Demonstration Site Summary: Small landholder virtual fencing

Overview

Vanessa Kirley runs a small cattle herd and custom grazing enterprise on her 40 ha property in Kangaroo Gully. With limited internal fencing and a strong focus on ecological restoration, the farm aims to implement cost-effective, flexible, and innovative grazing systems to improve landscape resilience, pasture health, and creek-line protection.

The demonstration will explore how small landholders can use virtual fencing (Gallagher eShepherd) and micro water trough systems to manage a small herd of 10 cattle across 40 ha without installing costly internal fencing. Virtual paddocks will allow planned, adaptive grazing while protecting waterways, revegetation zones and sensitive areas, supporting improved soil health, water quality and biodiversity.

Ten eShepherd collars have been purchased and five cows will begin training within a designated paddock in February 2026. Once trained, the remainder of the herd will be fitted with collars. Virtual fence locations have been mapped, and the farm is preparing for the first round of controlled virtual paddocks. Appropriate hose attachments for the water pods are being investigated before purchasing.

Key findings so far…

• The cattle must be in a crush to put the collars on, however because Vanessa doesn’t have a crush, the owner of the cattle put them on during pregnancy testing in February 2026 prior to coming on Vanessa’s property.
• A lesson learnt is that the supplier has changed the minimum number of collars you can get to 50, so that’s an external barrier for small landholders with herds under 50
• Vanessa suggests that small landholders would need to work together with other small landholders to have up to 50 cows to be able to put in a collective order because of collar distribution threshold.