Building More Electric Fence

Posted on March 11, 2025March 28, 2025 by Twin Rivers Media

Check out these tips used on Building More Electric Fence to Meet Your Regenerative Grazing Goals Noble Ranches .

“You can just imagine what that looked like,” Pokay recalls. “It was a mess, really mudded up. When I saw that, I thought I was done for.”

But he let the paddock rest, and 70 days later, he couldn’t believe what he saw.

“Once it recovered, it was the best spot on the whole ranch. It grew twice as much grass there as anywhere else. That’s when I started researching how I could do that more, better. Because if I could grow twice as much grass there. What if I grew twice as much grass everywhere?”

It’s not a mistake he would suggest aiming for, but it got him thinking. What if building more fence to create smaller, more-intense grazing events. This could be seen as an opportunity, rather than a bore or a chore.

Pokay now oversees work on Noble’s six ranches. Including the building of hundreds of miles of fencing for intentional, adaptive grazing of the 13,500 acres. He’s come to view building fence not as more work or an added cost. But rather, an exchange for less time in a tractor seat. And less money flowing through a sprayer as their new approach to grazing management. Reducing the ranches’ dependency on hay and external inputs.

Here’s how he and others on the Noble Ranches team have learned to streamline the electric fence-building process. Before ever setting a post.

Building More Electric Fence.

PLAN AHEAD TO GET TO YOUR GRAZING GOALS

Start by creating a fencing plan that matches your grazing goals. Consider what fences should be permanent, what should be semi-permanent and what should be temporary. Consider your grazing strategy. The water resources and terrain. Your budget Then duration and intensity of your intended grazing strategy.

Once you have that plan in place. Draw a quick sketch of where and how you want electrical power to run. Where your chargers will be, and how and where to split energy sources. This will help forecast exactly what you need to build, trouble-shoot any challenges. Before you get in the field and serve as a guide to help isolate problems as you go.

Paul Luna, ranch facilities manager, says adding a simple fault finder to your toolbox. This will also help reduce the time you spend identifying problem areas as you build and maintain additional fence lines.

GET THE PROPER SUPPLIES AND GEAR, IN DUE TIME, Building More Electric Fence

With plan in hand, it’s time to take stock of your fencing set-up and supplies, especially with temporary fencing in mind.

Pokay suggests anyone new to regenerative grazing start by thinking, ‘What am I doing right now that I could do just a little bit better?’

If steel posts and stiff wire are what you have on hand, Pokay says the ideal would be to re-evaluate or re-stock supplies, as you can afford it. But there are ways to make use of what you have as you start your transition to regenerative management.

If, for example, your goal is to graze a 100-acre hay field more intensely, you don’t have to go right to grazing five acres at a time, spending hours setting steel posts. Start by simply using what you have to split the field in half, with a water source on each side. Then, budget to buy some poly wire and lighter fiberglass posts to further divide the grazing area with truly temporary fences in subsequent years. Consider selling some of the steel posts to help pay for lighter, more adaptable equipment.

If you have a larger pasture already split into several cross-fenced units and want to see what more high-density grazing with longer rest periods might accomplish, start by splitting one of the existing units into several smaller paddocks while grazing the other units as you have in the past. This offers a small-scale commitment to the fencing work, new supplies and grazing management.

“If you can start to see that you’re really building grass behind you, that you’re building capacity as much as you’re building fence, then you start building a passion for it,” Pokay says. “When you see a good result, it’s easier to want to keep going.”

TIPS TO DO WHAT YOU CAN WITH WHAT YOU HAVE, Building More Electric Fence

Building your aspiration arsenal of fencing supplies will take time. Start with a little imagination. Both Pokay and Luna have used discarded bulk water-hose reels from the local auto parts store to cheaply store and roll poly wire.

Over the years, Pokay has fashioned his own gate handles from pieces of scrap plastic and used pieces of discarded garden hose, PVC pipe and even strands of an old rope for insulators. “When you’re just getting started, sometimes, you just have to make do, or you do without,” he says.

Once you are in a position to invest in more equipment. Pokay and Luna agree a three-to-one geared wire reel is one of the most time-saving tools they have to make laying out and rolling up poly wire or rope more efficient.

