Straight answers on how virtual fencing works, what it costs to run, how animals respond, and what Headway Ag is building. For anything not covered here, email the founder.
Virtual fencing replaces physical wire and posts with a boundary stored in software. Each animal wears an ear tag that knows where it is (GPS) and where it is allowed to be. When an animal approaches the boundary, the tag plays an audio cue that guides it back. No wire, no posts, no fence building — you move the herd by drawing a new boundary on your phone.
The same way shepherds' dogs do: association. The tag gives a warning tone as the animal nears the boundary, escalating if she keeps walking. Cattle learn the tone-to-boundary association within days, and the cue is humane audio — it does not depend on pain or shock to work.
Headway tags harvest energy three ways: a solar face on the housing, body heat from the animal, and the natural motion of the ear itself. That combination means no charging, no battery swaps, and no downtime — the tag is self-powered for the life of the animal.
Wire fence is priced per mile and per day of labor: posts, wire, braces, repairs after storms, and the days it takes to run new lines. Virtual fencing is priced per animal, and one boundary update covers every animal at once. For rotational grazing operations that move fence weekly, the labor savings alone are the story — the hardware replaces recurring work, not just materials.
No. Tags talk to each other over a mesh network in the field, and the mesh reaches the rest of the world through cellular and satellite links. A paddock with zero bars still works; the data syncs when any link is available.
The tag is a computer first, a fence second. It streams heart rate, body temperature, rumination, movement patterns, pregnancy and calving alerts, weight trends, and stress signals from the animal — plus grass growth, pasture biomass, and forage classification from the land — into one live picture on your phone, tablet, or desktop.
Onboard sensors detect lightning strikes and brush-fire heat locally. The system warns the herd and the rancher before regional alerts arrive, and boundaries can be redrawn instantly to move animals out of a threatened area.
The twin-tag platform is designed for cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, horses, and donkeys. Tag sizing and cue profiles adapt per species.