For the perimeter of the pasture, use permanent, multi-strand, high-tensile electric systems.  The number of wires will vary according to the livestock you wish to contain.  Horses and mature cattle can quite often get by with three wires, while small calves, sheep and goats may take five or six.

The best posts to use in areas with snow loads and wildlife has been proven to be solid fiberglass. There are no plastic insulators to break, and the flexibility of the post helps to overcome side loads.

There are two common mistakes that people tend to make when trying high-tensile fencing for the first time:

Posts too close!

Wires too tight!

Post spacings of around 50 feet are adequate because of the nature of high-tensile wire.  The wires should be tightened just to the point of removing most of the sag between posts (around 150 to 200 lbs. per wire). This accomplishes two things.  First, this design is flexible, allowing the fence to absorb wildlife pressure and snow loads without breaking.  Second, less materials are needed so the initial purchase cost and the labor required to install the electric fence is less than conventional fencing.

Electric Fence Planning Overview 

Before building your electric fence you'll need to take into account many factors including the climate and terrain, the animals you need to fence in - or out, and many other factors. You need to know:

What type of animal(s) do you want to control?
The animal being controlled will largely determine the type of electric fence you need. The animal's hooves, thickness and length of coat, height, jumping ability and many other factors impact your fence selection.

In general, animals with thick, shaggy coats require a more powerful controller than animals with shorter coats and thin hides. Electricity relies on conductivity to deliver a shock, and heavy coats act as an insulator.

One of the conductive wires should be placed at the animal's nose level. The strands need to be spaced so the animal cannot push its head through any two wires without receiving a shock. You may need low or high wires to prevent animals from digging under or jumping over fences.

Do you want to contain or keep out the animal(s)?
A short, safe pulse of electricity creates a psychological barrier that trains most animals to avoid the fence. However, predators, bulls, and other aggressive animals are more apt to challenge the fence, requiring a more powerful fence controller.

What type of electric fence do you need?
We group electric fences into four categories: (1) portable or temporary, (2) semi-permanent or permanent, (3) permanent high tensile, and (4) the Horse Sense Electric Fence System.

Temporary electric fence systems can also be easily moved by using a battery or solar fence controller; poly step-in posts or steel or fiberglass rods; poly wire, tape or rope; and other lightweight components. Temporary fences typically run for short distances, are affordable, are quick and easy to install.

Semi-permanent or permanent electric fences consist of a combination of either wood posts, T-posts, U-posts or rod posts using any type of wire, tape or rope. Installation is easy to moderate, depending on the terrain and the animal being contained or excluded. Often used for pastures and cross fencing, this category of fence will last up to 20 years.

Permanent high tensile electric fences use well-anchored wood posts to support steel wire under high tension. While more time-consuming to install than other electric fence systems, it is the most effective permanent perimeter fence and provides the highest level of security for keeping out or containing difficult or aggressive animals, such as bulls or predators. A well-built high tensile electric fence requires minimal maintenance and will last up to 40 years.

The Horse Sense Electric Fence System® , designed specifically for equine use, emphasizes the horse's safety as well as containment. The system uses white, flexible poly tape or poly rope to make it easy for the horse to see the fence. White vinyl sleeves and caps that cover wood and t-posts protect the horses from injury and complete the classic white-rail appearance. The fence will typically last from 5 to 15 years.

Why is electric fencing a cost effective option?
Electric fencing typically costs less than traditional barbed and woven wire fencing. In addition, animals are less apt to damage a fence, as they usually don't touch an electrified wire more than once. Choosing and installing high-quality components will pay dividends later with fewer maintenance problems and longer fence life.

A more powerful fence controller may cost a bit more, but will save you time and money in the long run. The higher-powered low impedance fencers increase energy on the fence line as weeds touch it, minimizing the need to remove vegetation. It also gives you greater flexibility to add to, or reconfigure, your fence at a later date.

Consider your investment in your livestock, horses and/or pets. You want to protect them with quality electric fence components that will do the job and keep them safe.

