In a pasture on Gotland, sheep graze within a virtual fence. It is a new technology that is being tested on a farm where ten sheep have been given a necklace that will help farmers keep track of the animals’ well-being while they can adapt the area where the sheep graze, writes SVT Öst.
The necklaces are continuously charged through solar cells and controlled via an app or in the computer. There, farmers can draw a virtual fence that determines within which area the animals may stay. When they go outside, they first receive three audible warnings, and if they do not reverse, they receive an electric shock.
– They wonder where the sound comes from, but then they back away, says farmer Karin Westberg to the TV channel.
It has been shown that sheep stay within the virtual fence, even if some curious individuals go on small excursions from time to time. Overall, the farmers on the farm are satisfied with the tests.
– I thought they would get many more electric shocks in the beginning, but they have learned this extremely quickly, says Markys Westberg.
Eventually, the Swedish Board of Agriculture will take part in the knowledge and data that the farmers have collected through the tests.
In Sweden, it is currently not allowed to influence animals with electricity, but the technology is already used in other countries. As there is already an exemption for electric fencing, farmers now hope that a similar exemption will also be possible for virtual fencing.