How to choose temporary electric fence for cattle

When we are grazing, we will choose corresponding fences and high-strength wires to make a movable fence field. This allows us to move while grazing to ensure that the grass in a certain area is not destructively eaten.

Choose corresponding fences and high-strength wires

Many stockmen who graze rotationally create permanent paddocks with traditional fencing or electric hard wire, such as high tensile wire. They then divide those paddocks with portable fencing such as poly wire. A portable fence can be moved every few days, daily, or even several times daily to strip graze or mob graze. There are many ways to create temporary fences.

Tim Hoven, farming near Eckville, in central Alberta, says the key to using portable fence is a good grazing plan.

"You have to know where you want the cattle, for what day, and for what purpose," Hoven says. "If you know you'll be gone for the weekend, you must make sure the animals have enough grass. No matter how many fence posts you have and how many rolls of poly wire, it won't work if you're not thinking ahead."

This means thinking a week ahead, a month ahead, three months ahead and a season ahead, Hoven says. The plan will change from year to year with different conditions, he adds, and past experience will inform the plan.

A good fence charger can service fences anywhere you want to put them.

“You need good perimeter fences and a good system for carrying electricity along your main fences,” says Hoven. “Then no matter where you are on your farm, you can put in portable posts and run the tape across, attach to the hot wire and know you have good electricity all the time."

"The electric fences have been very reliable. Some people say you need the 110 plug-in unit for the necessary voltage, but I found that the portable units that run off a 12-volt battery or even solar power are just as good," says Chrisp. Once cattle know about the hot wire and are trained to respect it, just about any kind of electric fence will hold them.

Today there are many products available for temporary fences, with different kinds of wire, tapes and cords.

Chrisp has used insulated posts and insulators, but has also had good luck running electric wires on barbed-wire stapled posts most of the time.

"Some years ago we switched to using 1/16-inch steel cable," says Chrisp. "It's very light and flexible and can be rolled and unrolled off reels. It's durable, tough and flexible; it doesn't coil like a high -tensile wire does."

He uses a lot of that wire on steel rebar cut into post length, with any kind of insulators on them. Those are very easy to pound into hard or frozen ground, compared to plastic posts that break readily.

“We just give the post a couple twists with a set of vice grips and they come out readily,” Chrisp explains. Portable posts or stakes installed during summer can be difficult to take out in the winter, he adds, but anything pounded into frozen ground will come out easily.

Chrisp used to use plastic rollers and roll up the wire with a power drill, but some of those rollers didn’t last long. A few years ago he started building his own spools and winder for putting up and taking down wire.

After reading the above article, do you know how to choose temporary electric fence for cattle?

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