Tracking Technology assists Farming Solicitor

What would you do if you needed to find your cattle in a 4000 acre forest? Needle in a haystack comes to mind but this is the daily dilemma faced by James Selby Bennett, Senior Partner of Humphries Kirk solicitors and working farmer.  

James’ 50 cows and calves  graze Wareham Forest as part of an environmental  management programme which helps Natural England and the Forestry Commission to ensure a healthy balance between the natural heather and heathland grasses of this particularly valuable and fragile part of the Dorset Heathlands.  With several thousand acres of heath covered hill, bog and thick pine forest at their disposal the cattle can be difficult to find. James needed a way of finding the cattle quickly to ensure their safety whilst also ensuring his valuable time was not wasted.

Enter Biotrack, a small technology firm based in Wareham and one of Humphries Kirk’s long standing clients. Biotrack specialise in the design and construction of radio tracking equipment ostensibly for use in wildlife conservation. They export almost 75% of their product to over 110 countries around the world.

Brian Cresswell, General Manager of Biotrack said, “Biotrack have years of experience and expertise in tracking animals of all kinds and in all kinds of environments so when James needed something to track his cattle we were quickly able to adapt an existing product”.

Now the cattle are free to roam and graze the forest and James and his neighbour David Green can find their cattle using the tracking device, thereby saving time, fuel and stress for them and the cattle.

James Selby Bennett said, “Although Biotrack’s technology has been used to track more exotic beasts - from dragon flies and buzzards, to deer and giant jumping rats in Madagascar it is important to me that I can locate my cattle at any time. Biotrack have been superb in providing me with a cost effective solution to managing my cattle in this unique environment.”