Norwegian agtech company Nofence is seeking to redefine its role in the livestock technology market with the launch of the N3 cattle collar, positioning the product as the foundation of a broader precision livestock management platform rather than simply a virtual fencing solution.
From virtual fencing to whole-farm management
The move marks a significant strategic evolution for the company, which last year secured a €30m ($35m) Series B funding round that it described as the largest agtech financing in Europe in 2025. The funding was earmarked for international expansion and further product development, and the N3 appears to be the first major product to emerge from that investment.
“Virtual fencing was our beginning, but it was our customers who showed us what should come next,” said Joachim Kähler, CEO of Nofence.
“With N3, they can see every animal, manage every acre, and make better decisions about their herd and their land, all from one app. This is what Precision Livestock Management means in practice.”
Bringing fragmented farm data together
According to Nofence, beef producers typically rely on multiple disconnected systems for tracking livestock location, monitoring health and maintaining records.
The company says N3 is designed to consolidate those functions into a single platform, combining virtual fencing, grazing management, reproductive monitoring and land-use data.
Every collar continuously collects information on animal location, behaviour, activity and reproductive status, drawing on behavioural datasets accumulated through more than 20 million grazing days. The data feeds into a central app that provides producers with real-time visibility of herd and grazing performance.
For cow-calf producers in particular, Nofence sees reproductive management as a key value proposition.
Heat-cycle monitoring, heat scores and calving alerts are integrated directly into the platform, allowing producers to identify breeding opportunities, detect open cows and receive notifications when animals are approaching calving.
“Livestock management tends to be dependent on visual observations,” said Savina Velkova, vice president of product at Nofence.
“N3 changes this: the collar monitors every animal continuously, so the app tells you before you would have gone looking. The producers we work with are not short of knowledge, they are short of time.”
Built for grazing systems
Alongside animal monitoring, Nofence is placing significant emphasis on grazing management.
The platform enables producers to create virtual paddocks, schedule livestock moves in advance and automatically generate grazing reports containing information such as stocking density, herd size and grazing duration.
The company says these records could help reduce administrative burdens and support participation in conservation and stewardship programmes.
N3 also introduces triple-layer connectivity through cellular networks, satellite communications and HerdNet™, Nofence’s proprietary collar-to-collar communication system.
“Satellite connectivity changes who Nofence works for,” said Velkova.
“There are millions of cattle grazing in areas where cellular networks simply do not reach.”
Durability a key selling point
Nofence claims the N3 delivers a 99.7% containment rate while being five times more durable than previous models.
Designed to operate in temperatures ranging from -20°C to 60°C, the collar hangs below the animal’s neck, a position the company says offers greater protection and reliability. A solar-rechargeable battery is intended to maintain performance in challenging conditions including forests, valleys and low-light winter environments.
The company is backing the product with a 10-year warranty and says future software upgrades will be delivered automatically without requiring hardware replacement.
Early farmer feedback
The collar has already been piloted by livestock producers in several markets, including the UK.
James Waight, who grazes 450 Angus cattle across 8,000 acres on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, said the platform reduced the need to switch between separate systems.
“Before, I’d check one thing for where the herd was, another for which cows needed attention, and drive out to see if the pasture was ready,” he said.
“With N3, it’s all in the same app. It sounds like a small thing, but it changes how I plan the whole day.”
