VFF President Brett Hosking said the change was no surprise.
“NSW's step to legalize virtual fences is welcome and awaits,” he said.
“If Victoria does not act quickly, we risk losing investments and innovations with clearer regulatory ways to other countries.
“As the largest milk state in the country, Victoria has the opportunity to be a leader in the introduction of innovation on the farm if we have given the right regulatory environment.”
Virtual fences are when cattle collar communicate with GPS and reception towers to a virtual “fence” and control the movement and place of animals without a physical fence being necessary. External fences are still required.
Mr. Hosking said the VFF supported the technology.
“It improves the well -being of animals by reducing the stress by making the cattle a controlled and safe environment provided that enables real -time monitoring through technology to bring the owner closer to his cattle, and supports more sustainable, more productive land use by allowing flexible pasture solutions,” he said.
“The technology works, the risks are known and the necessary regulatory changes are modest.
“This is an example in which bureaucracy delays the inclusion of innovation. Now it is possible for Victoria to lead the innovation in this room.”
A spokesman for the Victorian government said that virtual fencing research at Elinbank Smartfarm, which comes to the conclusion on June 30th, would help them in the next steps.
“We understand that the Victorian farmers absolutely want to see the results of our research on virtual fences that are to be completed next month,” said the spokesman.
“We examine paths to ensure that the well -being of animals in addition to the advantages of production and health of pasture priority has a top priority.”
Virtual fencing on an NZ Dairy Farm.
The NSW Farmers' Animal Welfare Committee also welcomed the changes.
The chairman Rob Mcintosh said that the announcement was a sign of positive changes on the horizon for many farmers across the state.
“In all of Australia and even in the world, farmers already make the best of virtual fencing, and it is time to do the same here in NSW,” said Mcintosh.
“This technology can save lives by relocating the cattle into safe areas in floods, fires or other natural disasters without endangering people or animals.
“It can also help reduce the trees, to control harmful weeds and to help with a completely different variety of things to help on the farm-there are almost no limits for what this technology can do.”
Mr. Mcintosh said that the regulations should be introduced quickly to ensure that the technology could be introduced via NSW.
“These fences are a player for farmers, and we look forward to the possibilities they offer for cattle management in NSW.
“It is a real leap forward to use this technology with cattle, and we hope that the technology for use with other cattle can be developed and introduced in the future.
“Tools like this will unlock productivity gains for our industry, so that we can often put more local food on the tables.”
The change was announced on Wednesday, April 30th, whereby NSW dealt with Western Australia, the Northern Territory, Queensland and Tasmania in order to allow the technology. Victoria, South Australia and the law are still without access to virtual fences.
In Tasmania, 23 percent of the dairy cows are managed with the technology, while in New Zealand more than 200,000 cattle carry the electronic collar.
“The government of the NSW has … listened to the agricultural industry and will work with both industrial and animal welfare groups to ensure that we receive the right balance for the provision of virtual fences in farms,” said Tara Moriarty, Agriculture Minister of NSW.
“These changes aim to reduce the costs for agriculture and to enable agile paddock formation over land stocks to meet the needs of farmers and at the same time to protect the well -being of cattle.”
According to Victoria's animal welfare laws, the electronic collar are currently only permitted for cattle if there is a license for scientific proceedings with the approval of the animal ethics committee.
The research financed by the Tasmanian government showed that cows with virtual fences remained 99.85 percent of the cases in their region and the number of shocks they received, the more they had.
Senior Researcher of the Tasmania Institute for Agriculture at the University of Tasmania, Dr. Megan Verdon, said researchers used milk to evaluate the physiological level of stress in cows.
“We analyzed 2500 milk samples and there was no evidence of more stress between the group Electric Fence and Virtual Foncing Group,” said Dr. Verdon.
VFF UDV President Bernie Free said that the system could be used in bush fire or floods from a distance to bring cows to safe areas.
“In every way you look at it, there are advantages for the community, the environment, cows and dairy farmers,” said Free.
– with Rick Bayne.