Both started with investing in simple, 3/8-inch fiberglass posts that poly wire can wrap directly around. If you’re putting them into dry or hard ground, using a long bit on a drill to punch a pilot hole will save wear and tear on the posts. Pokay now prefers the ring-top posts for cattle, and Luna has been impressed with the improving quality of step-in posts that are increasingly durable and can make for quick installation.

ORGANIZE YOUR ON-THE-GO ASSEMBLY LINE

Once you’ve assembled your equipment, aim to make the work of putting fence up and taking it down as much of an assembly line as possible.

At his home ranch, Luna says he, too, uses the ‘do what you can with what you have’ approach. Without an ATV or side-by-side at home, he puts up plenty of fence on foot or out of the back of a pickup or tractor bucket. But he makes it a slightly easier job with an assembly line system that starts with an army trunk of organized supplies.

It sounds simple, he says, and it is: a well-organized supply box cuts the preparation time of gathering gear from multiple sheds, pickup beds, and toolboxes. It also makes a big difference in his ability to be more strategic with his fencing, especially when he’s building at home around a full-time work schedule.

At the Noble headquarters ranch, Luna has a top rack the height of the cab welded on the bed of his side-by-side, where he has two large PVC pipes bolted behind the cab to hold smooth posts within arm’s reach from the driver’s seat. Another divider behind the PVC pipes holds ring-top posts.

Pokay prefers organizing his side-by-side with simple 2×6 boards. That are inserted into the notches of the bed to create dividers for his supplies. With a spot for his smooth posts right behind the cab. He has come up with a system that allows him to drive and run wire off a reel attached to the UTV on one pass. Then grab and push in posts without having to exit the UTV on a second pass. As long as the ground is in condition to push in.

Luna used to have a hook attachment to the front of his driver’s side door to hang the geared wire reel. In that setup, he added a small pigtail to the back of the bed to guide the wire. Keeping it off his tires while he drove. He now prefers the water-hose reel bolted to the top frame for larger capacity. He has a bolt welded to the side of the reel so he can roll up wire quickly with a drill.

BUILD A STRONGER BUSINESS WHILE YOU BUILD FENCE

If you’ve done the work of planning, preparation, and mapping ahead of time. The actual fence-building might seem like a time to put your earbuds in and turn your brain off. But Pokay says he likes to use this time to observe, think and plan.

Look around as you’re building the fence. What are the animals eating, and what have they left behind? When should the animals return? Are the animals lying down, contented, or are they up waiting for you to arrive and move them? How are the wild animals, birds and bugs using the resources right now, and why?

“When I’m out there, I’m doing a lot of thinking around the strategy and the purpose of what I’m doing. What’s the value I’m getting here, am I adding value?” Pokay says. “If you’re not using this time to think more closely about your business, about your resources, about your goals, you’re missing out on a big chance to be observant and make better decisions.”

By Laura Nelson

Virtual Fencing A game Changer for Ranchers

Posted on February 15, 2025April 2, 2025 by Twin Rivers Media

A rancher roundtable on using the eShepherd virtual fencing system

As the agriculture industry continues to evolve, new technologies are reshaping the way ranchers manage their livestock. Gallagher’s eShepherd virtual fencing system is helping ranchers streamline operations, reduce labor, and improve pasture management.

eShepherd uses GPS tracking and solar-powered neckbands to create virtual boundaries, offering a significant shift from traditional fencing methods.

We spoke with four ranchers who have implemented eShepherd to hear firsthand how this technology has impacted their operations.

Meet the Panel:

Nick Jorgensen – CEO, Jorgensen Land and Cattle, South Dakota

Vannie Collins – Owner, Purisima Pastures, LP, Texas

Greg Thoren – Owner, Thoren Farms, Illinois

Henry Burns – President, Wild Olive Cattle Company, Texas

Why Virtual Fencing? The Initial Motivation

When it comes to deciding whether to adopt virtual fencing, all the ranchers had unique reasons, but one common theme emerged: the desire to improve land and cattle management while reducing the physical labor involved.

