Tending fence lines, from hay bale site to hay bale site. January 2020
Winter is well underway on the farm. We had an early start to snowy weather, with our first big snow storm in early November. Not uncommon in recent winters, though, to have winter start early. Just seems to be the way it is now. What has been unusual this winter is that we had two separate rain/thaw events in December. Temperatures spiked to the 40’s, which is extremely rare for December, and the rain POURED down and down and down. Quite a bit of snow melted off during these events, which was just fine by us! As a result, our snow-pack is bit behind pace this winter. But, Mother Nature is doing her best to catch up, and we got hit with a nice size snow-storm this past weekend. The fresh snow, coupled with the snow we already had accumulated, put me on fence wire lifting duty! This job is exactly what it sounds like – lifting the wires higher up on the fence lines. Luckily, I only have to do this along the fences in which the cattle have access to.
Keeping the wires above the snow level is pretty important for us in our winter hay bale sites. Unless we want the cattle getting into the wrong hay bale sites and throwing our whole system off-kilter, those wires gotta be lifted!
Here are some pics from a few of the fence lines.
Wire and snow getting a bit too friendly…
That’s better.
Wire is very close to the snow in this pic and actually buried under in some parts.
I can’t emphasize enough the importance of making sure you have an effective fencing system. If we were to give only one piece of advice to a starting-out cattle farmer, it would be to invest the time and money into putting-up an effective, durable and strong fencing system. In regards to our own fencing system, we technically have two types of fencing on our farm: a permanent, perimeter fence for each pasture, and temporary fences that we put up in conjunction with our rotational grazing system. We employ a rotational grazing system during the summer and fall grazing months. Each pasture is like one big pie (or pizza or cake), and each time we rotate, we are serving up that next slice of pie in that particular pasture.
Our perimeter fences stay put. They do not move (well, unless a moose moves them!). The perimeter fences consist of a mix of wooden and conduit pipe fence posts. We are shifting away from wooden fence posts to the more flexible, conduit pipe post. A conduit pipe post has some bend to it, flexibility that simply isn’t found in a wooden fence post. As such, these posts tend to hold-up better against a moose than a wooden fence post. As our wooden fence posts start to rot, we replace them with conduit pipe. We do the same for any wooden posts damaged by a moose or other means. Any new fence lines are and will continue to be put-up with only conduit pipe posts. All perimeter fences are run with a double-wire set-up. We drill a top and bottom hole through each conduit pipe, in which the wires are attached. For our wooden posts, we use plastic insulators, in which the wires rest on.
All of our fences, permanent and temporary, are electrified. We have a shed up by our house that houses our energizer, which supplies the electricity for our entire fencing system. It is up to us, though, to make sure that we correctly set-up our fences to allow for strong energy flow through all of our fences/wires, from pasture to pasture, as well as in our winter hay bale grazing sites. Being able to fix broken fences and wire, and properly restore energy to an electric fence is an extremely important skill to have. This ability is not one of my strengths, but I have certainly learned a lot of what not-to-do’s over the years.
One winter, I proudly showed Jer how I fixed a fencing situation in a hay bale grazing site and restored the electricity. Well, yes, I restored the electricity alright – I restored it all to one steel t-post. Sigh… I had wrapped the wire around the t-post without using an insulator. As you would imagine, I was losing a ton of energy to that t-post. That was a major lesson for me, and a lesson that made me finally understand the true importance of post insulators!
The correct way to attach wire to a steel t-post. Use a post-insulator! Please learn from my mistakes!
Post insulators are especially critical when running an electric fence that utilizes any sort of metal posts. A post insulator allows the energy (i.e., electricity!) to continue along your wire, post after post. We use a variety of plastic insulators for all types of posts – fiberglass, steel, wood and conduit. While a wooden post will not absorb an electrical charge, post insulators still provide protection for our wires and allow for a strong, well-placed fence line. For our conduit pipe posts, the top and bottom wires are strung through drilled holes allowing the energy to flow down the wires. We also use post insulators for all of our non-clip fiberglass fence posts in our winter hay bale sites.
See below for a list of some of our go-to fencing supplies:
*Fiberglass Step-in Electric Posts & Poly Electric Step-In Posts*
We use these fence posts for setting up our temporary fences during the rotational grazing season, as well as supplement fence posts elsewhere on the farm. In addition, these posts are a critical part of our winter hay bale grazing sites. These type of posts are light-weight, which is great when you are carrying an armful of posts a long distance. They are durable, reasonably priced and conveniently built with clips at multiple heights for wire placement. The fiberglass posts feature four clips, with the poly fence posts featuring eight clips. Both of these types of fence posts are self-insulating. No post insulators required!
We also use the fiberglass posts without clips. These type of posts (paired with post insulators) are perfect for inserting into hay bales, and for fencing our winter hay bale sites. In these sites, we need posts that can drive into the ground and into our hay bales at different depths, which is not possible with posts that have clips on them!
