Vence

Solution

Vence’s hardware and software platform enables livestock farmers to control the location of their cattle without the need for physical fences and manual labor. Ranchers can remotely herd their animals toward grass that’s ready for grazing and away from areas that need to recover and grow. With healthier soil from improved grazing techniques, livestock operations improve their bottom line while also sequestering more carbon.

Why do we love ’em?

While cows are often unfairly maligned as a major climate problem, the reality is that managed grazing has been identified as a significant contributor to carbon sequestration. It’s all about how and where the cows graze. Soil becomes degraded and exhausts its ability to sequester carbon when cattle munch the same area over and over. However, implementing more holistic and rotational grazing practices can recreate the migratory patterns that created healthy grasslands to begin with. This isn’t a big secret for ranchers, but the lack of animal control, land management, and data-driven insights make it difficult for many livestock operations to avoid overgrazing. Vence’s virtual fencing solution helps them optimize their grazing practices at a fraction of the cost of traditional fencing. And it also frees up all that fence-building and repairing time for working on other land management and conservation projects. 

Related feature

The case for climate-positive beef — In conversation with Vence founder Frank Wooten