Incorporating virtual fencing to manage yearling steers on extensive rangelands: spatial behavior, growth performance, and enteric methane emissions.

We examined the spatial movement behavior, growth rates, and enteric CH₄ emissions of yearling beef cattle in response to spatial distribution management with virtual fencing (VF) in extensive shortgrass steppe pastures. Over the 110-d grazing season (mid-May to early September), 120 British-breed stocker steers (~12 months of age; mean body weight [BW] 382 kg ± 35) were grazed with VF management (active VF collars) or free-range (non-active VF collars) in two pairs of ~130 ha physically fenced rangeland pastures (i.e., VF-managed vs. control). One pair was associated with a diverse mosaic of soil types supporting alkalai sacaton (Sporobolus airoides [Torr.] Torr.), blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis [Willd. Ex Kunth] Lag. Ex Griffiths), and needle-and-thread (Hesperostipa comata [Trin. &Rupr.] Barkworth), while the other pasture-pair was associated with the Sandy Plains ecological site, primarily hosting western wheatgrass (Pascopyrum smithii [Rydb.] Á. Löve), needle-and-thread, and blue grama. Within each pair of pastures, one herd was rotated among sub-pastures using the VF system, which focused grazing on varying native plant communities over the growing season. In control pastures, steers had access to the entire pasture for the grazing season. Spatial distribution management with VF maintained steers within desired grazing areas occurred 94-99% of the time, even though five of the 60 VF-managed steers consistently made short daily excursions outside the VF boundary. In all four pastures, an automated head-chamber system (AHCS, i.e., GreenFeed) measured the enteric CH₄ emissions of individual steers. Steers that met the criteria of a minimum of 15 AHCS visits in each of at least two VF rotation intervals were analyzed for spatial behavior, growth performance, and enteric CH₄ emissions. Screening based on AHCS visitation requirements resulted in 15 steers (nine VF, six control) in the diverse mosaic pasture pair, and 39 (17 VF, 22 control) in the Sandy Plains pasture pair. VF management significantly reduced growth rates for all steers across both pasture pairs by an average of 9%, resulting in steers that were 7.3 kg lighter than unmanaged steers at the end of the grazing season. VF management effects on enteric CH₄ emissions varied among rotation intervals and pasture type. In the diverse mosaic pair, VF management significantly reduced CH₄ emissions during the first rotation interval, when VF steers were concentrated on the C₃ grass-dominated plant community, but increased emissions in the second and third intervals when VF steers were concentrated on C₄ grass-dominated areas. In the Sandy Plains pasture pair, where cattle were rotated between sub-pastures with and without palatable four-wing saltbush (Atriplex canescens [Pursh] Nutt.) shrubs, VF management reduced CH₄ emissions in three of four rotations as well as over the full grazing season. CH₄ emissions intensity increased with VF management in the diverse mosaic, but not in the Sandy Plains pastures. Overall, our findings show VF management (1) controlled animals spatially within sub-pastures, (2) did not improve growth performance but rather decreased it, (3) did not consistently reduce enteric CH₄ emissions, and (4) tended to increase emissions per kg of product via lowering steer growth performance. While some have posited that VF is a potential tool to reduce enteric emissions, our findings suggest VF management is not a straightforward solution for mediating the relationships between forage resources, growth performance, and enteric CH₄ emissions of stocker steers on extensive rangeland. Furthermore, our fusion of animal GPS tracking, growth rates and AHCS data indicated that differences in spatial behavior and weight gain were consistent between VF-managed and control steers irrespective of their AHCS-acclimation status, supporting the perspective that AHCS-based gas flux measurements are a valid means of estimating enteric emissions in extensive rangelands.