Nebraska ranchers use virtual fencing to better utilize forage
By Mekenna Fisher, For The Fence Post | November 7, 2026
It’s been a turbulent year for cattle producers across the U.S. Volatile cattle prices, high feed costs, severe droughts and intense wildfires, farm labor shortages, packing plant closures, and trade uncertainties have left producers looking to new technologies to combat these unprecedented challenges.
One such tool is virtual fencing, a technology that allows producers to corral their cattle and sub-divide their pastures remotely. Relatively high startup costs and the novelty of the field mean relatively few producers have adopted the technology — but that didn’t stop Shalane and Justin Bright of Chaulk Creek Cattle.
In the rugged country of Banner County in Nebraska’s Panhandle, challenging terrain makes conventional fencing a costly and time-consuming endeavor. This leads to sub-optimal forage utilization for many ranches.
After one of the most severe drought years in Nebraska’s history, the Brights decided that a different approach was needed. Shalane said that the ongoing drought hammered home the idea that a new management method was needed for the ranch.
“We needed to do something,” she said. “Our regular pasture didn’t have the grass to sustain us this year. We were forced to think outside the box.”
Their 1,700-acre operation required a solution that would open up more forage while not drastically increasing the manpower needed to manage their herd. Virtual fencing was discussed as an option, but the pair were hesitant because they didn’t know of anyone successfully using the technology.
“We couldn’t find a good reference on whether it worked good or not,” said Shalane.
THE RIGHT FIT
Still, the Brights decided it was still worth looking into. They talked with several virtual fencing companies to get a sense of what the technology would look like for them. Every company has a different method and utilizes different technology, and the Brights had to weed out options that weren’t a good fit for their ranch. Some companies, such as Vence and eShepherd, utilize transmission towers that weren’t a good fit for the rough terrain. Other companies, such as Nofence, work based on cell service — something that can be hard to come by in the rural Panhandle.
Eventually, the Brights came across Monil, and everything clicked into place. Monil relies primarily on mobile connectivity for its GPS collars and is expanding into satellite connectivity as a fallback for remote areas where mobile connectivity is weak or unavailable entirely. This was very appealing to the Brights, who sometimes struggle with cell service and would not have been able to use tower-based virtual fencing.
“The way their operations matched with ours just fit really well,” Shalane said.
Not only that, but the couple meshed instantly with the crew at Monil. Between the customer service and Monil’s user-friendly app, the Brights were confident in their choice.
Once that decision was made, it was time to implement. The total input cost for Chaulk Creek Cattle came out to around $25,000 for their herd of60 cows and three bulls. This works out to a little over $400 per head, which Shalane described as a little on the higher end as far as virtual fencing goes, but well worth the price.
In the Monil system, each cow is fitted with a solar-powered GPS collar. The collar collects individual animal and movement data, as well as determines the animal’s position relative to boundaries created in the app.
The boundaries are created through virtual “fence posts” that can subdivide pastures or create exclusion zones. Creating these boundaries proved challenging for the Brights, who needed to fence around some difficult terrain, shelter belts, and sensitive CRP areas. Shalane said that they actually ran out of fence posts, which are limited by the amount of data a collar can hold. Their ranch was one of two that Monil has ever run into this problem with. The Brights had to rework their division system, but eventually settled on a configuration that matched the limits of the collars with the boundaries they needed.
“We’re very happy with the way our boundaries have lined up with what the NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service) requires from us on those tree rows,” Shalane said.
MAKING A PLAN
Once the boundaries were live, it was time to train the cattle. This was one of the most nerve-wracking parts for Shalane.
“We were scared to see how these older mothers would react to the collars,” she said.
But, like every other challenge they faced, the Brights approached it with a plan. The cows spent two weeks in an ordinary pasture, getting to know the standard fenceline and learning where the water was. This pasture had a relatively distinct divide that led to the cows mainly grazing the flat western half while largely ignoring the eastern half with rougher, hilly terrain. After acclimating to the pasture, the cows were collared, and the Brights created an exclusion zone in their preferred half, forcing the cows to graze the hilly side of the pasture.
“They took to it better than we expected,” said Shalane, adding that it was interesting to see the cows work the virtual fence line and learn where they were and weren’t allowed to venture.
Overall, the Brights were very satisfied with the herd’s response and their improved forage utilization. After six months of utilizing Monil’s virtual fence system, the Brights have seen noticeable improvement at Chaulk Creek Cattle. Most importantly is their improved forage utilization. Shalane estimated that prior to the collars, they had a 40-50% loss of utilization on their grazing due to undesirable areas, shelter belts, and CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) land that couldn’t be grazed with conventional fencing. She explained that building all the traditional fence they needed to effectively access all the areas of their ranch that could be grazed would require 50 miles of fence, while virtual fencing allows them to do it all without placing a single post. In addition to accessing areas they couldn’t before, they can also encourage cattle to utilize the pastures more efficiently than before.
“With collars, we can force them places they don’t want to go,” Shalane said. Improving forage usage has also allowed them to wean later in the year than neighbors who had to conserve grass, thereby increasing their weaning weights. While most other producers had to wean in August or September, the Brights were able to wean in October, easing this year’s effects. And they noticed a change in cattle behavior at weaning. Both the cows and the calves seemed more docile and settled down faster after weaning than in prior years.
Shalane hypothesized that this was due to “virtual fence line weaning.” Since the calves don’t wear collars, they can sometimes wander places that the cows don’t have access to. “As those calves grew and got bigger and more independent, we did notice them wandering further from mom,” she said.
For instance, a popular hangout spot was at the bottom of a canyon the Brights would have to walk through periodically and herd them out of. The cows were unconcerned about the adventures of their offspring, and didn’t push the fence boundaries even when the calves wandered outside them. This led to a less stressful weaning for all involved, and a quiet truckload of calves headed to the sale barn just two days after weaning.
LABOR SAVER
The collars have also been a benefit from a labor standpoint. Since the Brights also operate a custom composting business, there are times that Shalane and Justin just aren’t on the property. With the app, they can check on their cattle anytime, anywhere. “Being remote and not here all the time has made that a lot more of a peace of mind,” said Shalane.
The couple can monitor the location of each of their cows at all times and receive calving alerts. Monil is also working on an update that shares even more health information, such as heat detection. Shalane views these updates as another benefit of working with Monil. She and her husband appreciate that the company is always striving to experiment and provide better services to their customers. In fact, one of her biggest takeaways from the experience is to mirror that service to other producers.
“My biggest thing is, if you have questions, reach out! We’ve talked to a lot of people in our area that had questions,” Shalane said.
She doesn’t want fellow ranchers to miss out on opportunities like they’ve found with Monil just because they don’t know where to begin finding information. She urges producers not to be afraid to initiate these conversations and do their own research to decide if virtual fencing is worth a try for them. “Ranchers are some of the most gritty, innovative people on this planet. Their sole purpose is to do right by their ranch. You can’t go wrong with virtual fencing if you want places that can’t usually be reached and to utilize grass more efficiently. It made our time well worth it.”
SOURCE: theFencePost, November 7, 2026