Nick Jorgensen, who manages a 25,000-acre operation in South Dakota, explained that the decision was driven by logistical challenges. “We run a large number of cattle on expansive land, and managing rotational grazing with traditional physical infrastructure was becoming cumbersome. Virtual fencing allowed us to eliminate the need for additional staff and reduce the burden of manual moves,” he said.

Jorgensen’s goal was clear: increase grazing efficiency without stretching his team too thin.

Vannie Collins in South Texas made the decision based on the inefficiencies of traditional fencing in their dense brushlands. Workers find setting up electric fences in our terrain labor-intensive. Collins noted that the eShepherd system has freed up labor. The system allows us to manage our grazing more intensively. The system also makes our team available for other tasks on the ranch.

Henry Burns who runs 6 000 acres in the same region was attracted to the technology’s ability to improve forage utilization. We aimed to place animals into smaller areas more easily and compel them to be less selective about their food choices. He explained that the eShepherd system has helped us achieve that.

Simple and Straightforward Implementation

A consistent point across all interviews was how easy the Gallagher eShepherd system was to implement. Ranchers found the installation process and daily use surprisingly simple, despite the technology’s sophistication.

“It’s really amazing how easy this is—cattle just will not cross it,” Thoren said. “I can move them at 5 a.m. or 10 p.m., whenever it fits my schedule. Once I get it fully set up, I’ll even be able to move them multiple times a day automatically. That’s going to benefit my soil health, my plant health, and ultimately, my cattle’s health.”

Collins highlighted the ease of setting up the system, especially compared to the challenges of managing traditional fencing. “All we had to do was draw the paddock on the computer. It’s so much simpler than the physical work of setting up electric fences in dense brush,” he shared.

Nick Jorgensen echoed this sentiment and praised the system’s user-friendly interface: “The neckbands came fully assembled, ready to use. There was no hassle in getting them up and running. It’s been incredibly easy to integrate into our existing operations.” :

Henry Burns pointed out that the use of GPS technology was a game-changer in helping manage his cattle. “The system allows me to track exactly where my animals are at any given time. It’s really given us control over their movements, especially when managing such a large herd across a vast area,” he said.

Improved Animal Management and Land Health

The impact on both animal management and land health has been immediate. One key benefit that all the ranchers observed was the ability to implement rotational grazing more effectively. eShepherd enables the movement of cattle with greater precision, ensuring that animals don’t overgraze specific areas.

Jorgensen explained, “We can graze the land harder in specific areas but then rest it for a full year. This approach mimics natural grazing patterns like those of bison, helping improve the grass health over time.”

Burns appreciates how the system helps to optimize forage utilization. “I’m able to control paddock size, recovery periods, and grazing intensity. It’s a more controlled, sustainable way to manage land and cattle.”

For Collins, the GPS tracking of the animals has made monitoring grazing efficiency much easier. “We can adjust paddock size and grazing frequency based on real-time data. It’s a huge improvement over our old methods,” he said.

Cost Savings and Labor Efficiency

The ranchers also mentioned significant labor and time savings along with the ecological benefits. With the need to set up and move physical fences virtually eliminated, labor is freed up for other crucial tasks on the ranch.

Burns, who previously spent considerable time managing portable electric fences, explained the labor-saving potential: “Picking up and putting down the wire was a huge time sink. The eShepherd system saves us both time and money.”

Collins shared a similar sentiment: “Labor is always a challenge in ranching. The system has allowed us to be more efficient in our daily operations. It’s freed up my crew to focus on other important areas of ranching, and that’s made a big difference.”

Thoren, who ranches in the furthest northwest county of Illinois along the Mississippi, said, “With traditional fencing, we’ve lost time and money repairing flood fences after high water takes them out. Sometimes, it takes days to get those fences back up, but with virtual fencing, that’s no longer an issue. The cattle stay contained, and we don’t have to keep rebuilding physical barriers—it’s a huge savings in both labor and materials.”

A Technology for the Future

Looking ahead, the panelists see virtual fencing as a key part of their future operations.

Jorgensen envisions a future where 100% of his herd is outfitted with the eShepherd system. “In the next few years, we hope to have full utilization across our herd. The technology has already shown tremendous benefits in terms of labor efficiency and grazing management,” he said.

