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

TRACKING CATTLE LOCATION IS ONLY THE BEGINNING

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

TRACKING CATTLE LOCATION IS ONLY THE BEGINNING.

WHY JUST TRACK LOCATION WHEN YOU CAN IMPROVE PROFITS?

In 1874, a patent was issued on a product that would change cattle ranching forever: barbed wire. It allowed for wide-scale ranching across the Great Plains. Fencing has remained relatively unchanged since then—labor-intensive, expensive and subject to dispute—until the advent of satellite technology. New tools like CERES TAG utilize this technology to help producers find ways to increase their efficiency and profitability. CERES TAG is the world’s first satellite-enabled animal health intelligence platform, delivering livestock data right from the pasture–all from an ear tag.

Find Them, Faster

No matter the size of your operation, fencing maintenance is an endless task, and certain cattle will always find a way to get out or get into trouble. CERES TAG monitors your herd direct to satellite to tell you where your cattle are on (or off) the property. You can set out-of-boundary alerts and utilize activity pattern trends to isolate troublesome cattle who may benefit from a different strategy. Protecting even one head from injury, theft, or loss can save you thousands in investment. The project requires no additional infrastructure.

You can gain further margin by leveraging relevant data specific to your operation. CERES TAG can revitalize your profit strategy in various ways. They offer innovative solutions to enhance your business performance. The team implements effective strategies to boost revenue. Experts analyze market trends to identify new opportunities. They provide tailored recommendations to improve profitability. Clients benefit from their comprehensive approach to profit optimization. The organization engages in continuous improvement initiatives. Their insights empower businesses to make informed decisions.

Better Utilize Your Land

Your cattle’s gains only come from intake. Healthy pastures are the easiest way to get you there. CERES TAG tells you exactly where your herd grazes and for how long, allowing you the opportunity to more closely evaluate when it’s time to rotate pastures as well as which areas are most appropriate to overseed or fertilize. When you can utilize and proactively protect your land, you are safeguarding this season’s profits, as well as the next’s.

Improve Genetic Selection & Breeding Programs

CERES TAG’s technology allows for the accurate monitoring of numerous characteristics in livestock, including bovine behaviors and health standards/abnormalities. You can easily track pasture feed intake, grazing efficiency, and disease susceptibility. With this data at your fingertips, it’s easier to identify and select animals with desirable genetic traits for breeding. You can more effectively cull and breed your herd to produce offspring that make each season’s herd more efficient–and profitable–than the last. With continually updating software and expanding algorithms in development for CERES TAG through universities and third-party researchers, additional bovine behavioral insights will soon become available as well, including mounting frequency in bulls and estrus detection in heifers and cows.

Intervene Earlier for Better Health Outcomes

With CERES TAG, you can track your herd’s health outcomes from literally anywhere with your connected device. You can note health abnormalities when they happen, rather than at the next in-person check.

Intervening with appropriate treatment early when a disease is detected improves the prognosis for that head. You will benefit from all the money you’ve invested in it. This also gives you additional biosecurity information for appropriate quarantining or other proactive measures for the other cattle who may have been exposed to infectious disease.

Streamline Operation Management

With plug-and-play, direct-to-satellite efficiency, all members of your team can access your herd’s data 24/7 from wherever they are located. CERES TAG also integrates with existing software programs, allowing your operation to study and analyze management tendencies from day one. Optimizing the who, where and why of your management strategy can be accomplished quickly and seamlessly driving cost savings and annual profits.

A Small Investment for Large, Ongoing Gains.

ROI is number one for business success in the cattle industry. CERES TAG offers significant return on investment with further opportunities to increase profit as additional software continues to be developed in the United States. Unlike other data-generating implants, CERES TAG is direct-to-satellite and solar-powered. This means the CERES TAG will work anywhere and requires no other investments in infrastructure, such as towers or connection services. Also, not every cattle need a tag to benefit from data insight. To start, CERES TAG recommends one in ten cattle have a CERES TAG applied.

By seamlessly integrating advanced satellite tracking with actionable data, CERES TAG empowers producers to make informed decisions that enhance profitability and protect their land and livelihood. With unpredictable weather patterns, rising operational costs and ever thinning margins, smarter, more efficient solutions are no longer optional—they’re essential. Keep your ranching legacy alive in the modern era by embracing new technology.

Small- 1.5” x 2.5” x 0.5”
Easy to apply – Replaceable tether and pin for multiple generations
Solar powered
Reusable – 3 years of direct-to-satellite connectivity
Triggered for significant behavior change which may require investigation
Durable – Operates up to 140° F

Launched in Australia in 2016, and since adopted by ranchers across Oceania, CERES TAG is a one-of-a-kind ear tag making its way to the United States. CERES TAG is the world’s first satellite-enabled animal health intelligence platform, delivering better livestock production, health and welfare right from the pasture.

