Good stock prices were driving strong inquiry in fencing gear, especially for exclusion fencing, at this year’s Australian National Field Days, at Borenore.
However, ways to build these fences stronger, rather than just making them higher was a focus
Strong end assemblies, adequate anchorage and the fence’s ability to take a hit were among the factors producers weighed up as they looked at the various materials and designs on offer.
Fenceline Solutions owner, Peter Barrett, said he received questions about how to build easy to maintain exclusion fences that, with the load of a taller or tougher fence, would remain standing.
Mr Barrett had heard reports of some of the taller fence designs clogging up with tumble weed and grasses and acting like a big sail, catching in the wind and pushing over, because the footings were not deep enough.
“I think there’s a bit of research and development to be done here in regards to the fence design and whether it’s 1.8 metres high we need, or do we just need to stop kangaroos going underneath,” he said.
He said 100 per cent exclusion might not be realistic, especially if farmers want an easy to maintain exclusion fence.
“If you stop (animals) going under, you’ll deter most of your roos – they don’t like jumping over and they’ll only do it when they’re pushed. They won’t walk along to jump a fence to get into the feed, because it’s a threatening thing to them, they’re always getting caught,” he said.
Mr Barrett said there were three parts to a fence. The first one was the end assembly. The second was the portion underground and the third one was the portion above the ground.
“We put too much above the ground and not enough underground. So I think that we need to ease it back, still put better end assemblies in and try and do more animal management rather than a one-stop wall like they’ve got between the US and Mexico,” he said.
He said the interest in fencing gear was otherwise driven by the better prices across most livestock and commodities and his company was seeing interest especially in the Figure 8 strainer, which had only been launched as recently as at AgQuip in August.
Geroge Dion, of Whites Wires, said he fielded strong inquiry from across the Central West.
“(Farmers are) very interested in the kangaroo problem and feral dogs, so they’re very interested in buying the exclusion fencing that we manufacture,” he said.
This included the Stiff Stay mesh design, which had become increasingly popular as a more sturdy option than hinge joint.
Mr Dion said the knot was fixed, which kept the wire configuration in place when animals collided with it.
“The last couple of years that product is outselling hinge joint three to one,” he said.
The Stockpost and Excell post ranges also attracted good interest, as producers looked at how to add some more sturdy posts to their fences without blowing out the cost.
Stockposts were launched in late 2012 and by late last year they had sold more than 10 million across Australia, he said.
Mr Dion said Whites Wires expected this demand to continue and has increased supply from its Chinese mills.
“We’ve ramped up on more production capacity. We’re confident that livestock prices will still be holding up, and the demand for this type of fence … I think in the next two years will still be strong,” he said.
Gallagher territory manager, Matt Smith, has also had strong demand in the Weston Fence for exclusion fencing.
Gallagher’s 10-wire fence had been proving popular for control of kangaroos, especially on the back of the dry weather.
The Weston Fence is an electrified suspension fence.
“It works quite well as a fence for livestock without electricity on it, but once you put the power in it, nothing’s getting through it,” he said.
The Weston Fence has been around for 25 years and Gallagher has distributed it for the past 12 months.
“You can put up to five kilometres in a day with this,” he said.
The design also allowed a retro-fit offset for the base of the fence to prevent things like wombats and wallabies from digging under the fence.