A Colorado tech company has figured out how to let ranchers track and manage their cattle from virtually anywhere, and Canadian ranchers are next in line to get access.
Halter, based in Boulder, announced this week that its GPS-enabled smart collars for cattle can now communicate directly with SpaceX’s Starlink satellites, making cell towers and on-ranch radio infrastructure a thing of the past. As long as there’s open sky overhead, the collars work.
Ranchers across North America are dealing with rising fuel costs, shrinking labour pools, and an aging workforce, and many of the most productive grazing lands sit in remote areas that cell networks simply don’t reach. Halter says the satellite upgrade expands its potential U.S. market by about two and a half times, and the company has confirmed Canada is coming soon, reports Tesla North, meaning cattle ranchers here will be able to use the tech through Starlink’s direct-to-satellite network.
Lloyd Calvert manages livestock at High Lonesome Ranch in western Colorado, a massive 225,000-acre operation in rugged terrain. He’s already using the new system. “Satellite unlocks the ability to run very remote country while still seeing what the cattle are doing, without needing someone with them all the time,” he said. “We call ourselves Halter junkies now because we can check to see where the cows are any time of day, no matter where I am.”
The collars themselves run on solar power and use GPS to track animals. Ranchers can set up virtual fences through an app, no wire, no posts, and move cattle between pastures remotely. With the old system, that required Halter’s own radio towers to be installed on the property first. Now there’s nothing to set up at all.
Along with the satellite announcement, Halter rolled out its biggest product update yet, adding heat detection for breeding season, real-time behavioural monitoring that tracks grazing and rumination, and satellite-based tools for managing pasture and forage.
Right now, cattle ranchers in the U.S. and New Zealand have access to these smart collars powered by Starlink, with Australia and Canada coming “soon”.
For ranchers in Canada’s more remote regions, think the interior of B.C., the Alberta foothills, or the northern prairies, the technology could be a significant shift in how an operation runs day to day. All farmers need to do is control and locate their cattle through an app on their smartphone. I think John Dutton would approve of this (or not).
Want to see more of our stories on Google?
P.S. Want to keep this site truly independent? Support us by buying us a beer, treating us to a coffee, or shopping through Amazon here. Links in this post are affiliate links, so we earn a tiny commission at no charge to you. Thanks for supporting independent Canadian media!
