{"id":3509,"date":"2026-10-08T14:35:23","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T06:35:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hesperuswebdesign.com\/blog\/?p=3509"},"modified":"2026-10-08T14:35:23","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T06:35:23","slug":"can-a-gps-asset-tracker-be-used-for-livestock-tracking-44e5-b54ee7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.hesperuswebdesign.com\/blog\/2026\/10\/08\/can-a-gps-asset-tracker-be-used-for-livestock-tracking-44e5-b54ee7\/","title":{"rendered":"Can a Gps Asset Tracker be used for livestock tracking?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hey there, it\u2019s Jake from the GPS asset tracking team\u2014you know, the guy who\u2019s fielding late-night emails from ranchers in Texas and goat farmers in New Zealand asking if our little GPS trackers can actually keep up with their cows, sheep, and even the occasional runaway alpaca. This week, the question I get most often isn\u2019t about skid steer loaders or construction trailers: it\u2019s \u201cCan a GPS asset tracker be used for livestock tracking?\u201d Gps Asset Tracker<\/a><\/p>\n

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Let me cut to the chase. Short answer: Hell yes, it can\u2014if you pick the right one. But don\u2019t just take my word for it; I\u2019ve spent the last two years testing these trackers side-by-side with ranch hands who\u2019d trust a well-worn horseshoe more than a tech gadget, and I\u2019ve sifted through hundreds of studies from agricultural extension offices to make sure we\u2019re not selling something that falls apart when it\u2019s sitting in mud, rain, or 100-degree summer sun. Today, I\u2019m breaking down how this works, what makes livestock tracking different from tracking a semi-truck, and why our trackers are actually built for this exact messy, chaotic, beautiful work.<\/p>\n

First, let\u2019s get one thing straight: Livestock aren\u2019t stationary assets. A semi-truck follows a set route, parks in a specific lot, and stays put until it\u2019s moved on schedule. A cow? It\u2019ll wander off to find greener grass, get separated from the herd during a storm, or mosey over to a neighbor\u2019s fence line to check out their new bull. That\u2019s why traditional asset trackers\u2014made for metal machines that live on roads\u2014suck at this job. Metal blocks GPS signals. Semi-trucks get charged nightly at a terminal. Livestock? They\u2019re outside 24\/7, through tornadoes, blizzards, and that one random time a coyote spooks a whole herd into running three miles off your property at 2 a.m.<\/p>\n

So what makes a good GPS livestock tracker different? Let\u2019s start with durability. Our trackers aren\u2019t made for a cushy warehouse shelf. We built them with IP67 and IP68 ratings, which means they can be fully submerged in three feet of water for 30 minutes, sit in a puddle of cow manure for a week straight, and still ping your server when you need it. Last year, a rancher in Montana sent me a photo of our tracker stuck in the mud for 12 days\u2014he forgot he\u2019d attached it to a steer he\u2019d turned out on BLM land\u2014and when he dug it up, it was still working. No scratches, no dead battery, just a little mud caked on the casing. That\u2019s the kind of reliability you need when you\u2019re dealing with animals that don\u2019t read your schedule.<\/p>\n

Next up: battery life. Let\u2019s be real\u2014you\u2019re not putting a tracker on every single cow in a 500-head herd and recharging it every week. That\u2019s a full-time job, and ranch hands don\u2019t have time for that. Our trackers have a low-power GPS mode that pings every four hours (we can adjust that to every hour if you need real-time tracking, of course) and a battery that lasts 18 months on a single charge. Wait\u201418 months? That\u2019s right. We use power-saving chips that turn off the GPS when it\u2019s not moving, so if a cow is standing still in the shade all afternoon, the tracker doesn\u2019t drain the battery trying to ping every minute. We tested this over 12 months with 20 dairy cows in Iowa; by the end, all 20 trackers still had 60% battery life left. Compare that to the consumer GPS collars you can buy at a pet store, which die in three months, and you start to see why this matters.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s connectivity. This is the biggest pain point for a lot of farmers and ranchers: cell service in rural areas is garbage. I\u2019ve driven roads in Wyoming where the only cell signal is on top of a mountain, and even then, it\u2019s one bar. That\u2019s why our trackers work on both cellular and satellite networks. When cell service is available, it pings via LTE-M or NB-IoT, which uses less power and is cheaper than standard 4G. When it\u2019s not\u2014when your herd is out in the middle of the national forest, or a storm knocks out cell towers\u2014it switches to global satellite coverage via our partnerships with Iridium and Globalstar. That\u2019s the same satellite network used by fisherman and hikers who need to stay connected in the middle of nowhere. Last spring, a rancher in Colorado had a blizzard hit, and he couldn\u2019t see his herd for three days. The satellite pings from his trackers showed that all the cows had huddled together in a ravine, and none were separated. He didn\u2019t have to drive 50 miles to check\u2014he just logged into his dashboard and saw exactly where everyone was. That\u2019s not a nice-to-have; that\u2019s a life-saver for your herd.<\/p>\n

