The gap between what is “possible-in-principle” and “achievable-in-practice” is large when it comes to the application of precision agriculture to extensive grazing systems. Part of the challenge is that these systems are spread over large and remote areas, and are also spatially heterogeneous, both in primary production and in pattern of utilization by grazing animals. Certain tools associated with precision agriculture that operate in a spatially explicit way – remote sensing, GIS (geographic information system) and GPS (global positioning system) – are being harnessed to study grazing systems. Satellite- based remote sensing holds much promise in terms of which plant characteristics can be inferred. The most important ones are cover classification, and the quantity and quality of plant biomass. Animal-borne GPS-enabled devices can tell us where an animal goes and when, but one has to contend with the fact that herds comprise many individuals. In the case study presented here, a GPS-based herd tracking system was developed to map the cumulative presence of a number of goat herds employed to forage along fire-breaks in the Jerusalem Hills. The combination of utilization maps generated by such wide-scale herd monitoring and remote-sensing of the vegetation should facilitate a quantum leap in the depth at which grazing systems can be studied and managed.

from Volcani Voice 7