Who is watching your cattle?

[4hfarms]

Investing Millions of Dollars in AI for Cows
By Ethan Goldman, analyst, Chaikin Analytics

The AI megatrend keeps showing up in unexpected places...

A private agricultural-tech company called Halter raised $220 million from its AI-powered collar... for cows.

These collars allow ranchers to do basic tasks remotely – like tracking their cattle's location via GPS.

But that's just the beginning...

Halter's collars give ranchers control over where their cows can and can't graze.

Put simply, ranchers can set virtual fences from a mobile app on their phones. The collar then uses sound and vibrations to move the cows from one area to another. Of course, these cues also keep the cows from moving outside a set area.

Halter's collar saves ranchers time, frustration, and money.

Cow collars might not be the first thing you think of when it comes to AI. But virtual fencing could be the future of cattle farming.

And this niche highlights a much larger shift...

The AI boom isn't just happening in tech – it's spreading into industries most investors don't associate with innovation.

And that's where some of the most overlooked opportunities are forming...

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Urgent: Bottleneck Pumps Brakes in AI Build-Out. Here's What It Means for Investors.

Bloomberg just reported that HALF of data centers planned in the U.S. for 2026 have been quietly delayed or canceled. This is just one of the reasons 50-year Wall Street legend Marc Chaikin predicts the Magnificent Seven companies carrying this AI bull market are about to hit a BRICK wall. On Wednesday, April 29, he's meeting with Silicon Valley insider Jeff Brown to reveal a new bottleneck in AI that is creating a generational opportunity that could 12X your money if you act NOW. Click here to reserve your seat for "The Dark AI Summit" on Wednesday, April 29.


'America's National Nightmare Is Coming'

The reclusive Oregon forecaster who accurately predicted both the 2008 banking collapse and the post-2020 inflation crisis says a huge event is coming to America this month. He's warning that very soon, life in America is going to take a strange and dangerous turn... See his warning here – before it's too late.

Halter's rollout is a clear example of how this shift is translating into real-world results...

One rancher in California used Halter to create 7 miles of virtual fencing. She said it saved her $210,000 in materials.

Another rancher in Montana says Halter's virtual fencing saved him hundreds of hours of hard labor.

Of course, Halter collected a ton of data on cows while developing this collar...

The company used AI to analyze more than 7 billion hours of cow behavior. That gives ranchers insight into the health and behaviors of their own herds.

Halter calls this the "Cowgorithm." And it's easy to see the value it adds to Halter's collars.

As such, Halter has attracted major support from venture-capital firms – including the same one that supported Meta Platforms (META) and Airbnb (ABNB)...

The AI Megatrend Is Everywhere
I'm talking about the Founders Fund.

You may recognize the first partner listed on the fund's website: Peter Thiel. He co-founded payment processor PayPal (PYPL)... provided the first outside investment to social media platform Facebook... and is the co-founder of AI titan Palantir Technologies (PLTR).

Put simply, the Founders Fund has a record of picking winning startups.

For Halter, the Founders Fund led that $220 million funding round mentioned above. This brought the company's valuation to $2 billion.

Halter plans to use this money to expand its Cowgorithm and provide virtual fences in markets around the world.

 

[mwj]

Those company's are set up to harvest money not beef.They grow from investments not sales. If they sold the product to %100 of producers it is still a tiny market with very little growth potential.

 

[M.Magis]

Those company's are set up to harvest money not beef.They grow from investments not sales. If they sold the product to %100 of producers it is still a tiny market with very little growth potential.

100% accurate. They have no worries if the software or hardware shits itself in 5 years. They’ll be long gone.

 

[Dave]

Nobody is watching my cows. (cordless key board. Batteries went dead) We moved the cows up on the hill 10 days ago. Just went up there for a look. Third time since they have been up there. Might have seen half of them.

 

[Lucky]

Those collars aren't Ai. 20 years ago I hade a vitual fence for dog that I could move around. This is the same concept on a bigger scale. Good idea though

 

[RDFF]

One rancher in California used Halter to create 7 miles of virtual fencing. She said it saved her $210,000 in materials.

Golly... I wonder what kind of materials she had been using to build that fence before she went to Halter?

 

[Silver]

With regards to AI, it is interesting that they are employing it with camera technology now. I read something the other day that said one company had proved its camera app using AI could spot a cow going into labour 5 hours before she started into labour something like 95% of the time. Dairy guys would probable really like this. It could have potential for anyone with good camera coverage.

 

[Dave]

Golly... I wonder what kind of materials she had been using to build that fence before she went to Halter?

On bad ground they are charging $6 a foot. That is about $30,000 a mile. But that is labor and supplies. Supplies to do a 4 strand barb wire will run a touch over $4,000 per mile.