If this is your first electric fence project we recommend you follow three simple steps so you understand your options and can better plan your fence. A well-thought out plan in advance will help you avoid problems later, and assure that your electric fence works as you want it to.

Free Advice! One of the first considerations in any grazing system is stock water.  Its availability will dictate which pastures you can utilize.  Some grazing systems drag tanks from paddock to paddock, but a more permanent water point that incorporates cross-fencing or a common lane to water more than one paddock at a time is more convenient.  It lets you keep a closer eye on the water source and cuts down the time involved in managing it.  If you’re in a cold winter region, don’t forget to run electricity to the tank location.  We all have better things to do than chop ice all winter!

Next, you will need some type of fencing, unless you’re willing to herd your animals from plant to plant.  Electric fencing as the most cost-effective method of controlling the time your stock graze a given area.  Today there are many types of animal containment systems, and the choices can be daunting.  Any system worth its salt will have technical advice available for the potential user; maybe even on-the-ground help.  Don’t hesitate to ask for help with a grazing plan, watering plan, and fence design and placement.

There are fencing configurations that allow control of many species, including horses, cattle, sheep and goats.  Another factor that will influence the fence design is the presence of wildlife. A fence that must coexist with deer or elk may have a substantially different design that one that does not. Let’s look closer at some specific designs.

Some bears are especially fond of larval bees and honey and will actively seek out hives in their home range. Consequently, beehives should be located as far as possible from timber and brush providing bears with cover and travel routes. Honey crops should be harvested as soon as possible after the spring, summer and fall nectar flows to reduce the attractiveness of hives to foraging bears, and prevent the loss of the new honey crop in the event of depredation. When possible, apiaries should be moved to new locations if bear activity is detected nearby.

To minimize possible damage to hives and prevent bears from establishing bad habits, apiaries in occupied habitat should be protected using electric fences, or at a minimum use bear-resistant platforms (with an overhang more than two metres above the ground).

Electric fencing has been shown to be almost 100 per cent effective in deterring bear damage. Compact apiaries are easier to protect with bear-resistant fencing than those scattered over a larger area, so beekeepers should consolidate hives to form the smallest apiary that can be practically managed.

Other references: Download Building a Secure Beehive Enclosure

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A mixture of high-tensile permanent and portable polywires and tapes often prove to be the best choices for cross fences.  Try to create paddocks by placing several permanent cross-fences on obvious topographical changes, not forgetting to include stockwater inside the paddock, or access down a lane to the water. If you are grazing irrigated pasture, ditches can also be your water source. Two wires are usually adequate for mature cattle and larger calves, while three wires are a better choice for horses or cattle with smaller calves.

Use portable polywires and polytapes on handy reels for your internal fencing.  There are many portable post types to choose from.  Plastic treadins with multiple wire lugs to be the most adaptable.  They can be placed on 30-50 foot spacings, and the wires tightened by hand.  On irrigated pasture with horses and mature cattle, one charged wire may be sufficient, but when on dry soils or winter-grazing on frozen soil or dry snow, you may need to use several wires, alternating the polarity between hot – ground – hot, etc. By carrying the ground out to the animal via a wire, you remove poor grounding as a source of problems.

Try not to graze and rest each paddock the same number of days regardless of the growth stage of the forage.  Aim for the shortest grazing period per paddock needed to harvest the available forage, say one to four days, then a minimum 30 day rest period during fast plant growth.  As plant growth slows, then adjust to five to ten days grazing and 60 to 80 days of rest per paddock.  You can see why multiple paddocks are needed to reach these levels of rest, but by subdividing with portable electric fencing, it becomes achievable.

There are also a few things to consider that really help in maintenance and troubleshooting.  The first is how the fences are energized.  The heart of any electric fence system is the power source, or energizer.  A 110-volt plug-in energizer versus a battery or solar unit is generally the best choice.   More of your dollars can go to power and not batteries, solar panels, etc.