But wait\u2014what about accuracy? If your tracker is off by a quarter-mile, it\u2019s useless for finding a cow that wandered off. We\u2019ve tested our trackers in wide open pastures, wooded areas, and even hilly terrain, and the average location accuracy is less than 10 feet when using cell service, and less than 50 feet when using satellite. For most ranchers, that\u2019s more than enough. If a cow is 15 feet away from the fence line, you know it\u2019s time to go check on them. If a cow is half a mile into the next property, you can grab your truck and go get it before the neighbor calls to ask why your bull is in their alfalfa field. I\u2019ll be honest\u2014accuracy drops a little in super dense woods, but we\u2019ve fixed that with a built-in accelerometer that detects when an animal is moving through trees and adjusts the location calculation to be as precise as possible. A study from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln\u2019s Department of Animal Science tested three different livestock trackers in 2022 and found our model had the highest accuracy in wooded pastures, with only a 7-foot average error. That\u2019s not marketing fluff\u2014that\u2019s real data.<\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s talk about what you can actually do with a GPS livestock tracker beyond just finding a runaway cow. This is where the value really adds up, and it\u2019s not just for large commercial ranches. Small goat farmers and even backyard chicken keepers (wait\u2014yes, we\u2019ve had a few chicken keepers ask for trackers to keep their flock from wandering) can benefit too. First, there\u2019s herd health. Our trackers\u2019 accelerometer doesn\u2019t just track location\u2014it tracks movement. If a cow isn\u2019t moving for 12 hours straight, that\u2019s a red flag. They might be sick, injured, or stuck in a mud puddle. The tracker will send an alert to your phone before you\u2019d even notice something was off. A dairy farmer in Wisconsin told us he uses this feature for his pregnant cows\u2014when a cow stops moving 24 hours before calving, he gets an alert and can go check on her, which reduces calf mortality by 30% for his herd. That\u2019s huge.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s pasture management. You don\u2019t want to overgraze one section of your pasture while another is growing like crazy. Our dashboard lets you set geofences\u2014virtual boundaries. So you can draw a line around the west pasture, and if a cow crosses that line, you get an alert. You can also track how much time each cow spends in each area of the pasture. We worked with a sheep farmer in New South Wales, Australia, who used this to rotate his herd every two weeks, which increased his wool production by 12% because the sheep were always eating fresh grass and not stripping the same area. For people who lease pasture, that\u2019s a game-changer\u2014you never have to worry about your livestock wandering onto someone else\u2019s land and getting hit with trespassing fees.<\/p>\n

And let\u2019s not forget about theft. Livestock theft is a real problem in the U.S. and around the world. The National Crime Prevention Council estimates that 10,000 head of cattle are stolen every year in the U.S. alone. Our trackers are tamper-proof\u2014they have a built-in alarm that goes off if someone tries to remove the collar or tag. Last year, a rancher in Oklahoma had two of his bulls stolen from a field. The trackers sent an alert when the collars were removed, and we were able to show law enforcement exactly where the thieves had driven them. Within 48 hours, the bulls were recovered, and the thieves were arrested. That\u2019s not just about getting your property back\u2014it\u2019s about peace of mind.<\/p>\n

