GPS satellite helps track grazing livestock in north China pastures

China's satellite technology has started to be applied to help herdsmen monitor their grazing livestock in Erdos, a city in northern Inner Mongolia autonomous region. Chao Lu, head of the animal husbandry bureau in the city's Hangjin Banner (County), said Thursday that a dozen cattle and sheep have been fitted with GPS tracking transmitters in a pilot program. "Herdsmen can see where the herds move through the village's website or receive short message reports of the movements on their cell phones," said Chao. He said that the satellite grazing system uses the 3S (global positioning system, geographic information system and remote sensing)technology developed by the bureau along with experts from Huadong Normal University and Inner Mongolia Normal University. Besides relieving manpower for grazing, the system can also send early warning signals to prevent over-grazing and epidemics spreading among livestock, he said. The cost of each of transmitter is between 200 yuan (31.5 U.S. dollars) and 400 yuan, based on the number of functions installed on the transmitter. Batteries used in the transmitters have a life of three years. "With the government's policies to support the animal husbandry industry in Inner Mongolia, the price of the system application would be even lower if the technology were widespread on the pasture," he said. With 93 million cattle and sheep herds, Inner Mongolia is China's largest grazing area. Tumengfeng, a herdsman in Daotugacha Village, said he believes herdsmen can afford the devices even if they have to spend some money on them, as the current price for a cow is 7,000 yuan. "With the transmitters, I don't have to follow the grazing livestock all the time. I can spend the time doing more business," he said.