No Fences, No Limits: NICC Pioneers GPS Technology to Help Solve Soil Challenges

At Iowa’s Dairy Center, 1 mile south of the Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) campus, a herd of cattle grazing on fresh pasture is a familiar sight. To the casual observer, it looks like a typical day on the farm, but there is one striking difference: there isn’t a physical fence containing the cattle.

Instead, the boundaries exist entirely on a smartphone screen.

This is the cutting edge of agricultural technology, and NICC is at the forefront of putting it to the test. Through a multiyear research project funded by the Community College Alliance for Agricultural Advancement (C2A3) in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the College is replacing physical fences with GPS-enabled electronic collars. This technology allows farmers to control cow movement with the swipe of a finger, effectively managing the herd from anywhere.

"Seeing this technology in action is a game-changer," says Brodie Bushman, Northeast Iowa Dairy and Agriculture Foundation operations manager. “Cows trained very quickly. I look forward to seeing how this improves our pasture this summer as we really utilize the technology."

Breaking down the barrier

Why trade barbed wire for bandwidth? Because for decades, the biggest obstacle standing between farmers and better soil health has been the sheer labor of moving fences.

To truly regenerate land, producers need to practice rotational grazing—a system where herds are moved frequently to fresh pasture. According to a recent Drovers report, this method is proven to increase forage production by 30% to 70%. It allows grasses to develop deep, soil-anchoring roots that naturally prevent erosion. However, the time, sweat and cost required to constantly pull up and pound in physical posts often make this best practice unfeasible for the average farmer. The new GPS collars remove that labor barrier entirely.