American Cattlemen 2024

Tips for Building Fences in Difficult Terrain

Posted on August 15, 2024August 15, 2024 by Twin Rivers Media

Tips for Building Fences in Difficult Terrain

By Heather Smith Thomas

Building a good permanent fence can be challenging in rocky, frozen or swampy ground when it’s impossible to dig post holes efficiently, or set posts with a tractor-mounted post-pounder. Regardless of the type of fence, it will only be effective and durable if posts are well set. People who build a lot of fences have come up with innovative and effective ways to get the job done.

Fencing In Rocks
If terrain is too rocky to drive wood posts, metal T-posts are often used, since they are much smaller in diameter and can often be driven farther into rocky ground. If a person can get them down past the “shovel” portion, they are usually deep enough to hold.

If you need to set larger posts, like brace posts, in rocky ground, you might look for other options. A small rock drill is more portable than a jackhammer, since it doesn’t need compressed air. An electric drill can be used for drilling holes into concrete or breaking up concrete, and has various bits—including 1.5 inch chisel bits for drilling into solid rock. “This drill rotates and drills at the same time and can make a hole exactly the right size for a metal T post,” says Thomas.

In solid rock you only need to drill down about a foot and drop the metal post into the hole and it is tight and secure because there’s no give in the surrounding rock. For a brace post you can make a deeper hole using extra-long bits that can go down about 30 inches.

In rocky terrain where it’s not too steep and there are lots of surface rocks, you can create an above-ground basket/cage of rocks as a brace to anchor the fence. “Stacked rocks can be secured with net wire, or you can make a net-wire cage to put rocks in. A cage 3 to 4 feet in diameter makes a solid anchor to secure your wire and stretch it from there. If terrain is too rocky to set wood posts, you can usually put steel posts into the ground deep enough to hold, using rock baskets every so often for braces,” says Thomas.

Pilot Post
When using a post pounder to set wood posts along a challenging fence-line you can use a metal “post” to create a pilot hole. The metal post will often go down through rocky ground if it’s not solid bedrock, whereas a wood post would be forced out of line or shatter. Roger Swanson, a rancher in Lemhi County, Idaho, many years ago created a 7-foot metal pilot post, 3 inches in diameter. This can be driven into the ground with a post-pounder, creating a hole to start the wood post into. The pilot post is solid enough that you can drive it into just about anything but solid rock.

Thomas has made several of these for his own use. “A person can drive that pilot post down as far as possible, then pull it out with a tractor or skid steer loader. Then, you can insert a wood post into the pilot hole and drive it—forcing it into the slightly smaller hole—and the post will be very solid and secure,” says Thomas.

Pipe Posts
Some people use pipe posts; oilfield drill-steel pipe is great for making braces in rough terrain and won’t burn up in a wildfire. In western regions, fires destroy many wood fences, but pipe fences are still standing; the pipe posts will last more than 50 years. A person might have to replace the wire if a really hot fire goes through and makes it brittle, but the pipe posts will still be there and won’t have to be replaced.

Dick Iversen (Timber Creek Ranch, near Culbertson, Montana) has had a lot of experience building fences and hiring fence builders. “We had a huge flood in 2011 and had to replace 7 miles of fence on our river bottom. Then we had a fire during the summer of 2017 and had to replace 6 miles of fence between us and the neighboring ranch, in rough terrain,” he says.

For permanent fences he now prefers posts created from oil field drill-steel pipe. “This is great for making braces.” Oil field pipe is surplus and usually reasonable in price and is easy to cut with an electric hand-held band saw. “If I’m cutting pipe in a place where there’s no electricity, I use a little portable Honda generator,” says Iversen.

“Once a pipe post is in the ground, the ground tends to rust it to the soil around it, and it’s very solid. It’s very difficult to pull it back out. These posts work really well for corrals,” he says.

Todd Hermanson (Hermanson Fencing Company, Inc.) built Iversen’s new fences. Hermanson has been building custom fences for 40 years, in three states. He used to do traditional fences with wood and steel posts, but now does mostly pipe fencing, using discarded drill steel piping from the oil drilling industry. With a jack-hammer type hydraulic post pounder that he invented, he can pound pipe posts into any kind of terrain—solid rock, frozen ground, or bogs.