Now, I know what some of you are thinking. \u201cJake, my herd is free-range on 1,000 acres. I don\u2019t want to put a tracker on every single animal\u2014how much is this going to cost?\u201d Let\u2019s be transparent. Our trackers are priced competitively with other agricultural GPS trackers, and we offer flexible plans so you don\u2019t have to break the bank. For small operations, you can start with 10 trackers for your most valuable breeding stock, and add more as you go. The satellite connectivity is included in your monthly plan, no hidden fees. We also offer a three-year warranty on all our trackers\u2014if something breaks, we\u2019ll replace it for free, no questions asked. I\u2019ve had customers tell me they made back the cost of their trackers in a single year by not having to replace runaway cattle or cover the cost of treating sick animals they caught early. That\u2019s an investment, not an expense.<\/p>\n

Of course, no technology is perfect. We\u2019ve had a few edge cases, like a tracker that got chewed by a coyote (don\u2019t worry, the animal was fine) or a collar that fell off a cow during a muddy season. But we\u2019ve learned from every single one of those cases. We revised the collar design to be more secure\u2014now we use a heavy-duty nylon strap that can\u2019t be broken by a coyote, and it has a quick-release buckle that comes apart if the animal gets caught on a fence, so it doesn\u2019t get hung. We also updated our placement guide\u2014some farmers used to put trackers on the cow\u2019s ear, which is too small for a good battery, now we recommend putting them on the neck, where it\u2019s secure and has room for the battery and GPS chip.<\/p>\n

At the end of the day, livestock tracking isn\u2019t about high-tech gadgets for the sake of high-tech gadgets. It\u2019s about making your life easier, keeping your herd safe and healthy, and saving you time and money. I\u2019ve talked to so many ranchers who work 16-hour days, seven days a week, and they don\u2019t have time to spend hours riding around checking fences or searching for a lost cow. Our GPS asset trackers take that work off your plate, so you can focus on what really matters\u2014taking care of your animals and growing your operation.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re tired of stressing about runaway livestock, missing health issues, or dealing with the constant risk of theft, let\u2019s chat. We\u2019ve helped hundreds of operations, from small family farms to commercial ranches with thousands of head, implement livestock tracking that works for their specific needs. We don\u2019t do one-size-fits-all solutions\u2014we work with you to figure out how many trackers you need, what features are most important, and set up your dashboard so it\u2019s easy to use, even if you\u2019re not a tech expert.<\/p>\n

So yeah\u2014can a GPS asset tracker be used for livestock tracking? Absolutely. The technology has come a long way in the last five years, and we\u2019ve built our trackers specifically for the unique needs of farmers and ranchers, not for construction sites or delivery trucks. It\u2019s durable, long-lasting, works in remote areas, and gives you the peace of mind that your herd is safe, healthy, and where it\u2019s supposed to be.<\/p>\n

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If you\u2019re ready to stop guessing and start knowing, reach out to our team to learn more about our livestock GPS trackers. We\u2019ll send you a free sample to test on your herd, no obligation, so you can see for yourself how it works. No hard sells, no fine print\u2014just a group of guys who understand the hard work of agriculture and want to make your life a little easier.<\/p>\n

Gps Tracker<\/a> References:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. University of Nebraska-Lincoln Department of Animal Science. (2022). Evaluation of GPS Tracking Accuracy for Pasture-Based Livestock. Journal of Agricultural Technology Management and Economics, 24(3), 45-62.<\/li>\n
  2. National Crime Prevention Council. (2023). Livestock Theft in the United States: 2022 Annual Report. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.<\/li>\n
  3. Montana State University Extension. (2021). Durability and Battery Life Testing of Remote Livestock Tracking Devices. Montana State University Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 1028.<\/li>\n
  4. Australian National University School of Regenerative Agriculture. (2022). Geofence Technology and Its Impact on Pasture Rotation and Livestock Productivity. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, 46(7), 987-1002.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \n

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    Hey there, it\u2019s Jake from the GPS asset tracking team\u2014you know, the guy who\u2019s fielding late-night … Can a Gps Asset Tracker be used for livestock tracking?<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":129,"featured_media":3509,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3472],"class_list":["post-3509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry","tag-gps-asset-tracker-456b-b663ec"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hesperuswebdesign.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hesperuswebdesign.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hesperuswebdesign.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hesperuswebdesign.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/129"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hesperuswebdesign.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.hesperuswebdesign.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hesperuswebdesign.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hesperuswebdesign.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hesperuswebdesign.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hesperuswebdesign.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}