"Functional Simplicity"
in your Grazing System
By Gary A. Duncan
Functional Simplicity; seems to be a fairly self explanatory two word statement. But, obviously it is not. In the course of a year we see a lot of grazing systems. Many of them are drawn out explicitly on paper, by someone who has never walked that particular piece of ground.
Many times we have customers come in with, email or fax in, this mapped piece of paper – asking “what do I need?” Before we can answer that question we need a general idea of several things, including the following:
- Type of livestock
- Terrain types
- Soil types
- And most importantly – who is going to be doing the work?
That last item is an important consideration and the area of conversation that I want to talk about. For me, I am out of town a lot, so I have designed my grazing systems so that my mother in law, wife or 10 year old daughter can all get the necessary tasks done – and most importantly - easily. If I don’t do it that way – my work force quickly dwindles down to me - rather quickly!
Hopefully, your perimeter fence is one thing that is permanent, in good shape and doesn’t need much attention but your interior portable cross fences, gateways and water system needs to be as user friendly as possible. And, there are many things you can do to make it that way. So, let’s talk about some ideas and tools that will make life easy in the grazing system, as well as around the dinner table.
Granted, I know a lot of women and kid’s who can, at times, work me right into the ground. But, my wife and kid are not one of them. I’ve discovered (duh) that when I design things to fit their capabilities, then I am also doing myself a favor as well. Here are a few things that I have learned.
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For portable fences using reels and polywire: I try to lay things out so that I can put up no more than 600’ to 800’ cross fences. The reels will weigh less and 12 tread-in posts are easier to carry then two dozen. Spend a little extra time designing your paddocks so that a lesser length of portable fencing is required. I.e.: if you have long narrow paddocks, then it is relatively easy to run shorter lengths of polywire – which equals less weight and less tread-in posts and less walking.
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I make sure that I have permanent hot wires (HT) at the perimeters, so that we can power up a polywire cross fence at any point. I don’t need to move an energizer.
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If you attach both an insulated handle and a hot handle at the end of your polywire coming off your reel, then you have the option of energizing from/or either end. Have some jumper leads available also.
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Use a geared reel with a 3:1 ratio, so that your walking speed can be steady as you wind up. Keep several reels on hand ready to go. Generally you will need at least 3 if you are back fencing. Two will get you by in winter grazing of stockpiles.
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If the reel doesn’t have a guide – then put one on it…..less likely to get twine crossovers as you wind. (My wife is left handed and tends to gawk around as she winds up reels and can get a rat’s nest in a hurry. The guide helps this to not happen.)
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At your gateways: I know its easy to make some no cost jumper wire hook ups here and they work fine for most of us, but it is probably best to go ahead and install some gate actuator plates. The actuator plate is energized with a jumper wire and the gate handle hooks into it. When in contact your gate is hot when you remove the gate handle it is not. Our 10 year old really appreciates these, as she doesn’t have to think about – what’s going to shock me?
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Our preference for gate wire is BUNGY ROPE. This gives you lots of flexibility and you are not locked into a precise length. It retracts well and is easily placed out of your way. I doesn’t take any strength to attach a bungy rope gate. ¼” ropes or tapes also work fine. I tend to not use HT wire as it tangles when set aside.
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Gate handles are somewhat a matter of preference, however, one with a nice cuff ensures less likelihood of an inadvertent shock. Tie up tight, or use a clamp so that you don’t have a loose dangling conductor to deal with.
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You might consider some cut out switches, if you have a main hot wire that you are going to be tapping your polywire fences off of. I like to have from 8 to 10KV on my fences and it hurts when you get into it. When making hook ups with reels and handles during rain or snow – it is pretty easy to get shocked just from the water on the reels & handles. You will have a pretty good idea where your polywire cross fences will be attaching, so if you put some cut out switches along that line at various points, its pretty simple to shut it off during hook up. I really don’t care to dance the “shock jig” or squeal out the “ S0xv#t%W” phrase any more than necessary.
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Make up some extra bungy rope gates. Sometimes it is handy to have some bungy rope gates made up in a couple different lengths to fit your system. Put a hot handle on one end and an insulated handle on the other. Use them to close off lanes or direct livestock flow in your system. A 30’ bungy will stretch to around 60’ and can be used for many needs without rigging something up on the spot when needed.
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Make up a small compact toolbox that will have a small stock of the basic’s for repair. Show your work force how to use these items and where the tool box is located. Multiple little tool boxes helps keep repair items at hand if needed.
In general, just design your system so that the people that will be doing the work can work with it, pleasantly. Good conversation around the dinner table will be your reward. Below is my 10 year old gate opener and grazing assistant, Betsy.
