By Scout Nelson
Producers interested in improving grazing efficiency and reducing labor are invited to the Technology in Action: Improving Pasture and Cattle Management field day. This free, hands-on event will take place Friday, June 27, 2025, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Eastern Nebraska Research, Extension, and Education Center near Mead, Nebraska.
The field day will showcase emerging technologies that help producers make better use of pasture and streamline livestock care. Key demonstrations include virtual fencing with cow/calf pairs, which shows how controlled grazing improves pasture usage. Participants will get to observe this technology in real time.
Attendees will also explore different remote water monitoring systems and see how each performs in real field conditions. These systems are compared for battery life, signal coverage, and how reliably they send alerts.
Another highlight is a forage estimator that uses simple smartphone photos to help decide the right time to graze cereal rye and other winter crops. This tool supports better decision-making for stocking and grazing schedules.
Indoor sessions will provide further insights. Topics include how to compare various virtual fencing platforms, understand pricing, and learn about research results that demonstrate how these systems can manage multiple groups or strip graze annual forages effectively.
The event is organized by Nebraska Extension and sponsored by USDA-SARE.
For more information, contact Yijie Xiong at (402) 472-3246 or yijie.xiong@unl.edu.
This field day is a great opportunity to explore smart solutions for pasture and cattle management.
Photo Credit:gettyimages-pamwalker68
Categories: Nebraska, Livestock, Beef Cattle, Dairy Cattle