A push to legalise the use of virtual fencing is growing with some south-west Victorian farmers showing increasing interest in the technology.
South-west Farm Business Discussion Group's Angus Drummond, from Warrnambool, Vic, said farmers were increasingly seeing value in the technology, which was banned in Victoria.
"They see value in being able to allocate pasture accurately, taking out internal fences and moving cows from the paddock back to the dairy just with an app," he said.
Mr Drummond said a recent study tour demonstration in New Zealand left a group of eight south-west businesses impressed.
"It would allow for less staff and less droving because the collars can actually bring the cows back to an area, so there's an advantage in that," he said.
"The other thing that impressed the group was how quiet and calm the herds were. It was obvious they weren't getting agitated."
Herd grazing and movement is managed by a GPS neckband that warns of the presence of invisible fences. If the audio cue is ignored, the collar delivers a short, mild electric pulse to the animal.
Dairy Australia principal scientist John Penry, from Camperdown, Vic, said the technology was making waves in the farming community.
"There is definitely interest around how farmers could use that sort of technology to make grazing management simpler and less time consuming, particularly during the calving period," he said.
"The technology by and large seems to work and there are relatively few animals that can't be trained on it.
"A next step for Australia would be to get a more homogenised between-states animal welfare code."
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