A battery unit is a great choice if you don’t have 110-volt power available.  Also, get specific recommendations as to the size of the energizer by matching it to the job at hand: How long is the perimeter fence? What type of animal are you controlling? Does the fence run through high vegetation? Will you add on to the system eventually? All these questions will help your supplier match an energizer to your needs.

Lastly, consider investing in a digital voltmeter designed to monitor your fences and energizer. They are handheld meters that measure the voltage output of the energizer, or at any point along the fenceline. They are invaluable in diagnosing any problems that may crop up.

I hope this gives you a bit of familiarity with what equipment and techniques are available to help in establishing your grazing plan.  There is definitely a bit of work and a learning curve involved, but seeing your critters hock-deep in lush grass while your neighbors are forking hay (and forking out dollars, too!) can be priceless!

Tips to Keep Your Fence in Good Working Order

Those of us who pasture livestock - whether one 4-H horse or hundreds of beef cattle - are in reality, grass farmers.  We raise and care for grass plants which are then harvested by our animals.  That grass plant’s health, and ultimately the soil’s water and mineral cycles, are directly related to the type and duration of grazing we allow.  Notice I say “we allow.”  If your critters are dictating how you let them graze, there is a better way!

Grasses have evolved over eons in a direct response to grazing.  In fact, grass needs grazing, fire, or some other type of removal to survive.  It is one of the few plants whose growth point is located in its base, and not the top.  Most other plants, shrubs and trees growth points are located at their top, and if you remove it, their growth pattern is severely altered.  They tend to stool out or even curtail growth entirely.  Not so with the grass plant.  It’s built to not only survive grazing, but thrive with it, if managed properly.

Let’s examine what happens to an individual grass plant when grazed.  This plant has one mission in its life, and that is to reproduce by going to seed.  Most grasses stop or radically slow their growth when they head out and produce seed.  But, as long as soil and moisture conditions are favorable, this plant will continue growing and attempting to produce that seed every time it is grazed.  The key is rest; the recovery period between grazings.  If the plant is grazed a second time too quickly, before the leaf area is large enough to support growth, it has to dip into its root reserves, and the plant’s health and production declines.  This is actually a good definition of overgrazing: Biting an individual grass plant a second time, before it has had adequate time to recover from the first bite.  Giving that plant a little time between bites will build root mass, leaf production, and boost plant vigor.  If you don’t, the results are dwindling roots, slower leaf growth, the inability to recover from grazing, and lots of bare soil.

Do you know any good examples of this scenario?  How about your lawn?  Is it thicker and fuller than your pasture?  I bet it is because you’re “harvesting” it by mowing it regularly all summer!  You can do the same with your pasture by changing from season-long grazing to “rotational” or “intensive” grazing.

The easiest way to subdivide your pasture into paddocks and begin rotational grazing is with modern electric fencing.  Portable electric polywire can let you match the speed of your rotation to the growth of the plant.  This is a critical step because grasses grow faster in the spring when soil moisture peaks, and then slower for the remainder of the hotter and drier summer season. 

It’s critical to rotate “fast during fast growth, slow during slow growth.”

Think about this for a minute. If the objective is to graze the plant once, then rest it adequately so growth can resume without dipping into its root reserves before it is bitten again, that’s a rule that stands to reason.  A plant that is actively growing will recover faster than one that is in the slower summer growth phase.  

During the winter, plants are not actively growing and grazing will not hurt root reserves because they’re dormant. Grazing can be beneficial as it removes old leaf matter and clears the way for a fresh start for the plant come spring.

So, what benefits will you realize from rotational grazing?

Tighter plant spacings.  

Improved soil fertility.  

New plants started by hoof action.  

Faster manure breakdown.  

Less fly and pest bother.  

Higher production (meat, milk, wool, etc.) per acre.  

Stockpiled grass for winter grazing – less hay expense!

Many people report the ability to graze their animals at twice the normal stocking rate per acre, or more.  You can get started with rotational grazing with an inexpensive electric fence from Gallagher.