmly and adjust their movement accordingly.
A crucial feature of the training process is the ‘teach mode.’ In this mode, audio cues are more easily deactivated, meaning that even a slight movement – such as turning around – immediately stops the sound. This feedback reinforces the connection between the cues and the need to change direction, helping animals adapt quickly. By providing a clear, predictable response, the ‘teach mode’ significantly reduces the likelihood of receiving an electric pulse.
The training phase requires each animal to interact with the virtual boundary at least 20 times, receiving the acoustic warning and responding positively, such as by turning away or not moving forward. This reinforces natural grazing habits and minimises stress as animals learn to associate the sound with the need to change direction, ensuring that the integration of the collars supports the animal’s wellbeing.
Multiple studies confirm that animals quickly learn to associate the audio cue with the boundary, significantly reducing the number of pulses required over time. A trial conducted by Dynamic Dunescapes (UK – National Trust) on Nofence’s virtual fencing system demonstrated this learning curve in practice. In the first trial, 38.5% of alerts led to electric pulses on day one, but by day seven, this had dropped to 5.9%, representing a 32.6% decrease.
In another trial, by the end of the training period, 0% of alerts resulted in pulses, highlighting how quickly animals adapted to the system. These findings confirm that, once trained, animals respond effectively to audio cues alone, making virtual fencing an efficient, low-stress solution.
During this phase, direct observation plays a critical role. Farmers must closely monitor their animals to ensure they are responding correctly and adapting smoothly. Observation allows for timely interventions if any animals struggle to understand the system. This gradual approach allows them to develop confidence in responding to the cues before being introduced to a fully virtual pasture.
As David Girwan from Corrimony Farm in Inverness, Scotland, explains, “The training isn’t difficult, but you can’t be in a hurry to get them straight out onto a bit of ground. You need a week or two just to get them trained, but generally, they pick it up quite quickly.” His experience highlights the importance of patience and gradual introduction, ensuring animals adapt quickly and without stress.
Nofence further supports this training phase by providing farmers with real-time data through the app. Every audio warning and electric pulse is recorded, along with its location, allowing farmers to track their animals’ responses. This level of insight ensures that training is both data-driven and welfare-focused, allowing adjustments, if necessary, while prioritising the animals’ wellbeing.
The result is a low-stress, flexible grazing system that enables animals to move freely while ensuring their safety and comfort.
The science behind virtual fencing
Extensive research has demonstrated that virtual fencing systems, such as Nofence, are effective in managing livestock while maintaining and even enhancing animal welfare. These studies have focused on stress indicators, behavioural responses, and overall productivity to assess the impact of virtual fencing on animals.
A study conducted at the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) in Hillsborough, Northern Ireland, and published as part of the International Grassland Congress proceedings,¹ examined the effects of virtual fencing on young cattle behaviour and welfare over a 31-day period. The welfare and behaviour of the animals were measured using faecal cortisol metabolites, activity accelerometers (IceTag), and behavioural recordings. Findings showed no significant differences between virtual fencing and electric fencing, and no impact on body weight gain was observed, suggesting that virtual fencing does not negatively affect the animals.
Further research, published in Livestock Science,² investigated the effectiveness of virtual fencing in managing Limousin cows at pasture in a 30-hectare pasture in Borgo San Lorenzo, Tuscany, Italy. The research assessed learning ability, containment efficiency, and stress response over four trials, where cattle gradually adapted to virtual boundaries.
Results showed that cows learned to respond to audio cues over time, reducing their reliance on electrical stimuli, with a significant decrease in escape events. Hair cortisol concentration (HCC) analysis found no significant differences before and after the experiment, indicating no chronic stress was induced by the system.
Further supporting these findings, a study published in the Journal of Animal Science³ assessed stress levels in beef cattle managed under virtual fencing compared to traditional electric fencing. The researchers measured hair cortisol concentrations, blood biomarkers (NEFA, lactate), and pedometer data. The study, which included a 28-day pilot and a 56-day experiment, found no significant differences in stress indicators.
Additionally, comprehensive research in Frontiers in Veterinary Science⁴ proposed a multi-disciplinary approach to assess the welfare impacts of new technologies like virtual fencing. The review emphasised the importance of considering physiological indicators of stress, such as cortisol levels, alongside behavioural responses and learning capabilities. The findings suggest that animals can adapt without adverse welfare outcomes, provided that the systems are designed with consideration for the animals’ ability to predict and control their environment.
The consistency of responses across different studies – showing that animals respond predictably to audio cues and experience minimal stress – demonstrates that virtual fencing is not only an effective containment method but also one that aligns with natural learning processes. By allowing animals to anticipate and control their interaction with boundaries, anxiety that can arise from unpredictable physical barriers or handling is minimised. This results in a low-stress environment where animals can graze and move freely without experiencing fear or confusion, proving that virtual fencing is a valuable tool in modern livestock management, aligning technological advancement with animal welfare considerations.
The future of stress-free livestock management
Nofence is revolutionising livestock management, prioritising animal welfare without compromising efficiency. By replacing physical barriers with a smart, adaptable system, Nofence allows farmers to manage their animals with great flexibility, reducing stress and improving their wellbeing.
Through its carefully designed training process, Nofence ensures that animals adapt quickly and experience minimal discomfort. The use of audio cues as a learning tool, combined with gradual exposure to virtual boundaries, means that animals can anticipate and respond calmly, avoiding unnecessary stress.
By leveraging technology that respects natural behaviours while ensuring safety, Nofence is shaping the future of livestock management, allowing animals to thrive in a stress-free, well-managed grazing system.
About Nofence
Founded in Norway in 2011 by goat farmer Oscar Hovde, Nofence is the world’s first commercial virtual fencing system for livestock, serving as a sustainable alternative to traditional fencing. The animals’ grazing areas are managed using a GPS collar, which communicates with an app using a mobile network. When the animals cross the virtual boundary, an escalating acoustic warning is played. If they ignore the sound, they will get a light electrical pulse. The animals learn this quickly during their training period of up to a week, depending on variables like the breed and the age of the animal. The collars can be bought online at nofence.no/uk.
The company’s virtual fences have increased in popularity since its pilot customers first began using it in Norway in 2016, with the company recently surpassing 150,000 collars sold across Europe – a strong testament to the success of the new technology. Nofence has over 90 employees worldwide, and they are distributed between Norway, the UK, Ireland, Spain, and the United States.
References
Holohan, C.; Gordon, A.; Palme, R.; Buijs, S.; and Lively, F., “An Assessment of Young Cattle Behaviour and Welfare in a Virtual Fencing System” (2024). IGC Proceedings (1989-2023). 35,
https://doi.org/10.13023/ncbt-ne55
Andrea Confessore, Chiara Aquilani, Lapo Nannucci, Maria Chiara Fabbri, Pier Attilio Accorsi, Camilla Dibari, Giovanni Argenti, Carolina Pugliese, Application of Virtual Fencing for the management of Limousin cows at pasture, Livestock Science, Volume 263,2022, 105037,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2022.105037.
Jancy Jeffus, Ryan R Reuter, Kevin Wagner, Laura Goodman, Todd Parker, 5 Effects of Virtual Fencing on Cortisol Concentrations and Behavior of Beef Cattle, Journal of Animal Science, Volume 99, Issue Supplement_3, November 2021, Pages 1–2,
https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skab235.001
Caroline Lee, Dana L. M. Campbell, A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Assess the Welfare Impacts of a New Virtual Fencing Technology, Frontiers in Veterinary Science, Volume 8 – 2021
https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2021.637709
Source link
