Resources
For anyone digging into virtual fence.
Where the money comes from, where people talk, the studies, and the NRCS.
Where the money comes from
Each one has funded virtual fence or names it in a rule.
Federal · NRCS
Practice 382, the standard
The proposed rewrite. It writes virtual fence into the standard. Public comment closed October 1, 2026. Not final.
nrcs.usda.gov
Federal · NRCS
Virtual fence guidance
usda.gov
Federal · NRCS
Ranking dates
When your state takes applications.
nrcs.usda.gov
Federal · NRCS
FY2026 virtual fence rates
EQIP year one: $8,352.98 plus $40.67 a head. Each transmitter past the first two: $5,815.91. Years two to five: $51.62 a head a year. Kansas schedule. Oklahoma, South Carolina, West Virginia and Iowa within 2%.
nrcs.usda.gov
Federal · NRCS North Dakota
Cross fence only
North Dakota funds virtual fence for cross fencing only. Practice 382 the first year, 528 after. Practice 528 is capped at $50,000 a year.
nrcs.usda.gov
Federal · NRCS
Scenario and payment booklet
FY26 financial assistance scenarios and their scheduled rates.
nrcs.usda.gov
Federal · NRCS
EQIP advance payment
Historically underserved and beginning producers can draw part of the payment up front.
nrcs.usda.gov
Federal · Montana
Montana EQIP for virtual fencing
FY2026 through 2028. Fourteen eastern counties and Fort Peck.
nrcs.usda.gov
Federal · Wyoming
Wyoming NRCS technical note 4
April 2026. How Wyoming NRCS plans virtual fence under 528. NRCS there will not plan it as a boundary fence.
wlfw.org
Federal · FSA
Notice CRP-1096
Virtual fence authorized for Grassland CRP in August 2026. Hardware only, 50 percent, 125-head minimum, boundary fence already in place.
fsa.usda.gov
Federal · FSA
Notice ECP-105
Virtual fence approved under the Emergency Conservation Program in August 2026, for disasters in FY2025 and later. Interior fence only, 125-head minimum, paid on NRCS 382 scenarios.
fsa.usda.gov
Federal · Farm bill
Farm bill programs
NRCS farm bill page. CRP authority lapsed September 30, 2026.
nrcs.usda.gov
Federal · Farm bill
Senate farm bill, section 2802
Writes virtual fence into the Emergency Conservation Program in some cases. Cleared the Senate Agriculture Committee September 16, 2026. Not law.
agriculture.senate.gov
State · Oklahoma
Conservation district directory
Seventy-seven districts, each with its own practice list.
conservation.ok.gov
State · Oklahoma
PY28 cost-share guidelines
The year virtual fence appeared under practice 382 in Oklahoma.
conservation.ok.gov
State · Montana
Rangeland Improvement Loan Program
Low-interest loans, not cost share. Annual installments, ten-year maximum repayment. Montana only.
mtrangelands.org
Foundations and groups · Foundation
Ricketts Conservation
Base stations and collars in the Greater Yellowstone area.
rickettsconservation.org
Foundations and groups · BLM land
Foundation for America's Public Lands
Nearly $3 million for virtual fence on BLM allotments, 15 projects as of August 2026. The projects run on Halter collars.
globenewswire.com
Foundations and groups · Coalition
Greater Yellowstone
The coalition's virtual fence resource guide, aimed at cutting fence barriers for elk and grizzly.
greateryellowstone.org
Foundations and groups · NFWF
Grassland resilience
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grassland initiative. Mostly bars individuals.
nfwf.org
Foundations and groups · SARE
Western SARE producer grants
Funds the trial, not the hardware. Lease and subscription can qualify; a purchase will not.
western.sare.org
Foundations and groups · Project
Connected Ag
Farm Journal's Trust in Food. Vence names it as a funding route; the project itself does not mention virtual fence.
trustinfood.com
Foundations and groups · Missouri + Nebraska
Heartland Virtual Fence Project
$100 per collar plus technical help for Missouri and Nebraska producers, funded through NFWF's grassland initiative. Applications closed at high interest; the team lists a contact for other cost-share.
cra.missouri.edu
We are not grant writers. Your county office holds
the rules for your county.
Where people talk about it
Open forums, university extension, federal agencies.
No login
CattleToday
Producers arguing about cost, battery life and whether it is worth it.
cattletoday.com
No login
Permies
A long thread on collars for rotational grazing, including people who priced it and walked away.
permies.com
Join to read
eShepherd user group
An owners group on Facebook. Membership request required.
facebook.com
Forest Service
Permittees on allotments
Grazing permittees using virtual fence on national forest ground.
fs.usda.gov
Video series
Virtual Fence Foundations
University of Missouri extension series: the basics, cover crop and pasture grazing, nutrient management, and a producer and company round table.
youtube.com
University studies on collars
Land grant and agency work, with what each one measured.
