Are you interested in grazing your cropland or cover crops but balk at the cost to fence in your fields?

Would you like to fence more areas but don’t like the idea of poly wire because of deer pressure?

I may have a cheap, semi-permanent solution that will allow you to fence more acres without the worry of deer knocking it down every night or livestock wandering aimlessly on your farm for a cost of pennies on the dollar.

I was recently on a farm that had installed three-strand electric fence using hi-tensile wire for the cost of 23 cents per foot. The beauty of this fence is the utilization of 3/8-inch rebar posts on 30-foot spacing as a replacement for plastic step in posts.

The ends featured six-foot T-posts with earth anchors to allow for adequate tightening. These posts, coupled with three strands of electrified 12½-gauge wire, provide a solid barrier to keep livestock in, strong enough to keep deer from knocking it down yet can easily be taken down and moved or stored when not in use.

Research has shown covers can provide excellent forage quality for livestock, especially over the winter, while not impacting the soil organic matter production — one of the main reasons covers are planted.

By grazing winter covers you not only add soil biology via the livestock but you can reduce feed costs and improve farm profitability.

For those who have been on the fence (pun intended) about expanding pastured acres or grazing cropland but have always struggled with the cost to build fences, this may be a solution to your problem.

Feel free to contact our office to learn more about construction of this fence and how integrating livestock onto your cropland can be a big benefit to your operation.

Andy Gaver is a conservationist with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in Butler County.