Fiberglass rod with plastic post-insulator
*Conduit Pipe*
As mentioned above, we now prefer using conduit pipe for our fence posts. We cut the pipe to size (if needed), pound into the ground, and drill two holes for a top and bottom wire. With the exception of our weaning fences, all other permanent fences are two-wire.
*Steel T-Posts*
Steel t-posts sure come in handy on the farm. Just be sure to use a post insulator when dealing with electric fencing! ha!
*Fence Wire Reels*
Fence reels are essential to our entire fencing operation! Especially for fencing with rotational grazing and in our winter hay bale sites. We use both 1:1 and 3:1 gear ratio reels. The 3:1 gear ratio reels are well worth the cost and investment when running long lengths of fence for intensive rotational grazing. I was blown away the first time I used a 3:1 gear ratio reel. The time it took me to reel in the fence line and set-up a new line was a fraction of the time it took me with a 1:1 gear ratio reel. The 1:1 gear ratio reels reel in slower, but they really are sufficient (and much cheaper!) for fencing projects that do not require long fence lines and/or frequent reeling in and out of wire. These reels work primarily for polywire but can certainly be used for smaller gauges of wire, as seen in the picture below.
1:1 gear ratio reel spooled with wire, in our winter hay bale site.
*Electric Polywire*
Electric polywire is our go-to wire for rotational grazing. Don’t underestimate this type of fencing wire – it is just as effective as your standard high-tension fencing wire. Composed of stainless-steel wire, polywire is extremely effective at carrying a strong electrical charge. We have witnessed cows and calves get jolted by this wire. And, we have gotten jolted as well, accidentally. Polywire dispenses and reels back-up very well on our spinning rod and reels. We currently use polywire in both white and orange colors.
*High Tensile Galvanized Steel Wire*
For our perimeter fences (and other fencing and farm projects, as needed), we use 12.5 gauge high tensile galvanized steel wire. We prefer the 12.5 gauge – multi-purpose for fencing and farm projects, not too thick and easy to put up fence lines with. Further, the smooth, high tensile properties of this steel wire allows for more space between fence posts.
*Fence Tensioners & Wire Tighteners*
Fence tensioners and wire tighteners are critical in ensuring a high tension fence line. We use plastic fence tensioners when running poly wire fences and high-tensile wire tighteners on our perimeter, high tensile wire fences.
*Post Insulators*
Post insulators – in one form or another – are everywhere on the farm. The type of post insulator we used depends on the type of posts we are using.
*Jumper Leads for Electric Fence*
Jumper leads are a definite must-have tool when setting up temporary, electric fence lines. We use these jumper leads to electrify all of our temporary poly wire fences.
Take the time to research and plan-out the type of fencing that works best for your operation. This will very likely involve more than one fencing type. Invest your money in good, quality fencing supplies. If your fencing system is not effective, then everything will start to unravel. All it takes is for one cow to take advantage of a weak fencing system. Whether you have 10 cows or 100 cows, that one cow can start the domino affect. Trust us on this one.
And a final reminder – Don’t forget your post insulator!
Fences are a great invention. We like fences. Fences are good. They tend to keep our animals where they need to be. Emphasis on the word “tend”. As I shared in a previous post, moose and fences don’t really get along here on our farm. When a moose takes on an electric fence, the fence usually ends up flat on the ground!
We train our animals to respect the electric fence. To respect the presence of a fence, period. Sometimes, the electricity shorts out during a storm and the fence may not be hot anymore. We still want our animals to respect the fence and for the most part, they do. But, sometimes an opportunity presents itself and an animal tests a fence or disrespects the fence, and boom, you have a habitual fence offender. As we have discussed in previous posts, we employ a hay bale grazing system during the winter months to feed out our hay. The success of this feeding method hinges on our animals respecting the electric fences.
Let me share two stories with you, where the phrase, “What are you DOING?!Get out of THERE! “ makes an Oscar winning appearance…..
Story #1
Winter 2018/2019
During a routine morning check, I discover a cow (D9) in with the hay bales. Seems innocent, right? No, she was in with the hay bales BEHIND the electric wire. “What are you DOING?!Get out of THERE! “ No good. Not gonna fly here on the farm. It really is disheartening when one of your cows decides to start disrespecting the electric fences. Our entire operation depends upon our cattle respecting fences.
D9 went on to become a definite problem cow that winter. Luckily, the rest of the herd stayed far away from the trouble and did not dare join in. We gave her one more chance. Well, she blew through the second chance like a kid challenged to eat all their Halloween candy in one sitting. She met the challenge. Eventually, we added on additional wires to our fencing system to further protect the hay bales “behind the wires.” That contraption finally stopped her in her tracks. But, her ticket was already bought.
Once a cow becomes a habitual fence breaker, she has bought a ticket for a trip down the road. We have no room on our farm for any cow that can’t respect our fences. Not only will she slowly start to train younger members of the herd to disrespect the fence, she will COST US MONEY in the form of hay being eaten before schedule. She will throw the whole feeding regime off-kilter. Like I said before, we gave her a second chance, hoping it was just a fluke but she proved herself to have no respect for the fence until we built a wall of wire to stop her, pretty much.