What it does to the animal · Colorado State + USDA-ARS, 2025
Steers gained 9 percent less
120 yearling steers over 110 days at Central Plains Experimental Range. Collared steers finished 7.3 kg lighter than unmanaged steers.
frontiersin.org
What it does to the animal · Oklahoma State, 2026
96 percent cattle compliance
A year-long trial. Sheep held the fence better than cattle at 99 percent. Cattle test the boundary more, and the pulses fall off over time.
beefcentral.com
What it does to the animal · Nebraska, 2026
Two herds, one pasture, no wire
39 trained yearling steers in three herds over eight weeks, with a 20-meter buffer between virtual paddocks. Containment ran 99.7 to 99.96 percent.
academic.oup.com
Out on the range · Idaho
550 cows on a federal allotment
Collars used to keep cattle off riparian ground and away from recreation in the Pahsimeroi.
uidaho.edu
Out on the range · Colorado State, 2022-2025
Rough country, 640 square miles
2,745 collars across six ranches in western Colorado, run off ten base stations. Field monitoring plus rancher interviews.
rangemanagement.extension.colostate.edu
Out on the range · North Dakota State
Rotation and cover crop strips
Virtual fence against hand-moved and automated wire for strip grazing. Runs through 2026 with Nebraska.
ndsu.edu
Out on the range · USDA Climate Hubs
Cattle off burned sagebrush
Eastern Oregon work on holding cattle out of recently burned steppe without wire.
climatehubs.usda.gov
Out on the range · Nebraska
Halter field day at Jespersen
About 150 cows and calves moved into a new cell, guided by a collar vibration used as positive reinforcement. Towers covered three to four miles.
preec.unl.edu
Cost and comparison · New Mexico State, 2025
Collars against wire on 360 head
Bulletin B-133. A cost comparison of virtual fence and physical fence on New Mexico ranches.
pubs.nmsu.edu
Cost and comparison · Arizona
Rangelands Gateway user guide
The Rangelands Partnership guide, run out of the University of Arizona.
rangelandsgateway.org
Cost and comparison · South Dakota State
How the systems differ
An extension write-up on the companies, what each system does, and where it falls short.
extension.sdstate.edu
Cost and comparison · Kansas State, 2026
Five systems in one table
eShepherd, Halter, Monil, Nofence and Vence as of August 2026: connectivity, power, how you pay, minimum herd.
k-state.edu
Cost and comparison · Arizona, 2025
Foundations of virtual fencing
Publication az2105. How collars are funded through EQIP, practice 382 in year one and 528 after.
extension.arizona.edu
Cost and comparison · Missouri, tool
Partial budget decision tool
A spreadsheet that runs virtual fence against your own cow-calf numbers.
extension.missouri.edu
How NRCS works
The schedule is your state's. The district sets what ranks.
Start here
The USDA service center locator gets you your county office.
When does the next batch close for us?
A date, and what the pool is.
Do 382 or 528 work here?
The two practices. 382 covers the year-one setup, 528 the management years after.
If I do this, what do I need to document?
Four more years of payment ride on the answer.
Then the longer conversation
- Do I qualify as historically underserved?
- 90% instead of 75%. Beginning, limited resource, socially disadvantaged, Tribal and veteran producers.
- Do the five years follow me, or the ground?
- The ground. 528 attaches to the land, not the participant.
- What counts as documenting it?
- Iowa's FY2026 wording: short- and long-term monitoring, photo points, stubble height after grazing, record keeping.
Your collar app records the grazing. Monitoring is separate. Its history stays with the ground.
That record is the app. Photo points you can retake months later, cover read off the photo, history attached to the ground. See how it works →
What changed
Rules, deadlines, law, and new collars.
Coming up
- 2026-10-28 Western SARE producer grants close. SARE funds the trial, not the hardware. western.sare.org
- 2027-02-01 Notices CRP-1096 and ECP-105 expire. fsa.usda.gov
- 2027-08-31 Oklahoma PY28 claims due. Work under PY28 cost share, virtual fence included, must be done and claimed by this date. conservation.ok.gov
Already changed
- 2026-09-30 CRP authority lapsed with the 2018 farm bill. FSA cannot approve new CRP offers until Congress acts. EQIP and CSP are funded through FY2031. fsa.usda.gov
- 2026-09-16 The Senate Agriculture Committee passed its farm bill. Section 2802 makes virtual fence eligible under the Emergency Conservation Program in some cases. Not law. agriculture.senate.gov
- 2026-09 Nofence announced the N3 cattle collar. Cellular, satellite and collar-to-collar links. First US deliveries March 2027. nofence.com
- 2026-09-01 NRCS published its rewrite of practice 382. Virtual fence is written into the standard. Public comment closed October 1. Not final. federalregister.gov
- 2026-08-27 FSA approved virtual fence under the Emergency Conservation Program. Disasters in FY2025 and later. Interior fence only, 125-head minimum. fsa.usda.gov
- 2026-08-25 The Foundation for America's Public Lands has committed nearly $3 million to virtual fence on BLM ground. Fifteen projects so far, on Halter collars. globenewswire.com
- 2026-08-19 FSA authorized virtual fence for Grassland CRP. Hardware only, 50 percent, 125-head minimum, boundary fence already in place. fsa.usda.gov
- 2026 Monil sells its cattle collar in the US. Support in the Midwest first. Orders start at six collars. monil.com
- 2026 Montana opened an EQIP program for virtual fencing. FY2026 through 2028, fourteen eastern counties and Fort Peck. nrcs.usda.gov
- 2025 Colorado State and USDA-ARS measured 9 percent less gain on collared steers over 110 days. frontiersin.org
Virtual fence is not a lawful fence under
W.S. 11-28-102
or MCA 81-4-101.
Both statutes enumerate physical constructions. Your outside boundary
stays wire.
Upcoming dates checked (UTC). Sources last reviewed October 2026.
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