“This kind of fencing started with us. We took Bobcat hydraulic cement breakers and modified them to use for pounding posts. It was trial and error, but I have a guy in my shop who is good at making things. We came up with a system to do this kind of fencing—and it has caught on like crazy,” Hermanson says.

“The only thing that might shorten the life of these posts would be alkali ground that tends to eat up metal. It takes 2 minutes to pound another pipe post in. Even when repairing fence, if there is a broken off or rotted-off railroad tie, we don’t have to dig it out; we just pound a pipe post right down through the middle of it. This saves a lot of time,” says Hermanson.

In difficult terrain, this system is equal to none. “When we put fences across creeks or gullies. It’s very cost efficient and will be there a long time.” The pipe holds much better in places where it would be hard to brace with wood posts or the traditional steel posts.

The pipes are much stronger, and take less time to install. “You can put in a pipe brace, with the right equipment, in 10 to 15 minutes, which makes it a lot cheaper; a double H brace with wood posts or railroad ties takes more than an hour, and even longer to install in rocky or frozen ground,” Iversen says.

Steep Terrain
On steep slopes that are risky for a tractor, often a person can use a pounder mounted on a skid steer or a track machine, since it has better stability than a tractor and can go up relatively steep slopes without tipping over. Some people walk beside a track machine and drive it from the ground with a joy stick; you don’t have to be on it to drive it. This is safer, especially going through areas where it’s too steep to take any kind of vehicle or tractor.

This is handy for one person fencing alone because you can drive it as you walk beside it, and stop it where you want to set a post. This can save time and labor and one person can set a lot of posts.

Bogs And Swamps
Metal posts can often work when a fence has to go through wet areas and sloughs where it would be difficult to drive wood posts. If a bog is not too deep, you can use 7-foot T-posts that go far enough down to hit solid ground where they could hold. In some situations where the bog is too deep to hold posts, a person can build an above-ground jack fence. Building any kind of fence across a bog is often best accomplished in a dry season, or in winter when the bog is frozen, so you can get around in that area with a machine to set posts, without sinking into the mud.

Frozen Ground
Winter is not the best time to build fences that require posts set in the ground, but sometimes a person has no choice. There are times a fence must be repaired or a new fence built, regardless of the weather. Frozen ground can be challenging for setting posts, and cold weather is hard on machinery.

In cold weather, some people set metal posts instead of wood posts, since wood posts tend to shatter if the ground is solidly frozen. “With a jack-hammer hydraulic post pounder, however, a person can usually pound wood posts through a foot or more of frost (especially if a pilot post is used to start the hole) and then go on down to desired depth, and pipe posts will go even deeper,” says Thomas.

If frost is too deep for driving posts, fire is a common way to thaw ground for post holes.

“Old metal tubs or half barrels work well to make these little ovens. A cutting torch can be utilized to create small vent holes along the bottom edge (to draw air in, to keep the fire going) and a 5-inch-diameter hole in the top of each oven for the smoke to come out,” says Thomas. Fires can be set under several ovens, on the spots where you need to dig a hole or drive a post, letting them burn while working on other parts of the fence, and the ground underneath may be thawed within a few hours. In places where frost is really deep, scoop out the embers after the fire dies down, dig down through the thawed dirt, put the embers or coals back in, and add more wood.

Another method is to use hot water. One fence builder who had to set posts for a feedlot on frozen ground used a pressure washer with hot water, sticking the wand into the ground at those spots, slowly melting the frost down to the depth needed for setting posts. It was faster than fire, but still time-consuming for the hot water to melt its way down that far through the ice.

Above-Ground Fence
Another alternative in terrain that’s difficult or impossible to set posts is a jack fence (buck fence) or worm fence. A worm fence is created by stacking logs or large-diameter poles on one another, interlocking in two directions. The finished fence is a continual series of corners/angles. A short, small-diameter pole or short board is nailed or screwed to the logs/poles at the corners, to keep them stable so they will never shift around.
A pole jack fence (poles nailed/screwed onto jack legs) works well where ground is too rocky or boggy to set posts, but in windy country must be anchored so it won’t blow over. Fence jacks should be treated on the bottom end of those posts, to keep them from rotting. They will draw moisture, especially if built over swampy ground.

Portable Fencing
Temporary fences in winter or on rocky ground can be created with portable metal panels that interlock and don’t require posts. Portable corrals also have this advantage.

Portable electric fence can be installed with step-in posts, even if the ground is frozen, inserted into holes made with a cordless, battery-powered drill. For this type of fence it’s usually best to use portable posts made of metal rods, rather than the plastic step-in posts because the metal ones are less apt to break. You can add screw-on insulators to the rebar after you pound those in.