D9 did go on to have a healthy calf that spring, which was great, but the trouble she caused throughout the winter was not forgotten. We sold her and her calf that summer.
Story #2
Winter 2015/2016
This fence breaker was a bit of surprise. She was part of our original herd of 10 cows. This was her 3rd winter with us, and she had never shown any disrespect for the fences. She was a big girl, bigger than what our vision was for our herd but you can’t be too picky when you are first starting out. She gave us many fine calves and never caused us any trouble. We kept her on, as others got sold-off.
Then, one day during the winter, we discovered her in the hay bales, behind the wire. “What are you DOING?!Get out of THERE!” Sigh…. And, that was that. It was like a switch flipped in her and fence breaking/jumping/ducking under the wire became her mission. She was a hard one to let go of because she had been part of our foundation herd. But, in times like that, emotions have to be put aside and what is best for our farm – our business – has to come first.
Take Home Point
Seriously consider culling any cattle from your herd that do not respect your fencing system. Don’t waste time and money on troublemakers!
We run a cattle farm in Northern Maine. Our neck of the woods is frequented by many wild critters – big and small. Of all our wildlife visitors, one stands out as arguably the most majestic and massive. The MOOSE. I love and respect wildlife, don’t get me wrong. BUT….for any farmer that uses fences and would like to see those fences upright and not laying on the ground, stretched out across your field, the moose can sure put a wrinkle in your plans.
See, the uniqueness, so-to-speak, of moose is that they will plow through the electric fence. They can jump them and we have witnessed such events, but more times than not, they plow right through them. Deer will jump our electric fences and bears won’t even touch them.
Every year in May and June, like clock-work, we start getting visits from our neighborhood moose. And as sure as the sun rises in the morning and sets in evening, we will find fence and gate damage galore. Now, this damage can be on a small scale, like a downed fence in an area that the cattle are not in. The fence damage will take some time, tools and supplies to repair but the repair work can wait a day or two. Not a huge rush but definitely one to make sure is fixed before rotating cattle into.
The other scenario, is when that moose breaks a fence and/gate in the pasture in which our cattle are grazing. THAT is almost certainly a guaranteed ticket for our cattle to take a trip, whether across the potato fields or to our neighbors front yard or just take a stroll up and down the road. The whole grass is greener on the other side scenario!
So, I find myself early one morning (before 7am), getting a call from my neighbor. We usually text, so calling was unusual, especially this early in the morning. I cautiously answer the phone and hear “Sara, your cows are in my driveway.” Oh, puke…..Goodness gracious, say it isn’t so!!!! The herd was SUPPOSE to be in our back pasture, nowhere near our neighbors driveway. Of course, as it always seems to happen when trouble strikes, Jer was gone, out in the great wild, blissfully unaware…(love you, Jer). I lucked out that day, for many reasons but first, my wonderful mama was visiting from Montana. She was able to watch the kids while I ran out the front door, threw a hay bale (and a sled to pull it in) into the back of the pickup and raced down the driveway. I wouldn’t see my mom and the kids again for another 4 hours.
As I was driving, I knew, I just KNEW, that this was all because of a moose. I drove up the hill to our neighbors, and sure enough, there they were……the whole herd, just strolling around the yard, having a ball. I pull into our neighbors driveway, jump out of the truck and throw the hay bale onto the sled and start calling “hey mama’s. They look at me curiously but not really motivated. And why would they be motivated. Our neighbors yards were plush full of nice, green grass.
I was overwhelmed. I ain’t gonna lie. I was one person, on foot, trying to lure a herd of 30+ cattle (yes, I know this is not a ton of animals but it sure feels like a lot when they are lose!) across the road and across several pastures, to the pasture they escaped from. What a nightmare. Just as my mother was an angel that day, our neighbors were as well. Our neighbors are good people – plain and simple. Over the years, they have become part of our Friend Family and for that, we are so fortunate. Working with them, I was finally able to -HOURS LATER – get every animal back into the right pasture. And sure enough, I discovered a damaged fence and gate, that was most certainly the latest work of our resident moose. The herd decided to go through that open “door”, figuring it must be fate, and enjoy a nice, leisurely early-morning stroll through the fields and down the road.
Moose breaks a gate, and the cows think it is fate!
On a side note, we spent years trying all the different tricks to make our fences more visible to wildlife, especially at nighttime. It made no difference. At a certain point, we accepted defeat and instead, focused on how we could improve our fences to help decrease the degree of damage. Jer came up with a brilliant idea to start replacing damaged and broken wood fence posts with conduit pipe instead. Brilliant! Our fences lines now have a mix of wood posts and gray conduit pipe posts. Conduit pipe has more give to it than a wooden post and as a moose stretches out that wire, a conduit pipe will not snap or break as quickly as a wooden post. Also, conduit pipe will not rot! We will continue to replace, as needed, our wood fence posts with conduit pipe.
See the conduit pipe fence posts in the background!