 

[RDFF]

On bad ground they are charging $6 a foot. That is about $30,000 a mile. But that is labor and supplies. Supplies to do a 4 strand barb wire will run a touch over $4,000 per mile.

On bad ground, with those kind of costs ($6/ft), with the crazy low densities that you have to run, how the heck can you ever make it pay? That is precisely the kind of situation where the virtual fence systems can make some sense. But that doesn't eliminate the other "concerns" that one has to recognize come along with them... That "forever subscription fee" for one, the "risk" that whatever you buy may potentially have no support in the future as they upgrade (Windows 10...), it almost certainly will have pretty much 0 value for resale almost the day you receive it, and, if it ISN'T supported (either by aging out, or by system failure/lack of service), you now have no physical fence to function with... which once installed, would probably still be there when your grandkids are running the operation.

Imagine a scenario where you've gone "whole hog" on this system... and so have your neighbors. Essentially, without the system, the whole place has now turned into "open range country". AND... at least in most of the country, BECAUSE we've transitioned away from open range to "fenced in", we've also lost the essential skills of the open range cowboys. And we're thinking that we can now go "virtual"... Kind of like saying... "You're going to own nothing, and like it"!

Gotta wonder too... think about how you can "muster" your cattle with that virtual system. And now think about how difficult it is (not virtually, but literally!!!) to control access into the cyber-systems. Hmmm... even "online banking systems" have been hacked into. One local county computer system here was just hacked into AGAIN (for the second time... first time was just about a year ago). All of the other local surrounding counties were alerted, and those other county operations got locked down temporarily till they could assess the potential threat, and went on high alert, and it had very wide ranging consequences beyond just that one county). That original county shut down everything, and they couldn't do any business, for anything, for about a week or so. So, I'm gonna assume that these "collar systems" take the potential for "hacking" seriously, and have addressed this issue "somehow"... They'd better have! But what if some high-tech "rustler group" did get into your collar system, and mustered your cattle right into their corral and then into their truck, and the cattle are gone, before you even knew what happened?

Impossible??? I highly doubt it. And with a herd of cattle representing the kind of $$$ that they do now, why wouldn't they? They'd surely often be much less traceable than some $$$ in a bank account. How long would it take to move a half-million-dollars worth of cattle?

Virtual fence offers alot of positives. But we shouldn't be naive as to the potential negatives. Some of them have sold them on the premise that "physical fence will be a thing of the past"... INCLUDING perimeter fencing. I don't think that I'd want to operate without some form of boundary fence at the very least. They identify what is MY property, that others are required by law to stay off of... and they automatically help to accomplish that... simply by being there, to define that line. Electrifying that fence also helps to keep some of those who might climb through a "regular fence" from attempting it. Most "townies" don't understand how an electric fence works, and they're terrified of them... think they'll practically kill them. And I like to keep 'em thinking that way. They won't even try to open the gates. And when I make a gate, I make it so that when I shut it, even my gate loop wire becomes hot... so they SHOULD BE hesitant to try to open it. The first time they try one, I hope it knocks them to their knees... they'll never try it again, on my fence, OR YOURS!

 

[Dave]

On bad ground, with those kind of costs ($6/ft), with the crazy low densities that you have to run, how the heck can you ever make it pay? That is precisely the kind of situation where the virtual fence systems can make some sense. But that doesn't eliminate the other "concerns" that one has to recognize come along with them... That "forever subscription fee" for one, the "risk" that whatever you buy may potentially have no support in the future as they upgrade (Windows 10...), it almost certainly will have pretty much 0 value for resale almost the day you receive it, and, if it ISN'T supported (either by aging out, or by system failure/lack of service), you now have no physical fence to function with... which once installed, would probably still be there when your grandkids are running the operation.

Several questions. Why are you building 7 miles of new fence? Why are you hiring it done? Was there no fence before? People here repair fence. if there is a section which is bad they might rebuild a quarter or half mile of fence a year. But they do that themself so it is just the cost of material.

 

[RDFF]

Yeah, that might be a good question too... Here, because everybody got rid of the livestock and went "row crop crazy", most of the fences have been removed entirely, or they're pretty much down and non-existent. The California rancher in the "Halter post" likely was in the mountains???? I don't know... But it wouldn't be unusual HERE, if you were converting cropland into grazing property, to have to put in 7 miles of fence. One section, just for perimeter, would be 4 miles. I've got cross-fencing on mine every 220'... so it adds up pretty quickly (the miles). But I can put in alot of fence for that kind of $$$ ($210,000). Every fence on my properties has been built by me, cleaning up old fence lines that were down in the dirt and replacing them, and putting in quite a bit where there never were any (subdivision fencing). With a quick calculation... I've put in around 18 linear miles of fence here... on about 450 acres (miles of fence... NOT miles of wire... 3 wire perimeter, 1 wire interior, all high tensile). The vast majority of that has been installed in the last 8 years.

