Fields with no fences and cows with collars - High tech trial near Sidmouth

Wild East Devon is working with a a Norwegian company to trial a new virtual fencing system to help mange cattle at Fire Beacon Nature Reserve near Sidmouth.

The software comes from the Norwegian company 'Nofence', following initial development and successful tests on goats through 2011-2016, the software and collar system has been approved for use for cattle within the last few years, and trial projects in the UK became a possibility at the start of 2020.

A robust collar equipped with GPS tracking software is worn by all individual cattle in a herd.

A spokesperson for Wild East Devon explained how the system will work: "Collars are powered by solar panels plus a battery which can last up to three months without needing to be recharged. Collars are linked via the Nofence server to an app system where we can draw bespoke boundaries around a grazing area on a satellite map.

"The boundaries can be updated as regularly as needed and can also exclude features within the grazing area.

"When the GPS in the collar notices an animal is getting closer to the virtual boundary it warns the animal with an audio cue. If the animal turns around and walks back within the boundary the audio signal will turn off and there will be no further action.

"If the animal ignores the audio warning and continues to walk through the boundary it will receive an electric pulse from the collar in the same way it would receive one from touching an electric fence, and we will be notified of the delivery of the electric shock.

"In the unlikely event the animal continues to walk out of the boundary after receiving an electric pulse, after a set distance and we will immediately receive an alert via the app or a text that the animal has escaped and the collar will continue to track the animal's position.

"To avoid this as much as possible, our cattle will be introduced to the collars within an initial fenced area, where the predictable audio tone and mild electric shock will allow the animals to learn what the audio signal means and how to prevent the electric shock."

As its name suggests, Fire Beacon Hill was the site of one of the beacons used to inform Elizabethan London of the approaching Spanish Armada. At that time the entire East Hill escarpment would have been covered in lowland heath vegetation.

Unfortunately, just this small patch remains, as lowland heath has disappeared due to forestry plantation and agricultural improvement, making this habitat increasingly uncommon.

The reserve is owned by Sidmouth Town Council, and Wild East Devon work in partnership with RSPB Aylesbeare team to manage and run events on the site.