Norwegian livestock technology company Nofence has launched the N3 cattle collar, positioning the device as the foundation of a broader precision livestock platform that brings virtual fencing, herd health monitoring and grazing management into a single system. Announced on September 2 in Oslo, the N3 is designed to move Nofence beyond virtual fencing and towards a more integrated model of livestock management, where data collected from individual animals can support decisions on reproduction, health and pasture utilisation.
The company said the new collar is five times more durable than its previous model and comes with a 10-year warranty, reflecting its focus on long-term deployment across demanding livestock environments. The collar is designed to operate in extreme temperatures and uses a solar-chargeable battery that Nofence says can maintain performance in low-light conditions, including forests, valleys and high-latitude winters. Nofence has sold more than 200,000 collars across Europe and North America and reports a 99.7 per cent containment rate, drawing on more than a decade of field experience with GPS-based virtual fencing.
Connectivity Becomes A Competitive Edge
One of the N3’s biggest changes is its approach to connectivity. The collar uses three independent communication layers: cellular networks, satellite connectivity and HerdNet, Nofence’s proprietary collar-to-collar network. The combination is designed to extend the system into areas where conventional cellular networks are unavailable. “Satellite connectivity changes who Nofence works for,” said Jeff Glasson, Chief Product and Technology Officer, Nofence. “Millions of cattle graze in areas where cellular networks do not reach. With triple-layer connectivity, those producers are no longer limited to solutions that require expensive infrastructure.”
That could expand the addressable market for virtual fencing, particularly across remote grazing regions where deploying conventional fencing or telecommunications infrastructure can be costly.
From Virtual Fences To Herd Intelligence
Nofence is also using the N3 to broaden its proposition from animal containment to continuous herd monitoring. The platform incorporates reproductive and health-related tools, including heat-cycle scores, calving alerts and individual activity and rumination tracking. The company said these capabilities are informed by behavioural data collected across more than 20 million grazing days.
The shift reflects a larger change in livestock technology, where connected devices are increasingly being used not only to automate physical tasks but also to identify changes in animal behaviour that could help producers intervene earlier. “Livestock management tends to be dependent on visual observations,” Glasson said. “The system monitors every animal continuously so producers don’t have to guess when to check on cattle.”
For Nofence, the commercial opportunity is therefore moving beyond selling a collar. The objective is to create a recurring technology platform around data, herd management and grazing decisions. “Virtual fencing was our beginning, and our customers showed us what should come next,” said Joachim Kähler, Chief Executive Officer, Nofence.
Turning Pasture Into A Data Asset
The N3 platform also targets grazing management, allowing producers to draw paddocks on a smartphone, schedule livestock movements and automatically record grazing activity. Those records can potentially be used to support applications for agricultural grants and value-added programmes, adding another layer of economic value to the data generated through the system.
For livestock operators, the proposition is straightforward: reduce the physical burden of fencing while gaining greater visibility into where animals are, how they behave and how pasture is being used. Ole Kristian Kildahl, who operates a dairy and beef farm in Løten, Norway, said the system saves his farm approximately two weeks of fence maintenance each year.
That type of labour saving could become increasingly relevant as livestock producers face pressure to improve productivity while managing labour availability and operating costs.
A Broader Precision Livestock Bet
Nofence’s launch reflects a broader evolution in livestock technology. Virtual fencing established the company’s position by replacing physical barriers with GPS-enabled animal management. The N3 takes that proposition further by combining containment with health, reproduction and pasture data. The company’s installed base of more than 200,000 collars gives it a significant dataset from which to build additional applications, while its triple-layer connectivity could extend the technology into previously underserved grazing environments.
The bigger bet is that the collar becomes more than a fence. By making every animal a connected data point, Nofence is positioning precision livestock management as a continuous operating system for the farm—one that can influence where animals graze, when they move and when producers need to intervene.
