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Agriculture · head to head

Gallagher eShepherd vs Lindsay FieldNET

Gallagher eShepherd logo

Gallagher eShepherd

Agriculture

Virtual fencing where you own the solar collars outright and pay only a small monthly connectivity fee

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Lindsay FieldNET logo

Lindsay FieldNET

Agriculture

Remote pivot monitoring, control and irrigation scheduling that retrofits almost any electric pivot

From
$300/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Gallagher eShepherd gallagher does not publish neckband prices, quoting instead by herd size, region and connectivity type, so the ownership-versus-lease advantage over subscription rivals cannot be verified without a sales conversation.; Lindsay FieldNET the subscription is per pivot per year and permanent, so a thirty pivot farm carries roughly a five-figure annual bill on top of the retrofit hardware and never owns the capability outright.
  • They diverge on capability: Gallagher eShepherd covers Map-drawn virtual paddocks, Lindsay FieldNET covers Pivot Watch.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Gallagher eShepherd and Lindsay FieldNET actually diverge.

Attributes where Gallagher eShepherd and Lindsay FieldNET differ
AttributeGallagher eShepherdLindsay FieldNET
Starting priceOn request$300/year
Pricing modelquotePer pivot per year plus hardware

Identical on both: free tier (No), platforms (Web, iOS, Android), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Agriculture).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Gallagher eShepherd

  • Map-drawn virtual paddocks
  • Audio cue then pulse
  • Solar neckband
  • Cellular or LoRa connectivity
  • Animal location tracking
  • Grazing rotation management
  • Exclusion zones
  • Behaviour alerts

Only in Lindsay FieldNET

  • Pivot Watch
  • Pivot Control retrofit
  • Remote start and stop
  • FieldNET Advisor
  • Variable rate irrigation
  • Alerts and diagnostics
  • Multi-brand fleet view

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Gallagher eShepherd

  • A ranch subdividing a 2,000 acre paddock for rotational grazing without buying a mile of wirenot Lindsay FieldNET
  • A grazier fencing cattle out of a creek line for a stewardship scheme without building riparian fencenot Lindsay FieldNET
  • An operation on leased ground where permanent fencing is not permitted or not recoverablenot Lindsay FieldNET
  • A farm short of labour that needs paddock moves done from a phone rather than a quad bikenot Lindsay FieldNET

Lindsay FieldNET

  • A farm with Valley, Reinke and Zimmatic pivots that wants one app instead of three vendor systemsnot Gallagher eShepherd
  • An operation with pivots an hour apart where a physical check costs half a daynot Gallagher eShepherd
  • A grower under a water allocation that needs defensible scheduling to stay inside the limitnot Gallagher eShepherd
  • A manager who needs an alert the moment a pivot stops overnight rather than at dawnnot Gallagher eShepherd

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Gallagher eShepherd

  • Gallagher does not publish neckband prices, quoting instead by herd size, region and connectivity type, so the ownership-versus-lease advantage over subscription rivals cannot be verified without a sales conversation.
  • A minimum of about 20 animals is needed to train a mob, which rules out smallholders and makes the system awkward for operations that run many small separate groups.
  • It is cattle only: sheep, goats and deer are not supported, so a mixed grazing enterprise still needs conventional fencing for everything else.
  • The connectivity fee is per active neckband and continues indefinitely, so the collars are yours but the system stops fencing if you stop paying, which is the same dependency as a subscription with a different label.
  • Virtual fencing is regulated inconsistently: some jurisdictions restrict or have not yet ruled on aversive-stimulus containment, and welfare-scheme or organic certifier acceptance varies, so eligibility should be checked locally before ordering.

Lindsay FieldNET

  • The subscription is per pivot per year and permanent, so a thirty pivot farm carries roughly a five-figure annual bill on top of the retrofit hardware and never owns the capability outright.
  • The Pivot Control retrofit is around $1,700 a unit before installation, which on an older or low-value pivot can approach a meaningful fraction of what the machine is worth.
  • FieldNET Advisor is priced separately from control, so the scheduling intelligence that justifies the platform is an additional line item rather than part of the subscription.
  • Cellular coverage decides whether it works; pivots in a coverage hole get intermittent control and alerts, which is the worst possible failure mode for a system you have stopped driving out to check.
  • Support and installation run through Lindsay dealers, so a farm in a territory with a weak dealer gets slow retrofits and slow fault resolution regardless of what the platform can do.