 

[Dave]

One of the things I did when working for the conservation district was help people with fencing. Cost share and design. In 23 years that was miles on miles of fence of every type and description. What is best for one purpose, landowner, and environment might not work in another spot. Personally I went from an area with 60 inch annual rainfall and 80 acre fields to an area with 12 inches of rain and pastures well over 1,000 acres. It is a big old world out there. There is no one size fits all. Not even one size fits most.
Who knows what that California lady is dealing with. Or if she even exists. Wouldn't be the first time that a company trying to sell a product made up a positive comment on their product.

 

[Nesikep]

I was looking into this, ORI cattle tags that do a lot of the same, $30/tag or so and a flat rate for monitoring the herd.. which was like $100/month or so.. but for my small herd that is way too much money.. I could have lived with the price of the tags

 

[Brute 23]

I started hunting with dogs before any one had trackers around us. A few years in a guy got the big one that looked like a tv antenna you held up. It would beep and tell you the general direction and maybe a rough distance like close or far. I watched that evolve all the way to seeing there every move, treed, running, all on Google maps, with cameras, and a built in shock collar.

I really question if the technology made better dogs and hunters, as a whole. With the shock collar built in it gave hunters more of an excuse to not have a handle on their dogs before going in to the woods. I never used a shock collar on my dogs. I won one in a raffle and sold it immediately. A camera that can seeing calving in advance will just be an excuse to keep more cows with calving problems.

I love collecting data and info but it is going to be sold to the highest bidder and ultimately used against us. Some of these products are part of that $3000 worth the savings on $2000 calves.

 

[RDFF]

I was looking into this, ORI cattle tags that do a lot of the same, $30/tag or so and a flat rate for monitoring the herd.. which was like $100/month or so.. but for my small herd that is way too much money.. I could have lived with the price of the tags

Look up the next generation of virtual... the collars are already outdated... supposedly available in 2027.

They operate with "muscle stimulation", rather than "electric shock"... uses 1/10th of 1% of the energy that the collars do, so can get by with far less battery and solar cell requirement. Easier to install. No chance of a cow hanging up on something. Signals the animal as to which way to turn... like "reins". Gotta wonder how that's gonna work, if she tears one ear tag out... she'll end up going around in circles and spinning like a reining horse! :ROFLMAO:

Eventually, they'll get it so the "device" is embedded under the skin, with a "lifetime lithium battery" (possible if the power usage is low enough, make it so that if necessary, the battery CAN be recharged "wirelessly" if necessary, OR... potentially solar ear tags charge the battery wirelessly). Put the implant in the calf when he's born. Becomes a "universal" system that can go from one owner/operator to the next. Like cell service... doesn't matter which "carrier" you operate with, the "device" will still work across all platforms.

https://www.getdrover.com/#cta

 

[farmerjan]

I'll open up a can of worms... do these "low level" electrical impulses and such, cause any health problems??? Like they have discovered that cell phone usage by young children causes harm to their brains, and other things like that????? Affect neurons in the brain, cause changes in body chemistry, possible cancer? There are documented studies on what constant cell usage by children is doing to their brains because the cell phone is used against the ear... right against the brain in the head ......
Think I will stick with physical fences... and an occasional breakout... not some electronic signal that could be disrupted by some hacker... it's an interesting project... has possibilities, just not one I want to spend my money on. Plus here where there are more and more people, physical will help keep the animals in and the IDIOT people out... At least it gives you some legal protection by having actual fences.

 

[4hfarms]

Try to get your cow back through the invisible electric fence.lol.... not a chance. May be a great value but not for me. Hope I'm out of the cow business before I am required to do all the stupid gov-ment things.

 

[Silver]

Try to get your cow back through the invisible electric fence.lol.... not a chance. May be a great value but not for me. Hope I'm out of the cow business before I am required to do all the stupid gov-ment things.

Why would it be hard to get a cow back through the virtual fence?

 

[Silver]

This video is worth the watch.

 

[RDFF]

Try to get your cow back through the invisible electric fence.lol.... not a chance. May be a great value but not for me. Hope I'm out of the cow business before I am required to do all the stupid gov-ment things.

I'm not advocating for the virtual fence, BUT... one of the potential uses of it is that it can be used to "muster" the cattle. If one does escape, it will want to get back in with the rest of the herd... and it WILL let it come back in, without any shock or warning beep being administered. Once the critter is back inside the enclosure, it will automatically turn back on. The other thing you can do is "throw a wider loop" with your settings, to include the critter already, and then gradually bring the enclosure area back to where you wanted it.

The point is, it's pretty simple to bring one back in, at least theoretically... probably easier than trying to physically herd one back in. THAT particular point would not be one of concern for me.