Kansas State University scientists are studying how a technology called Virtual Fencing could help prevent water pollution from cattle. K-State Biologists are testing the idea in the Flint Hills. They are putting GPS collars on cattle that give the animals a mild shock if they wander into certain areas. The researchers say the practice will help protect streams from pollution and protect patches of tallgrass for prairie chicken nesting. Professor Walter Dodds specializes in Freshwater Ecology at Kansas State. He says doing the same things with physical fencing is difficult and expensive. “If you just want to put a fence around a stream all the way up and down a watershed, it really takes a lot of fence and it’s not easy. “Dodd said. The researchers say Virtual Fences also make it easy for ranchers to make sure cattle don’t overgraze any specific part of their pasture.
The study will take place in the Flint Hills on the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve and the Mushroom Red Angus Ranch near Strong City. The study was funded through a $435,000 Grant from the Nature Conservancy for Work with the National Park Service and the Kansas Grazing Lands Coalition.