Pricing, plan by plan

Gallagher eShepherd

On request
  • eShepherd neckband$undefined/year
    • Neckbands purchased outright, not leased per head
    • Small fixed monthly connectivity fee per active neckband
    • Fees charged only on active bands

Lindsay FieldNET

$300/year
  • Pivot Watch$undefined/year
    • Monitoring only, no remote control
    • Lower annual subscription than control tiers
    • Device purchased per pivot
  • Pivot Control$300/year
    • Approximately $300 per pivot per year
    • Retrofit unit around $1,700 plus installation
    • Full remote start, stop, speed and endgun control
  • FieldNET Advisor$undefined/year
    • Irrigation scheduling and decision support
    • Priced separately on top of control subscription
    • Uses soil, crop stage and weather inputs

Which should you pick?

Choose Gallagher eShepherd if

  • You need map-drawn virtual paddocks.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want audio cue then pulse.
Gallagher eShepherd review

Choose Lindsay FieldNET if

  • You need pivot watch.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want pivot control retrofit.
Lindsay FieldNET review

Questions people ask

Is Gallagher eShepherd or Lindsay FieldNET better?
Neither clearly leads. Gallagher eShepherd starts at On request and Lindsay FieldNET at $300/year, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Gallagher eShepherd or Lindsay FieldNET?
Gallagher eShepherd starts at On request and Lindsay FieldNET at $300/year.
Does Gallagher eShepherd or Lindsay FieldNET run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What is Gallagher eShepherd best used for?
Gallagher eShepherd is most often used for a ranch subdividing a 2,000 acre paddock for rotational grazing without buying a mile of wire, a grazier fencing cattle out of a creek line for a stewardship scheme without building riparian fence, an operation on leased ground where permanent fencing is not permitted or not recoverable, a farm short of labour that needs paddock moves done from a phone rather than a quad bike. Of those, a ranch subdividing a 2,000 acre paddock for rotational grazing without buying a mile of wire and a grazier fencing cattle out of a creek line for a stewardship scheme without building riparian fence are not what Lindsay FieldNET is typically brought in for.
What can Gallagher eShepherd do that Lindsay FieldNET cannot?
Gallagher eShepherd covers Map-drawn virtual paddocks, Audio cue then pulse, Solar neckband, Cellular or LoRa connectivity. Lindsay FieldNET covers Pivot Watch, Pivot Control retrofit, Remote start and stop, FieldNET Advisor.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Gallagher eShepherd: Do I lease the collars or own them?

You buy them outright. The ongoing cost is a small monthly connectivity fee per active neckband, not a per-head lease.

Lindsay FieldNET: Does FieldNET only work with Zimmatic pivots?

No. FieldNET Pivot Control is built to retrofit almost any electric pivot, and mixed fleets of Valley, Reinke and Zimmatic machines run in one account.

Gallagher eShepherd: Do I need base stations?

Not with the cellular version, which uses existing mobile networks. The LoRa version needs small on-property base stations and suits areas with poor coverage.

Lindsay FieldNET: What does it cost per pivot?

Around $1,700 for a Pivot Control unit plus installation, then roughly $300 per pivot per year. Pivot Watch monitoring is cheaper on both.

Gallagher eShepherd: How many cattle do I need?

At least 20 to train a mob, after which groups can be split into smaller mobs as long as each contains leaders and followers.

Lindsay FieldNET: Is FieldNET Advisor included?

No. Advisor is the scheduling and decision support layer and is quoted separately from remote control.

Gallagher eShepherd: Does it work for sheep?

No. eShepherd is a cattle system.

Lindsay FieldNET: What happens if the cellular signal drops?

You lose remote control and alerting until it returns, which is why coverage should be checked at each pivot before committing.

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