Collins echoed this goal and said, “We’re excited about the potential for virtual fencing to scale with our operation. The flexibility it provides is incredible.”

eSheperd, A Wise Investment

Thoren aid, “This system is going to free up so much time. Spring keeps us busy with calving and planting stretching us thin. With this, I can move cattle faster, be more diligent with back fencing, and manage pastures more efficiently without adding extra labor. It’s not just about convenience; it’s about making better use of my time and resources.”

Burns summed it up best: “If you’re dealing with a lot of portable electric fence and it’s becoming a pain point, the eShepherd system is definitely worth considering. It’s been a great investment for us.”

For ranchers looking to streamline operations, improve grazing management, and increase labor efficiency, virtual fencing may just be the solution they’ve been searching for. Interested producers can visit TryVirtualFencing.com.

Content provided by Gallagher-eShepherd

American Cattlemen 2024

Top 12 Things to Consider Before Building a Cattle Handling Facility

Posted on December 18, 2024 by Twin Rivers Media

By Robert Wells, Ph.D.

Former Noble Research Institute • Senior Regenerative Ranching Advisor

Properly designed and thought-out facilities will be safe for the producer and animal and will allow for cattle to be easily worked in a timely fashion.

The cattle handling facility is at the heart of most every ranch. The quality of the facility and its ease of use can determine the enjoyment or frustration of use and dictate how often you work cattle through it. Properly designed and thought-out facilities will be safe for the producer and animal, handle cattle with ease, require a minimal number of personnel and allow for cattle to be worked in a timely fashion.

There are multiple design principles that can be used, depending on the cattle-handling abilities of the personnel and their ability to understand “cow psychology.”

Here are the top 12 factors you should consider prior to building a new facility.

1. Use Type

Consider the species and type or class of animal for which the working facility will be used. Will it only be used for cattle, or will you need to handle goats and sheep, or horses, in addition to cattle? If it’s only cattle, will it be used only for a stocker operation, or will you need to process cows, bulls and calves through the chute as well? The size of cattle worked will dictate how wide of a raceway you need. Finally, do you plan to rope and drag calves, or process through a chute? Roping and dragging calves will require an area large enough to do so.

2. Bud Box or Solid-Sided, Curved Designs

Both Bud Box and solid-sided, curved designs are effective. In general, the curved, solid-sided-fence facility, in my opinion, allows the cattle handler to make mistakes and recover without adversely affecting cattle flow. If you are in the wrong position yet the animal cannot see you because of the solid side, it may not affect the movement of cattle. A drawback to this style is it is more complicated and costly to build because of the curves and the added expense of the solid-sided fences.

The Bud Box system uses the animal’s instincts to your advantage. It works on the principle that animals will want to return to where they have been if they cannot proceed further. When they turn around and head back in the direction that they came from, the animal is diverted down another alley or raceway leading up to the working chute. The drawbacks to this system are that it is typically not recommended for novice cattle handlers, and if handlers are out of place, they can impede cattle movement.

3. Location

It’s all about the location. The working facility should be central to most pastures and easily accessed, either using lanes or along adjoining fences that help funnel cattle into the facility. Having a corral situated where cattle have to routinely enter and leave on their own will facilitate penning them on working day.

One example is a catch pen situated between pastures that cattle must walk through when rotating from one pasture to the other. It could be a central watering location or where feed and hay are fed to the animals. If you plan to use the facility to hold sick or freshly received animals for a few days, then having shade from trees along the fence might be beneficial.

4. Materials

There are numerous materials that a set of working facilities can be built out of: drill stem pipe, highway guardrails, cable, sucker rod, cattle panels, wood. All have their benefits and drawbacks. In general, metal building materials will probably outlast wood. Cable fences are not well-suited for working and crowding facilities. They flex too much and can allow calves to get through.

Likewise, if you have to quickly climb a fence to get away from an aggressive animal, cable fences will not support your weight well enough to allow you to quickly escape. Make sure any drill stem you purchase is not magnetized, as it makes welding difficult. Also, make sure the drill stem is not radioactive or excessively rusty if it has been used in drilling activity.

Graduated cattle panels have smaller hole sizes on the bottom of the panel, making them difficult to climb when in a hurry. If using sucker rod, consider welding a clip over the rod to the line post. Experience has proven that welding a sucker rod only to a post will result in a broken weld.

