Checking On The Cows From Your Phone - Technologies for Precision Ranching - Southwest Climate Hub

Checking On The Cows From Your Phone - Technologies for Precision Ranching

The term “precision agriculture” is often associated with crop farming or intensive agriculture systems such as the dairy industry. There is growing interest, however, in applying similar concepts to cattle ranching in extensive landscapes. Precision ranching involves the use of technologies such as smart-sensors to allow for automated monitoring or task completion (Precision Ranching 2020), and ultimately more precise and efficient management of animals and the ranching operation.

A lot can happen on a ranch – a water tank can malfunction, cattle can escape, an animal might become sick or injured, animals might consistently overuse one portion of a pasture causing degradation while underutilizing other areas, to name just a few. Being able to monitor conditions in real time means that problems can be quickly identified and addressed before they escalate.

While enhanced monitoring is one application of precision ranching technologies, other applications, such as virtual fencing can be used to actively modify or manipulate livestock movement. In rangelands that include ecologically sensitive areas, keeping cattle out of an area might be as much of a priority as keeping them in a given part of the pasture. Virtual fencing allows for both, as well as passive gathering or herding of cattle from one location to another by repeatedly adjusting the boundaries until the cattle are where a manager wants them to be.

Despite these exciting applications, use of precision ranching technology in extensive rangelands is still in the early stages (Precision Ranching 2020) and there are still challenges and unknowns.

The Sustainable Southwest Beef Project (SSBP) has partnered with five ranches in four states (California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah) to test a suite of devices for precision ranching. The ranchers are provided with ultrasonic water-level sensors, GPS collars, “smart” rain gauges, and virtual fence collars. An integrated dashboard application allows managers to check the status of water tanks/troughs, how much rain was recorded at each of the automated rain gauges, and the location of each collared animal. The virtual fence collars connect to a separate smartphone app. The hope is that these devices will lead to improved ranching efficiency and sustainability.

For example:

Being able to remotely check rain gauges, water level sensors, and current cattle locations may mean fewer trips to distant locations on the ranch, and less time spent looking for cattle. This might translate into both improved operational efficiency and reduced greenhouse gas emissions from less driving (Precision Ranching 2020).
On-screen visualizations show where the cattle have been spending most of their time, and virtual fence boundaries can be changed in a matter of minutes. This might help producers adapt to environmental challenges exacerbated by climate change by allowing for more targeted and responsive grazing management.
Ranch managers and/or hands can better plan their day by knowing before they head out where there might be problems that need to be addressed. This could lead to higher efficiency as well as better outcomes for ranchers, cattle, and ecosystems.

These and other speculated benefits, however, need to be verified on the ground. Over the next few years, NMSU and USDA-ARS researchers will collect data on how precision ranching technologies affect each ranch in six areas: land and water health, atmospheric health, production abundance and quality, financial stability, human health, and social cohesion. The SSBP is also planning to gather qualitative information from the ranchers on their experiences with the technology, including the time and effort required to learn how to use it. This information is intended to support thoughtful decisions for producers and agencies when considering precision ranching.

References: Sustainable Southwest Beef Project. (2020). Precision Ranching. Las Cruces, NM. http://southwestbeef.org/wp-content/uploads/twopager_precisionranching_final_508.pdf

Riparian/Bosque:

Mesquite (Prosopis spp.) forests or Bosques are unique and biodiverse riparian forests. Bosques occur primarily along high floodplains in riparian ecosystems below 1200 m in elevation. Today, bosques are composed of dense stands of small young trees. Mesquite is the dominant overstory species with a variety of small shrubs and herbaceous plants making up the understory. With a deep root system almost reaching the water table and a symbiotic relationship with nitrogen-fixing bacteria, Mesquite is a highly productive species promoting biodiversity and providing habitat to wildlife. With this high biodiversity, Mesquite Bosques has a higher density of breeding bird species than any other habitat in the southwest (Stromberg, 1993).

Species Composition

There are three native mesquite species found in the Bosques of the southwest; honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) and velvet mesquite (P. velutina) which are in riparian and upland ecosystems and screwbean mesquite or tornillo (P. pubescens) which is restricted to riparian ecosystems and floodplains. Less than 25% of overstory trees in bosques are species other than mesquite (Stromberg, 1993) mainly including cottonwood and willow species (Carothers et al., 2020) (table x). Bosques have a middle stratum comprised of vine and shrub species and an herbaceous understory (Stromberg, 1993).

Table 4. Bosque Overstory Vegetation Species. Adapted from Stromberg (1993)

Common Name	Scientific Name
Honey mesquite	Prosopis glandulosa
Velvet mesquite	Prosopis velutina
Screwbean mesquite/tornillo	Prosopis pubescens
Fremont cottonwood	Populus fremontii
Goodding willow	Salix gooddingii
Catclaw acacia	Acacia gregii Gray
Netleaf hackberry	Celtis reticulata
Blue palo verde	Cercidium floridum
Arizona walnut	Juglans major
Texas muberry	Morus microphylla
Desert willow	Chilopsis linearis
Velvet Ash	Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marsh, ssp. velutina
Mexican elder	Sambucus mexicana
Soapberry	Sapindus saponariaL. var. drummondii

Historical Conditions

Historically, Bosques were the most abundant riparian forest type in the southwest. At one point, these forests occupied floodplains and often spanned hundreds of kilometers along rivers such as the Gila and Colorado (Stromberg, 1993). Today, bosques are significantly reduced to remnants as anthropogenic changes have eliminated or significantly reduced this forest type. Many species rely on Bosques so this reduction in forest area, has also led to a loss of other plant and animal species (Carothers et al., 2020; Stromberg, 1993).

Climate Impacts

Human activities such as groundwater pumping, land clearing, and livestock grazing threaten Southwestern Bosques. Few bosques remain and few to none are in pristine condition (Stromberg, 1993). Despite the significant decline from historic composition, Bosques are well-adapted to arid environments. Mesquites have Dimorphic root with a deep tap root that reach alluvial aquifers and lateral roots that reach surface water and flooding (Leenhouts et al., 2006), allow them to replace willow and cottonwood in these systems (Carothers et al., 2020) escape seasonal droughts by storing viable seeds in seed banks, long life span (Stromberg, 1993).