5. Utilities

Having access to electricity and water is beneficial but not necessary. If you plan to use an electric branding iron, access to land-line electricity will eliminate the need for a costly and loud generator.

If you have electricity available, you can have a small room located next to the chute to store medicine and vaccines in a refrigerator. Additionally, you can have hot water to help clean up the equipment after use.

6. Cover and Shade

It is beneficial to have cover over the working chute in case you have to work the cattle in extremely hot or inclement weather. Additionally, you may decide to have a portion of the pens covered in case you need to hold a quarantined or sick animal in the facility for a length of time.

7. Slope

The working facility should have a small degree of slope to allow drainage during and after rainfall events. The slope should not be so great that erosion or channeling will occur after the grass has been trampled down.

Additionally, consider the degree and direction of the slope when planning where you will back up a trailer to the pens. Backing across a slope when muddy may result in the trailer sliding sideways. Trying to pull up a muddy slope when loaded may be difficult, too.

8. Calf Chute, Palpation Cage, Gates

Buy a chute that is large enough to handle your largest animal, including your bull. It may be necessary to restrain the bull to treat a foot or to conduct a breeding soundness exam. Remember, bulls are longer and thicker than a cow. Many of the economy-type chutes are not designed to hold a bull. Also plan for a palpation cage at the end of the chute to allow a safe access area for a veterinarian so he or she doesn’t have to worry about getting run over by the next cow in line. The cage will also be handy if you have to treat a hind foot

Design the facility with options. It is much easier to work 2- to 3-month old calves in a calf chute than in a large, cow-sized chute. Do not skimp on gates! Make sure they are heavy and well-built. Plan on gates between adjacent pens and from the alleys. Having gates between pens allows you to open up adjacent pens to create one large pen when needed. Use headers across the top of the gate to ensure it stays in line and does not sag, so it opens and closes as it should. Make the headers high enough that you can drive equipment or ride horseback under them.

9. Access to Roads

You should plan to have all-weather road access to the working facility to enable you to load and unload cattle even in rainy conditions. However, placing a set of corrals right off a county road could enable cattle thieves to bait your cows into the pens and easily and quickly load out and steal animals, so keep that in mind.

10. Size

The size of the facility will be determined by the activities needed and how long you plan to hold cattle there. If you are just using the pens as a holding area while working the cattle, each cow-calf pair will require a minimum of 35 to 45 square feet. The larger the calf while on the cow, the more room that will be required.

11. Number of Pens

One of the biggest design mistakes we see is a facility without enough holding pens. It is always good to plan to have at least one more pen than you think you need. At the minimum, three pens are needed. You will need one large pen to hold the cattle when they are first caught, and then preferably two more to sort calves and cows into. This will also allow you to have an open pen to catch the animals after they have been worked so that they do not get mixed with unprocessed cattle. Designing an alleyway alongside the pens that leads to the chute allows you to sort animals out of the alley and into the pens. Additionally, the alley can be used to hold cattle temporarily.

12. Other Considerations

Build with flexibility in mind:

• Design the facility so that expansion will not require a major overhaul.

• Make the design modular so more pens can be added alongside existing alleys.

• Make the raceway leading to the chute adjustable to enable it to be wide enough for cows, but can be adjusted down so that a calf cannot turn around in it.

• Do not design the facility so that
the chute turns out into the pasture. If you miss a head catch on an animal, you cannot easily recycle it back around.

• Set all posts at least 3 feet down into concrete.

• If concrete is used under the chute, extend it at least 6 to 8 feet past the front of the chute. Make sure the concrete is heavily grooved to provide traction even when covered with mud and manure.

• Reduce shadows that go across alleys by running alleys east and west if possible. Cattle do not have depth perception and may view a shadow as a hole or trench, causing them to balk.

Visit, Plan, Visualize

As you design your handling facility, go see as many other working facilities as possible in person. Talk with the people who use them, and ask what they like and what they would change. Draw your design out on paper, and then lay it out on the ground to scale. Use marking paint and survey flags to help you visualize the layout before building. Then walk through the layout as you would when working cattle. It is far easier to make adjustments in the planning stage than after everything is built.